³⁶ When he saw the crowds, he felt compassion for them, because they were distressed and dejected,^(A) like sheep without a shepherd.^(B)

⁶ Instead, go to the lost sheep^(A) of the house of Israel.^(B)

Persecutions Predicted

¹⁶ “Look, I’m sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as serpents and as innocent as doves.^(A)

¹¹ He replied to them, “Who among you, if he had a sheep that fell into a pit on the Sabbath, wouldn’t take hold of it and lift it out?^{(A) 12} A person is worth far more than a sheep; ^(B) so it is lawful to do what is good on the Sabbath.”

²⁴ He replied, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”^(A)

¹² What do you think?^(A) If someone has a hundred sheep, and one of them goes astray, won’t he leave the ninety-nine on the hillside and go and search for the stray?^{(B) 13} And if he finds it, truly I tell you, he rejoices over that sheep^[a] more than over the ninety-nine that did not go astray.