Think of it this way: If a man owns a hundred sheep and one lamb wanders away and is lost, won’t he leave the ninety-nine grazing the hillside and thoroughly search for the one lost lamb?
As a good shepherd searches after his scattered sheep, so I will look after my sheep and rescue them from wherever they have been scattered on the day of disaster.
Foreign powers will no longer plunder them; the wild beasts of the land will no longer feast on them. They will live safe and secure, with no one to frighten them.
Like wayward sheep, we have all wandered astray. Each of us has turned from God’s paths and chosen our own way; even so, Yahweh laid the guilt of our every sin upon him.
You were like sheep that continually wandered away, but now you have returned to the true Shepherd of your lives—the kind Guardian who lovingly watches over your souls.
“My people are like lost sheep; their shepherds led them astray. They are lost, wandering about in the mountains. They went from mountain to hill, forgetting their resting place.
Jesus said to his critics, “Tell me what you think of this parable: “There once was a man with two sons. The father came to the first and said, ‘Son, I want you to go and work in the vineyard today.’
You haven’t cared for the weak ones, brought healing to the sick, nor bandaged those who are injured. You haven’t looked for the strays nor brought the lost back to the fold. Instead, you have ruled over them cruelly and treated them harshly.