Ben Stuart emphasizes that rest is a form of faith—that when we stop, we trust, as King David did in Psalm 23, that the Lord will provide and sustain us in the meantime.
Key Takeaway
Sabbath is a symbol of faith—it's trusting that God will be the one that feeds us.
Sabbath - to cease, rest, or take a break.
In Genesis 1, God stopped working to enjoy what He made.
God brings us to life—we do nothing, and then we work from that.
God wove salvation by grace right into the fabric of creation. The day would start in the evening—we began with rest and entered into work. God was already working.
Sabbath is a symbol of faith—it's trusting that God will be the one that feeds us.
Let the land grow naturally, stop, and trust that God will provide.
Let's sit, rest, and meditate on the word.
—
Psalm 23
God was turning worry into worship.
We'll get better at work if we can rest.
The shepherd is everything to the sheep. He is a constant, comprehensive, intimate presence. If we have confidence in the competence of our shepherd, we can relax.
When David understood that the same God who led Moses was leading Him, he could trust Him.
The contemplation of His sovereignty calmed his anxiety.
You may be looking for money, fame, influence, and political power to provide for us, but you can't make anything your source apart from God. You're looking for comfort in places you cannot find it. Everything will leave other than Jesus.
How do we know He will provide? He went into the valley and laid His life down for us.
The right path will lead you through valleys.
“
"Let's sit and rest and contemplate God's Word and then step out into all He's calling us into."
”
Ben Stuart
Discussion Questions
What does sabbath mean to you?
Have you been working from a place of rest or a place of striving?
Read Genesis 2:1-3. Why do you think rest was woven into the fabric of creation?
Have you been trusting that God will provide for every need you have? How or how not?
What does worship look like for you in seasons of immense worry?
King David looked to the stories of his ancestors to confirm that he could trust God. What stories can you cling to that reassure your own faith in God?
What are some of the characteristics of God? How has understanding God's character helped calm your anxieties?
What are you looking for in this world to provide for you that only God can provide?
How do we know that God will provide?
How does it make you feel knowing that the right path will include trials and tribulations?
Scripture References
Manna and Quail
1.The whole Israelite community set out from Elim and came to the Desert of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after they had come out of Egypt. 2.In the desert the whole community grumbled against Moses and Aaron. 3.The Israelites said to them, “If only we had died by the Lord’s hand in Egypt! There we sat around pots of meat and ate all the food we wanted, but you have brought us out into this desert to starve this entire assembly to death.”
4.Then the Lord said to Moses, “I will rain down bread from heaven for you. The people are to go out each day and gather enough for that day. In this way I will test them and see whether they will follow my instructions. 5.On the sixth day they are to prepare what they bring in, and that is to be twice as much as they gather on the other days.”
6.So Moses and Aaron said to all the Israelites, “In the evening you will know that it was the Lord who brought you out of Egypt, 7.and in the morning you will see the glory of the Lord, because he has heard your grumbling against him. Who are we, that you should grumble against us?” 8.Moses also said, “You will know that it was the Lord when he gives you meat to eat in the evening and all the bread you want in the morning, because he has heard your grumbling against him. Who are we? You are not grumbling against us, but against the Lord.”
9.Then Moses told Aaron, “Say to the entire Israelite community, ‘Come before the Lord, for he has heard your grumbling.’ ”
10.While Aaron was speaking to the whole Israelite community, they looked toward the desert, and there was the glory of the Lord appearing in the cloud.
11.The Lord said to Moses, 12.“I have heard the grumbling of the Israelites. Tell them, ‘At twilight you will eat meat, and in the morning you will be filled with bread. Then you will know that I am the Lord your God.’ ”
13.That evening quail came and covered the camp, and in the morning there was a layer of dew around the camp. 14.When the dew was gone, thin flakes like frost on the ground appeared on the desert floor. 15.When the Israelites saw it, they said to each other, “What is it?” For they did not know what it was.
