and not only for them, but also to bring together into one body all the scattered people of God.

Judah will hold the royal scepter, And his descendants will always rule. Nations will bring him tribute And bow in obedience before him.

The poor will eat as much as they want; those who come to the LORD will praise him. May they prosper forever!

The LORD is king, and he rules the nations.

Future generations will serve him; they will speak of the Lord to the coming generation.

May the king's name never be forgotten; may his fame last as long as the sun. May all nations ask God to bless them as he has blessed the king.

Praise his glorious name forever! May his glory fill the whole world. Amen! Amen!

All the nations that you have created will come and bow down to you; they will praise your greatness.

The LORD announced his victory; he made his saving power known to the nations.

He kept his promise to the people of Israel with loyalty and constant love for them. All people everywhere have seen the victory of our God.

A day is coming when the new king from the royal line of David will be a symbol to the nations. They will gather in his royal city and give him honor.

This is what will happen in every nation all over the world. It will be like the end of harvest, when the olives have been beaten off every tree and the last grapes picked from the vines.

and those in the East will praise him. The people who live along the sea will praise the LORD, the God of Israel.

Sing a new song to the LORD; sing his praise, all the world! Praise him, you that sail the sea; praise him, all creatures of the sea! Sing, distant lands and all who live there!

Let those who live in distant lands give praise and glory to the LORD!

I will tell the north to let them go and the south not to hold them back. Let my people return from distant lands, from every part of the world.

The LORD said to me, "I have a greater task for you, my servant. Not only will you restore to greatness the people of Israel who have survived, but I will also make you a light to the nations--- so that all the world may be saved."

The LORD will use his holy power; he will save his people, and all the world will see it.

The Sovereign LORD, who has brought his people Israel home from exile, has promised that he will bring still other people to join them.

The people of Israel will become like the sand of the sea, more than can be counted or measured. Now God says to them, "You are not my people," but the day is coming when he will say to them, "You are the children of the living God!"

At that time many nations will come to the LORD and become his people. He will live among you, and you will know that he has sent me to you.

The LORD Almighty says, "The time is coming when people from many cities will come to Jerusalem.

Many peoples and powerful nations will come to Jerusalem to worship the LORD Almighty and to pray for his blessing.

for I am with you. No one will be able to harm you, for many in this city are my people."

And he also wanted to reveal his abundant glory, which was poured out on us who are the objects of his mercy, those of us whom he has prepared to receive his glory.

For we are the people he called, not only from among the Jews but also from among the Gentiles.

and to enable even the Gentiles to praise God for his mercy. As the scripture says, "And so I will praise you among the Gentiles; I will sing praises to you."

And again, "Praise the Lord, all Gentiles; praise him, all peoples!"

May God, the source of hope, fill you with all joy and peace by means of your faith in him, so that your hope will continue to grow by the power of the Holy Spirit.

For Christ himself has brought us peace by making Jews and Gentiles one people. With his own body he broke down the wall that separated them and kept them enemies.

At one time you were not God's people, but now you are his people; at one time you did not know God's mercy, but now you have received his mercy.

Simon has just explained how God first showed his care for the Gentiles by taking from among them a people to belong to him.

Those whom God had already chosen he also set apart to become like his Son, so that the Son would be the first among many believers.

And so those whom God set apart, he called; and those he called, he put right with himself, and he shared his glory with them.

In the past you were spiritually dead because of your disobedience and sins.

Actually all of us were like them and lived according to our natural desires, doing whatever suited the wishes of our own bodies and minds. In our natural condition we, like everyone else, were destined to suffer God's anger.

that while we were spiritually dead in our disobedience he brought us to life with Christ. It is by God's grace that you have been saved.

He abolished the Jewish Law with its commandments and rules, in order to create out of the two races one new people in union with himself, in this way making peace.

So Christ came and preached the Good News of peace to all---to you Gentiles, who were far away from God, and to the Jews, who were near to him.

We must thank God at all times for you, friends, you whom the Lord loves. For God chose you as the first to be saved by the Spirit's power to make you his holy people and by your faith in the truth.

For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, and wrong. We were slaves to passions and pleasures of all kinds. We spent our lives in malice and envy; others hated us and we hated them.

he saved us. It was not because of any good deeds that we ourselves had done, but because of his own mercy that he saved us, through the Holy Spirit, who gives us new birth and new life by washing us.

My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.

Everyone whom my Father gives me will come to me. I will never turn away anyone who comes to me,

While he was talking, a shining cloud came over them, and a voice from the cloud said, "This is my own dear Son, with whom I am pleased---listen to him!"

He said, 'The God of our ancestors has chosen you to know his will, to see his righteous Servant, and to hear him speaking with his own voice.

Listen! I stand at the door and knock; if any hear my voice and open the door, I will come into their house and eat with them, and they will eat with me.

I will unite them into one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel. They will have one king to rule over them, and they will no longer be divided into two nations or split into two kingdoms.

For Christ himself has brought us peace by making Jews and Gentiles one people. With his own body he broke down the wall that separated them and kept them enemies.

The man who goes in through the gate is the shepherd of the sheep.

"I am the good shepherd, who is willing to die for the sheep.

The sayings of the wise are like the sharp sticks that shepherds use to guide sheep, and collected proverbs are as lasting as firmly driven nails. They have been given by God, the one Shepherd of us all.

I will give them a king like my servant David to be their one shepherd, and he will take care of them.

God has raised from death our Lord Jesus, who is the Great Shepherd of the sheep as the result of his blood, by which the eternal covenant is sealed. May the God of peace provide you with every good thing you need in order to do his will, and may he, through Jesus Christ, do in us what pleases him. And to Christ be the glory forever and ever! Amen.

You were like sheep that had lost their way, but now you have been brought back to follow the Shepherd and Keeper of your souls.

And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the glorious crown which will never lose its brightness.