³⁶ When He saw the crowds, He felt compassion for them, because they were weary and worn out,^(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 harmless as doves.^(A)

¹¹ But He said to them, “What man among you, if he had a sheep^[a] that fell into a pit on the Sabbath, wouldn’t take hold of it and lift it out?^{(A) 12} A man 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 a man has 100 sheep, and one of them goes astray, won’t he leave the 99 on the hillside and go and search for the stray?^{(B) 13} And if he finds it, I assure you: He rejoices over that sheep^[a] more than over the 99 that did not go astray.