Moses said to them, “It is the bread the Lord has given you to eat. 16.This is what the Lord has commanded: ‘Everyone is to gather as much as they need. Take an omer16:16 That is, possibly about 3 pounds or about 1.4 kilograms; also in verses 18, 32, 33 and 36 for each person you have in your tent.’ ”
17.The Israelites did as they were told; some gathered much, some little. 18.And when they measured it by the omer, the one who gathered much did not have too much, and the one who gathered little did not have too little. Everyone had gathered just as much as they needed.
19.Then Moses said to them, “No one is to keep any of it until morning.”
20.However, some of them paid no attention to Moses; they kept part of it until morning, but it was full of maggots and began to smell. So Moses was angry with them.
21.Each morning everyone gathered as much as they needed, and when the sun grew hot, it melted away. 22.On the sixth day, they gathered twice as much—two omers16:22 That is, possibly about 6 pounds or about 2.8 kilograms for each person—and the leaders of the community came and reported this to Moses. 23.He said to them, “This is what the Lord commanded: ‘Tomorrow is to be a day of sabbath rest, a holy sabbath to the Lord. So bake what you want to bake and boil what you want to boil. Save whatever is left and keep it until morning.’ ”
24.So they saved it until morning, as Moses commanded, and it did not stink or get maggots in it. 25.“Eat it today,” Moses said, “because today is a sabbath to the Lord. You will not find any of it on the ground today. 26.Six days you are to gather it, but on the seventh day, the Sabbath, there will not be any.”
27.Nevertheless, some of the people went out on the seventh day to gather it, but they found none. 28.Then the Lord said to Moses, “How long will you16:28 The Hebrew is plural. refuse to keep my commands and my instructions? 29.Bear in mind that the Lord has given you the Sabbath; that is why on the sixth day he gives you bread for two days. Everyone is to stay where they are on the seventh day; no one is to go out.” 30.So the people rested on the seventh day.
31.The people of Israel called the bread manna.16:31 Manna sounds like the Hebrew for What is it? (see verse 15). It was white like coriander seed and tasted like wafers made with honey. 32.Moses said, “This is what the Lord has commanded: ‘Take an omer of manna and keep it for the generations to come, so they can see the bread I gave you to eat in the wilderness when I brought you out of Egypt.’ ”
33.So Moses said to Aaron, “Take a jar and put an omer of manna in it. Then place it before the Lord to be kept for the generations to come.”
34.As the Lord commanded Moses, Aaron put the manna with the tablets of the covenant law, so that it might be preserved. 35.The Israelites ate manna forty years, until they came to a land that was settled; they ate manna until they reached the border of Canaan.
36.(An omer is one-tenth of an ephah.)
The Sabbath Year
1.The Lord said to Moses at Mount Sinai, 2.“Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘When you enter the land I am going to give you, the land itself must observe a sabbath to the Lord. 3.For six years sow your fields, and for six years prune your vineyards and gather their crops. 4.But in the seventh year the land is to have a year of sabbath rest, a sabbath to the Lord. Do not sow your fields or prune your vineyards. 5.Do not reap what grows of itself or harvest the grapes of your untended vines. The land is to have a year of rest. 6.Whatever the land yields during the sabbath year will be food for you—for yourself, your male and female servants, and the hired worker and temporary resident who live among you, 7.as well as for your livestock and the wild animals in your land. Whatever the land produces may be eaten.
The Year of Jubilee
8.“ ‘Count off seven sabbath years—seven times seven years—so that the seven sabbath years amount to a period of forty-nine years. 9.Then have the trumpet sounded everywhere on the tenth day of the seventh month; on the Day of Atonement sound the trumpet throughout your land. 10.Consecrate the fiftieth year and proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee for you; each of you is to return to your family property and to your own clan. 11.The fiftieth year shall be a jubilee for you; do not sow and do not reap what grows of itself or harvest the untended vines. 12.For it is a jubilee and is to be holy for you; eat only what is taken directly from the fields.
13.“ ‘In this Year of Jubilee everyone is to return to their own property.
