A Story about Sheep

John 10 Jesus said:

I tell you for certain that only thieves and robbers climb over the fence instead of going in through the gate to the sheep pen. ^2-3But the gatekeeper opens the gate for the shepherd, and he goes in through it. The sheep know their shepherd's voice. He calls each of them by name and leads them out.

⁴When he has led out all of his sheep, he walks in front of them, and they follow, because they know his voice. ⁵The sheep will not follow strangers. They don't recognize a stranger's voice, and they run away.

⁶Jesus told the people this story. But they did not understand what he was talking about.

Jesus Is the Good Shepherd

⁷Jesus said:

I tell you for certain that I am the gate for the sheep. ⁸Everyone who came before me was a thief or a robber, and the sheep did not listen to any of them. ⁹I am the gate. All who come in through me will be saved. Through me they will come and go and find pasture.

¹⁰A thief comes only to rob, kill, and destroy. I came so that everyone would have life, and have it in its fullest. ¹¹I am the good shepherd, and the good shepherd gives up his life for his sheep. ¹²Hired workers are not like the shepherd. They don't own the sheep, and when they see a wolf coming, they run off and leave the sheep. Then the wolf attacks and scatters the flock. ¹³Hired workers run away because they don't care about the sheep.

¹⁴I am the good shepherd. I know my sheep, and they know me. ¹⁵Just as the Father knows me, I know the Father, and I give up my life for my sheep. ¹⁶I have other sheep that are not in this sheep pen. I must bring them together too, when they hear my voice. Then there will be one flock of sheep and one shepherd.

¹⁷The Father loves me, because I give up my life, so that I may receive it back again. ¹⁸No one takes my life from me. I give it up willingly! I have the power to give it up and the power to receive it back again, just as my Father commanded me to do.

¹⁹The people took sides because of what Jesus had told them. ²⁰Many of them said, "He has a demon in him! He is crazy! Why listen to him?"
²¹But others said, "How could anyone with a demon in him say these things? No one like that could give sight to a blind person!"

Other Things Solomon Did
(1 Kings 9.10-28)

2 Chronicles 8 It took twenty years for the LORD's temple and Solomon's palace to be built. ²After that, Solomon had his workers rebuild the towns that Hiram had given him. Then Solomon sent Israelites to live in those towns.
³Solomon attacked and captured the town of Hamath-Zobah. ⁴He had his workers build the town of Tadmor in the desert and some towns in Hamath where he could keep his supplies. ⁵He strengthened Upper Beth-Horon and Lower Beth-Horon by adding walls and gates that could be locked. ⁶He did the same thing to the town of Baalath and to the cities where he kept supplies, chariots, and horses. Solomon had his workers build whatever he wanted in Jerusalem, Lebanon, and anywhere else in his kingdom.
^7-9Solomon did not force the Israelites to do his work. Instead, they were his soldiers, officers, army commanders, and cavalry troops. But he did make slaves of the Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites who were living in Israel. These were the descendants of those foreigners the Israelites did not destroy, and they remained Israel's slaves.
¹⁰Solomon appointed two hundred fifty officers to be in charge of his workers.
¹¹Solomon's wife, the daughter of the king of Egypt, moved from the part of Jerusalem called David's City to her new palace that Solomon had built. The sacred chest had been kept in David's City, which made his palace sacred, and so Solomon's wife could no longer live there.
¹²Solomon offered sacrifices to the LORD on the altar he had built in front of the temple. ¹³He followed the requirements that Moses had given for sacrifices offered on the Sabbath, on the first day of each month, the Festival of Thin Bread, the Harvest Festival, and the Festival of Shelters.
¹⁴Solomon then assigned the priests and the Levites their duties at the temple, and he followed the instructions that his father David had given him. Some of the Levites were to lead music and help the priests in their duties, and others were to guard the temple gates ¹⁵and the storage rooms. The priests and Levites followed these instructions exactly.
¹⁶Everything Solomon had planned to do was now finished--from the laying of the temple's foundation to its completion.
¹⁷Solomon went to Ezion-Geber and Eloth, two Edomite towns on the Red Sea. ¹⁸Hiram sent him ships and some of his experienced sailors. They went with Solomon's own sailors to the country of Ophir and brought back about seventeen tons of gold for Solomon.

BOOK III

(Psalms 73--89)

Psalm 73
[A psalm by Asaph.]
God Is Good

¹God is truly good to Israel,
especially to everyone with a pure heart.
²But I almost stumbled and fell,
³because it made me jealous to see proud and evil people
and to watch them prosper.
⁴They never have to suffer, they stay healthy,
⁵and they don't have troubles like everyone else.

⁶Their pride is like a necklace,
and they commit sin
more often than they dress themselves.
⁷Their eyes poke out with fat,
and their minds are flooded with foolish thoughts.
⁸They sneer and say cruel things,
and because of their pride, they make violent threats.
⁹They dare to speak against God and to order others around.

¹⁰God will bring his people back,
and they will drink the water he so freely gives.

¹¹Only evil people would say,
"God Most High cannot know everything!"
¹²Yet all goes well for them, and they live in peace.
¹³What good did it do me to keep my thoughts pure
and refuse to do wrong?
¹⁴I am sick all day, and I am punished each morning.
¹⁵If I had said evil things,
I would not have been loyal to your people.

¹⁶It was hard for me to understand all this!
¹⁷Then I went to your temple, and there I understood
what will happen to my enemies.
¹⁸You will make them stumble, never to get up again.
¹⁹They will be terrified,
suddenly swept away and no longer there.
²⁰They will disappear, Lord,
despised like a bad dream the morning after.

²¹Once I was bitter and brokenhearted.
²²I was stupid and ignorant,
and I treated you as a wild animal would.
²³But I never really left you, and you hold my right hand.
²⁴Your advice has been my guide,
and later you will welcome me in glory.
²⁵In heaven I have only you,
and on this earth you are all I want.
²⁶My body and mind may fail,
but you are my strength and my choice forever.

²⁷Powerful LORD God,
all who stay far from you will be lost,
and you will destroy those who are unfaithful.
²⁸It is good for me to be near you.
I choose you as my protector,
and I will tell about your wonderful deeds.