Christ the King, Year C

¹ “Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture!” says the LORD. ² Therefore the LORD, the God of Israel, says against the shepherds who feed my people: “You have scattered my flock, driven them away, and have not visited them. Behold, I will visit on you the evil of your doings,” says the LORD. ³ “I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all the countries where I have driven them, and will bring them again to their folds; and they will be fruitful and multiply. ⁴ I will set up shepherds over them, who will feed them. They will no longer be afraid or dismayed, neither will any be lacking,” says the LORD. ⁵ “Behold, the days come,” says the LORD, “that I will raise to David a righteous Branch, and he will reign as king and deal wisely, and will execute justice and righteousness in the land. ⁶ In his days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell safely. This is his name by which he will be called: the LORD our righteousness.

¹ God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. ² Therefore we won’t be afraid, though the earth changes, though the mountains are shaken into the heart of the seas; ³ though its waters roar and are troubled, though the mountains tremble with their swelling. ⁴ There is a river, the streams of which make the city of God glad, the holy place of the tents of the Most High. ⁵ God is within her. She shall not be moved. God will help her at dawn. ⁶ The nations raged. The kingdoms were moved. He lifted his voice and the earth melted. ⁷ The LORD of Armies is with us. The God of Jacob is our refuge. ⁸ Come, see the LORD’s works, what desolations he has made in the earth. ⁹ He makes wars cease to the end of the earth. He breaks the bow, and shatters the spear. He burns the chariots in the fire. ¹⁰ “Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations. I will be exalted in the earth.” ¹¹ The LORD of Armies is with us. The God of Jacob is our refuge.

¹¹ strengthened with all power, according to the might of his glory, for all endurance and perseverance with joy, ¹² giving thanks to the Father, who made us fit to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light, ¹³ who delivered us out of the power of darkness, and translated us into the Kingdom of the Son of his love, ¹⁴ in whom we have our redemption, the forgiveness of our sins. ¹⁵ He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. ¹⁶ For by him all things were created in the heavens and on the earth, visible things and invisible things, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things have been created through him and for him. ¹⁷ He is before all things, and in him all things are held together. ¹⁸ He is the head of the body, the assembly, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things he might have the preeminence. ¹⁹ For all the fullness was pleased to dwell in him, ²⁰ and through him to reconcile all things to himself by him, whether things on the earth or things in the heavens, having made peace through the blood of his cross.