14.“ ‘If you sell land to any of your own people or buy land from them, do not take advantage of each other. 15.You are to buy from your own people on the basis of the number of years since the Jubilee. And they are to sell to you on the basis of the number of years left for harvesting crops. 16.When the years are many, you are to increase the price, and when the years are few, you are to decrease the price, because what is really being sold to you is the number of crops. 17.Do not take advantage of each other, but fear your God. I am the Lord your God.
18.“ ‘Follow my decrees and be careful to obey my laws, and you will live safely in the land. 19.Then the land will yield its fruit, and you will eat your fill and live there in safety. 20.You may ask, “What will we eat in the seventh year if we do not plant or harvest our crops?” 21.I will send you such a blessing in the sixth year that the land will yield enough for three years. 22.While you plant during the eighth year, you will eat from the old crop and will continue to eat from it until the harvest of the ninth year comes in.
23.“ ‘The land must not be sold permanently, because the land is mine and you reside in my land as foreigners and strangers. 24.Throughout the land that you hold as a possession, you must provide for the redemption of the land.
25.“ ‘If one of your fellow Israelites becomes poor and sells some of their property, their nearest relative is to come and redeem what they have sold. 26.If, however, there is no one to redeem it for them but later on they prosper and acquire sufficient means to redeem it themselves, 27.they are to determine the value for the years since they sold it and refund the balance to the one to whom they sold it; they can then go back to their own property. 28.But if they do not acquire the means to repay, what was sold will remain in the possession of the buyer until the Year of Jubilee. It will be returned in the Jubilee, and they can then go back to their property.
29.“ ‘Anyone who sells a house in a walled city retains the right of redemption a full year after its sale. During that time the seller may redeem it. 30.If it is not redeemed before a full year has passed, the house in the walled city shall belong permanently to the buyer and the buyer’s descendants. It is not to be returned in the Jubilee. 31.But houses in villages without walls around them are to be considered as belonging to the open country. They can be redeemed, and they are to be returned in the Jubilee.
32.“ ‘The Levites always have the right to redeem their houses in the Levitical towns, which they possess. 33.So the property of the Levites is redeemable—that is, a house sold in any town they hold—and is to be returned in the Jubilee, because the houses in the towns of the Levites are their property among the Israelites. 34.But the pastureland belonging to their towns must not be sold; it is their permanent possession.
35.“ ‘If any of your fellow Israelites become poor and are unable to support themselves among you, help them as you would a foreigner and stranger, so they can continue to live among you. 36.Do not take interest or any profit from them, but fear your God, so that they may continue to live among you. 37.You must not lend them money at interest or sell them food at a profit. 38.I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt to give you the land of Canaan and to be your God.
39.“ ‘If any of your fellow Israelites become poor and sell themselves to you, do not make them work as slaves. 40.They are to be treated as hired workers or temporary residents among you; they are to work for you until the Year of Jubilee. 41.Then they and their children are to be released, and they will go back to their own clans and to the property of their ancestors. 42.Because the Israelites are my servants, whom I brought out of Egypt, they must not be sold as slaves. 43.Do not rule over them ruthlessly, but fear your God.
44.“ ‘Your male and female slaves are to come from the nations around you; from them you may buy slaves. 45.You may also buy some of the temporary residents living among you and members of their clans born in your country, and they will become your property. 46.You can bequeath them to your children as inherited property and can make them slaves for life, but you must not rule over your fellow Israelites ruthlessly.
47.“ ‘If a foreigner residing among you becomes rich and any of your fellow Israelites become poor and sell themselves to the foreigner or to a member of the foreigner’s clan, 48.they retain the right of redemption after they have sold themselves. One of their relatives may redeem them: 49.An uncle or a cousin or any blood relative in their clan may redeem them. Or if they prosper, they may redeem themselves. 50.They and their buyer are to count the time from the year they sold themselves up to the Year of Jubilee. The price for their release is to be based on the rate paid to a hired worker for that number of years. 51.If many years remain, they must pay for their redemption a larger share of the price paid for them. 52.If only a few years remain until the Year of Jubilee, they are to compute that and pay for their redemption accordingly. 53.They are to be treated as workers hired from year to year; you must see to it that those to whom they owe service do not rule over them ruthlessly.
