Howe thynke ye? If a man haue an hundred shepe, & one of them be gone astray, doth he not leaue nynty and nyne in the mountaynes, and go & seke that one whych is gone astraye.
Lyke as a shepherde amonge the flocke seketh after the shepe that are scatered abroade, euen so wyll I seke after my shepe, & gather them together oute of all places, wher they haue bene scatred in the cloudy & darcke daye.
Suche as be loste, wyll I seke: suche as go astraye, wyll I bryng agayn: suche as be wounded, wil I bynde vp: suche as be weake, wyll I make stronge: suche as be fat and well lyking, those wil I preserue, and fede them with the thynge that is laufull.
My shepe go wandrynge vpon all mountaynes, and vpon euerye hye hyl. Yea they be scatred abroade in al feldes, and there is no man, that careth for them, or seketh after them.
My people hath bene a lost flocke, my shepherdes haue disceyued them, and haue made them go astraye vpon the hylles. They haue gone from the mountayne to the litle hyl, and forgotten their folde.
The weake haue ye not holden vp, the sicke haue ye not healed: the broken haue ye not bounde together, the oute castes haue ye not brought agayne: the lost haue ye not soughte, but churlishly and cruellye haue ye ruled them.