54.“ ‘Even if someone is not redeemed in any of these ways, they and their children are to be released in the Year of Jubilee, 55.for the Israelites belong to me as servants. They are my servants, whom I brought out of Egypt. I am the Lord your God.
Reward for Obedience
1.“ ‘Do not make idols or set up an image or a sacred stone for yourselves, and do not place a carved stone in your land to bow down before it. I am the Lord your God.
2.“ ‘Observe my Sabbaths and have reverence for my sanctuary. I am the Lord.
3.“ ‘If you follow my decrees and are careful to obey my commands, 4.I will send you rain in its season, and the ground will yield its crops and the trees their fruit. 5.Your threshing will continue until grape harvest and the grape harvest will continue until planting, and you will eat all the food you want and live in safety in your land.
6.“ ‘I will grant peace in the land, and you will lie down and no one will make you afraid. I will remove wild beasts from the land, and the sword will not pass through your country. 7.You will pursue your enemies, and they will fall by the sword before you. 8.Five of you will chase a hundred, and a hundred of you will chase ten thousand, and your enemies will fall by the sword before you.
9.“ ‘I will look on you with favor and make you fruitful and increase your numbers, and I will keep my covenant with you. 10.You will still be eating last year’s harvest when you will have to move it out to make room for the new. 11.I will put my dwelling place26:11 Or my tabernacle among you, and I will not abhor you. 12.I will walk among you and be your God, and you will be my people. 13.I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt so that you would no longer be slaves to the Egyptians; I broke the bars of your yoke and enabled you to walk with heads held high.
Punishment for Disobedience
14.“ ‘But if you will not listen to me and carry out all these commands, 15.and if you reject my decrees and abhor my laws and fail to carry out all my commands and so violate my covenant, 16.then I will do this to you: I will bring on you sudden terror, wasting diseases and fever that will destroy your sight and sap your strength. You will plant seed in vain, because your enemies will eat it. 17.I will set my face against you so that you will be defeated by your enemies; those who hate you will rule over you, and you will flee even when no one is pursuing you.
18.“ ‘If after all this you will not listen to me, I will punish you for your sins seven times over. 19.I will break down your stubborn pride and make the sky above you like iron and the ground beneath you like bronze. 20.Your strength will be spent in vain, because your soil will not yield its crops, nor will the trees of your land yield their fruit.
21.“ ‘If you remain hostile toward me and refuse to listen to me, I will multiply your afflictions seven times over, as your sins deserve. 22.I will send wild animals against you, and they will rob you of your children, destroy your cattle and make you so few in number that your roads will be deserted.
23.“ ‘If in spite of these things you do not accept my correction but continue to be hostile toward me, 24.I myself will be hostile toward you and will afflict you for your sins seven times over. 25.And I will bring the sword on you to avenge the breaking of the covenant. When you withdraw into your cities, I will send a plague among you, and you will be given into enemy hands. 26.When I cut off your supply of bread, ten women will be able to bake your bread in one oven, and they will dole out the bread by weight. You will eat, but you will not be satisfied.
27.“ ‘If in spite of this you still do not listen to me but continue to be hostile toward me, 28.then in my anger I will be hostile toward you, and I myself will punish you for your sins seven times over. 29.You will eat the flesh of your sons and the flesh of your daughters. 30.I will destroy your high places, cut down your incense altars and pile your dead bodies26:30 Or your funeral offerings on the lifeless forms of your idols, and I will abhor you. 31.I will turn your cities into ruins and lay waste your sanctuaries, and I will take no delight in the pleasing aroma of your offerings. 32.I myself will lay waste the land, so that your enemies who live there will be appalled. 33.I will scatter you among the nations and will draw out my sword and pursue you. Your land will be laid waste, and your cities will lie in ruins. 34.Then the land will enjoy its sabbath years all the time that it lies desolate and you are in the country of your enemies; then the land will rest and enjoy its sabbaths. 35.All the time that it lies desolate, the land will have the rest it did not have during the sabbaths you lived in it.
36.“ ‘As for those of you who are left, I will make their hearts so fearful in the lands of their enemies that the sound of a windblown leaf will put them to flight. They will run as though fleeing from the sword, and they will fall, even though no one is pursuing them. 37.They will stumble over one another as though fleeing from the sword, even though no one is pursuing them. So you will not be able to stand before your enemies. 38.You will perish among the nations; the land of your enemies will devour you. 39.Those of you who are left will waste away in the lands of their enemies because of their sins; also because of their ancestors’ sins they will waste away.
40.“ ‘But if they will confess their sins and the sins of their ancestors—their unfaithfulness and their hostility toward me, 41.which made me hostile toward them so that I sent them into the land of their enemies—then when their uncircumcised hearts are humbled and they pay for their sin, 42.I will remember my covenant with Jacob and my covenant with Isaac and my covenant with Abraham, and I will remember the land. 43.For the land will be deserted by them and will enjoy its sabbaths while it lies desolate without them. They will pay for their sins because they rejected my laws and abhorred my decrees. 44.Yet in spite of this, when they are in the land of their enemies, I will not reject them or abhor them so as to destroy them completely, breaking my covenant with them. I am the Lord their God. 45.But for their sake I will remember the covenant with their ancestors whom I brought out of Egypt in the sight of the nations to be their God. I am the Lord.’ ”
46.These are the decrees, the laws and the regulations that the Lord established at Mount Sinai between himself and the Israelites through Moses.
Psalm 23
A psalm of David.
1.The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing.
2.He makes me lie down in green pastures,
he leads me beside quiet waters,
3.he refreshes my soul.
He guides me along the right paths
for his name’s sake.
4.Even though I walk
through the darkest valley,23:4 Or the valley of the shadow of death
I will fear no evil,
for you are with me;
your rod and your staff,
they comfort me.
5.You prepare a table before me
in the presence of my enemies.
You anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.
6.Surely your goodness and love will follow me
all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in the house of the Lord
forever.
Jacob Blesses His Sons
1.Then Jacob called for his sons and said: “Gather around so I can tell you what will happen to you in days to come.
2.“Assemble and listen, sons of Jacob;
listen to your father Israel.
3.“Reuben, you are my firstborn,
my might, the first sign of my strength,
excelling in honor, excelling in power.
4.Turbulent as the waters, you will no longer excel,
for you went up onto your father’s bed,
onto my couch and defiled it.
5.“Simeon and Levi are brothers—
their swords49:5 The meaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain. are weapons of violence.
6.Let me not enter their council,
let me not join their assembly,
for they have killed men in their anger
and hamstrung oxen as they pleased.
7.Cursed be their anger, so fierce,
and their fury, so cruel!
I will scatter them in Jacob
and disperse them in Israel.
8.“Judah,49:8 Judah sounds like and may be derived from the Hebrew for praise. your brothers will praise you;
your hand will be on the neck of your enemies;
your father’s sons will bow down to you.
9.You are a lion’s cub, Judah;
you return from the prey, my son.
Like a lion he crouches and lies down,
like a lioness—who dares to rouse him?
10.The scepter will not depart from Judah,
nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet,49:10 Or from his descendants
until he to whom it belongs49:10 Or to whom tribute belongs; the meaning of the Hebrew for this phrase is uncertain. shall come
and the obedience of the nations shall be his.
11.He will tether his donkey to a vine,
his colt to the choicest branch;
he will wash his garments in wine,
his robes in the blood of grapes.
12.His eyes will be darker than wine,
his teeth whiter than milk.49:12 Or will be dull from wine, / his teeth white from milk
13.“Zebulun will live by the seashore
and become a haven for ships;
his border will extend toward Sidon.
14.“Issachar is a rawboned49:14 Or strong donkey
lying down among the sheep pens.49:14 Or the campfires; or the saddlebags
15.When he sees how good is his resting place
and how pleasant is his land,
he will bend his shoulder to the burden
and submit to forced labor.
16.“Dan49:16 Dan here means he provides justice. will provide justice for his people
as one of the tribes of Israel.
17.Dan will be a snake by the roadside,
a viper along the path,
that bites the horse’s heels
so that its rider tumbles backward.
18.“I look for your deliverance, Lord.
19.“Gad49:19 Gad sounds like the Hebrew for attack and also for band of raiders. will be attacked by a band of raiders,
but he will attack them at their heels.
20.“Asher’s food will be rich;
he will provide delicacies fit for a king.
21.“Naphtali is a doe set free
that bears beautiful fawns.49:21 Or free; / he utters beautiful words
22.“Joseph is a fruitful vine,
a fruitful vine near a spring,
whose branches climb over a wall.49:22 Or Joseph is a wild colt, / a wild colt near a spring, / a wild donkey on a terraced hill
23.With bitterness archers attacked him;
they shot at him with hostility.
24.But his bow remained steady,
his strong arms stayed49:23,24 Or archers will attack… will shoot… will remain… will stay limber,
because of the hand of the Mighty One of Jacob,
because of the Shepherd, the Rock of Israel,
25.because of your father’s God, who helps you,
because of the Almighty,49:25 Hebrew Shaddai who blesses you
with blessings of the skies above,
blessings of the deep springs below,
blessings of the breast and womb.
26.Your father’s blessings are greater
than the blessings of the ancient mountains,
than49:26 Or of my progenitors, / as great as the bounty of the age-old hills.
Let all these rest on the head of Joseph,
on the brow of the prince among49:26 Or of the one separated from his brothers.
27.“Benjamin is a ravenous wolf;
in the morning he devours the prey,
in the evening he divides the plunder.”
28.All these are the twelve tribes of Israel, and this is what their father said to them when he blessed them, giving each the blessing appropriate to him.
The Death of Jacob
29.Then he gave them these instructions: “I am about to be gathered to my people. Bury me with my fathers in the cave in the field of Ephron the Hittite, 30.the cave in the field of Machpelah, near Mamre in Canaan, which Abraham bought along with the field as a burial place from Ephron the Hittite. 31.There Abraham and his wife Sarah were buried, there Isaac and his wife Rebekah were buried, and there I buried Leah. 32.The field and the cave in it were bought from the Hittites.49:32 Or the descendants of Heth”
33.When Jacob had finished giving instructions to his sons, he drew his feet up into the bed, breathed his last and was gathered to his people.
The Lord Will Be Israel’s Shepherd
1.The word of the Lord came to me: 2.“Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel; prophesy and say to them: ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Woe to you shepherds of Israel who only take care of yourselves! Should not shepherds take care of the flock? 3.You eat the curds, clothe yourselves with the wool and slaughter the choice animals, but you do not take care of the flock. 4.You have not strengthened the weak or healed the sick or bound up the injured. You have not brought back the strays or searched for the lost. You have ruled them harshly and brutally. 5.So they were scattered because there was no shepherd, and when they were scattered they became food for all the wild animals. 6.My sheep wandered over all the mountains and on every high hill. They were scattered over the whole earth, and no one searched or looked for them.
7.“ ‘Therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord: 8.As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, because my flock lacks a shepherd and so has been plundered and has become food for all the wild animals, and because my shepherds did not search for my flock but cared for themselves rather than for my flock, 9.therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord: 10.This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I am against the shepherds and will hold them accountable for my flock. I will remove them from tending the flock so that the shepherds can no longer feed themselves. I will rescue my flock from their mouths, and it will no longer be food for them.
11.“ ‘For this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I myself will search for my sheep and look after them. 12.As a shepherd looks after his scattered flock when he is with them, so will I look after my sheep. I will rescue them from all the places where they were scattered on a day of clouds and darkness. 13.I will bring them out from the nations and gather them from the countries, and I will bring them into their own land. I will pasture them on the mountains of Israel, in the ravines and in all the settlements in the land. 14.I will tend them in a good pasture, and the mountain heights of Israel will be their grazing land. There they will lie down in good grazing land, and there they will feed in a rich pasture on the mountains of Israel. 15.I myself will tend my sheep and have them lie down, declares the Sovereign Lord. 16.I will search for the lost and bring back the strays. I will bind up the injured and strengthen the weak, but the sleek and the strong I will destroy. I will shepherd the flock with justice.
17.“ ‘As for you, my flock, this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I will judge between one sheep and another, and between rams and goats. 18.Is it not enough for you to feed on the good pasture? Must you also trample the rest of your pasture with your feet? Is it not enough for you to drink clear water? Must you also muddy the rest with your feet? 19.Must my flock feed on what you have trampled and drink what you have muddied with your feet?
20.“ ‘Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says to them: See, I myself will judge between the fat sheep and the lean sheep. 21.Because you shove with flank and shoulder, butting all the weak sheep with your horns until you have driven them away, 22.I will save my flock, and they will no longer be plundered. I will judge between one sheep and another. 23.I will place over them one shepherd, my servant David, and he will tend them; he will tend them and be their shepherd. 24.I the Lord will be their God, and my servant David will be prince among them. I the Lord have spoken.
25.“ ‘I will make a covenant of peace with them and rid the land of savage beasts so that they may live in the wilderness and sleep in the forests in safety. 26.I will make them and the places surrounding my hill a blessing.34:26 Or I will cause them and the places surrounding my hill to be named in blessings (see Gen. 48:20); or I will cause them and the places surrounding my hill to be seen as blessed I will send down showers in season; there will be showers of blessing. 27.The trees will yield their fruit and the ground will yield its crops; the people will be secure in their land. They will know that I am the Lord, when I break the bars of their yoke and rescue them from the hands of those who enslaved them. 28.They will no longer be plundered by the nations, nor will wild animals devour them. They will live in safety, and no one will make them afraid. 29.I will provide for them a land renowned for its crops, and they will no longer be victims of famine in the land or bear the scorn of the nations. 30.Then they will know that I, the Lord their God, am with them and that they, the Israelites, are my people, declares the Sovereign Lord. 31.You are my sheep, the sheep of my pasture, and I am your God, declares the Sovereign Lord.’ ”
The Magi Visit the Messiah
1.After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi2:1 Traditionally wise men from the east came to Jerusalem 2.and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.”
3.When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. 4.When he had called together all the people’s chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Messiah was to be born. 5.“In Bethlehem in Judea,” they replied, “for this is what the prophet has written:
6.“ ‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;
for out of you will come a ruler
who will shepherd my people Israel.’2:6 Micah 5:2,4”
7.Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. 8.He sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him.”
9.After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen when it rose went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. 10.When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. 11.On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. 12.And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.
The Escape to Egypt
13.When they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. “Get up,” he said, “take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.”
14.So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt, 15.where he stayed until the death of Herod. And so was fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet: “Out of Egypt I called my son.”2:15 Hosea 11:1
16.When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi. 17.Then what was said through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled:
18.“A voice is heard in Ramah,
weeping and great mourning,
Rachel weeping for her children
and refusing to be comforted,
because they are no more.”2:18 Jer. 31:15
The Return to Nazareth
19.After Herod died, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt 20.and said, “Get up, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who were trying to take the child’s life are dead.”
21.So he got up, took the child and his mother and went to the land of Israel. 22.But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning in Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. Having been warned in a dream, he withdrew to the district of Galilee, 23.and he went and lived in a town called Nazareth. So was fulfilled what was said through the prophets, that he would be called a Nazarene.
Giving to the Needy
1.
“Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.
2.
“So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. 3.But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4.so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.
Prayer
5.
“And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. 6.But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. 7.And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. 8.Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.
9.
“This, then, is how you should pray:
“ ‘Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
10.
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
11.
Give us today our daily bread.
12.
And forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
13.
And lead us not into temptation,
6:13
The Greek for
temptation
can also mean
testing.
but deliver us from the evil one.
6:13
Or
from
evil
; some late manuscripts
one, / for yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.
’
14.
For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15.But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.
Fasting
16.
“When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show others they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. 17.But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, 18.so that it will not be obvious to others that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.
Treasures in Heaven
19.
“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20.But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21.For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
22.
“The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy,
6:22
The Greek for
healthy
here implies generous.
your whole body will be full of light. 23.But if your eyes are unhealthy,6:23 The Greek for unhealthy here implies stingy. your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!
24.
“No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.
Do Not Worry
25.
“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? 26.Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27.Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life6:27 Or single cubit to your height?
28.
“And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29.Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30.If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? 31.So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32.For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33.But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34.Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
The Good Shepherd and His Sheep
1.
“Very truly I tell you Pharisees, anyone who does not enter the sheep pen by the gate, but climbs in by some other way, is a thief and a robber. 2.The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. 3.The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4.When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. 5.But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger’s voice.” 6.Jesus used this figure of speech, but the Pharisees did not understand what he was telling them.
7.Therefore Jesus said again, “Very truly I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. 8.All who have come before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep have not listened to them. 9.I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved.10:9 Or kept safe They will come in and go out, and find pasture. 10.The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.
11.
“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. 12.The hired hand is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep. So when he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf attacks the flock and scatters it. 13.The man runs away because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep.
14.
“I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me— 15.just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep. 16.I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd. 17.The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life—only to take it up again. 18.No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father.”
19.The Jews who heard these words were again divided. 20.Many of them said, “He is demon-possessed and raving mad. Why listen to him?”
21.But others said, “These are not the sayings of a man possessed by a demon. Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?”
Further Conflict Over Jesus’ Claims
22.Then came the Festival of Dedication10:22 That is, Hanukkah at Jerusalem. It was winter, 23.and Jesus was in the temple courts walking in Solomon’s Colonnade. 24.The Jews who were there gathered around him, saying, “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly.”
25.Jesus answered, “I did tell you, but you do not believe. The works I do in my Father’s name testify about me, 26.but you do not believe because you are not my sheep. 27.My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. 28.I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. 29.My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all10:29 Many early manuscripts What my Father has given me is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. 30.I and the Father are one.”
31.Again his Jewish opponents picked up stones to stone him, 32.but Jesus said to them, “I have shown you many good works from the Father. For which of these do you stone me?”
33.“We are not stoning you for any good work,” they replied, “but for blasphemy, because you, a mere man, claim to be God.”
34.Jesus answered them, “Is it not written in your Law, ‘I have said you are “gods” ’10:34 Psalm 82:6? 35.If he called them ‘gods,’ to whom the word of God came—and Scripture cannot be set aside— 36.what about the one whom the Father set apart as his very own and sent into the world? Why then do you accuse me of blasphemy because I said, ‘I am God’s Son’? 37.Do not believe me unless I do the works of my Father. 38.But if I do them, even though you do not believe me, believe the works, that you may know and understand that the Father is in me, and I in the Father.” 39.Again they tried to seize him, but he escaped their grasp.
40.Then Jesus went back across the Jordan to the place where John had been baptizing in the early days. There he stayed, 41.and many people came to him. They said, “Though John never performed a sign, all that John said about this man was true.” 42.And in that place many believed in Jesus.
About the Contributor
Ben Stuart is the pastor of Passion City Church D.C. Prior to joining Passion City Church, Ben served as the executive director of Breakaway Ministries on the campus of Texas A&M. He also earned a master’s degree in historical theology from Dallas Theological Seminary. He and his wife, Donna, live to inspire and equip people to walk with God for a lifetime. View more from the Contributor.