Shabbat Shalom!
Welcome to Va’etchanan / And I Pleaded - this week’s Prophetic reading
Prophecy 25, 62, 110;
Deuteronomy 3:23-7:11;
Isaiah 40:1-26;
John 10:1-42;
Isaiah 40:1-26
1 Comfort, O comfort My people, says your ELOHIM. 2 Speak lovingly to the heart of Jerusalem; yea, cry to her that her warfare is
done, that her iniquity is pardoned; for she has taken from the hand of YAHUVEH
double for all her sins. 3 The voice of him who cries in the wilderness: Prepare the way of YAHUVEH; make
straight in the desert a highway for our ELOHIM. 4 Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low;
and the knoll shall be a level place, and the rough places a plain. 5 And the glory of YAHUVEH shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it
together, for the mouth of YAHUVEH has spoken. 6 A voice said, Cry! And he said, What shall I cry? All flesh is grass, and all
its grace as the flower of the field! 7 The grass withers, the flower fades because the Spirit of YAHUVEH blows on it.
Surely the people is grass. 8 The grass withers; the flower fades; but the Word of our ELOHIM shall rise
forever. 9 Go up for yourself on the high mountain, one bearing good news to Zion; lift
up your voice with strength, one bearing good news to Jerusalem. Lift up, do not
fear. Say to the cities of Judah, Behold! Your ELOHIM! 10 Behold, Adonai YAHUVEH will come with strength, and His arm rules for Him.
Behold, His reward is with Him, and His wage before Him. 11 He shall feed His flock like a shepherd; He shall gather lambs with His arm;
and carry them in His bosom; those with young He will lead; 12 who has measured in His hand the waters and the heavens by a span meted out;
and enclosed in the measure the dust of the earth, and weighed in the balance
the mountains, and the hills in the scales, 13 who has meted out the Spirit of YAHUVEH, or a man His counsel taught Him? 14 With whom did He take counsel, and who trained Him and taught Him in the path
of justice; and taught Him knowledge, and made known to Him the way of
discernment? 15 Lo, nations are as a drop from a bucket, and are reckoned as dust of the
scales. Lo, He takes up coasts as a little thing. 16 And Lebanon is not enough to burn, nor are its beasts enough for a burnt
offering. 17 All the nations are as nothing before Him; to Him they are reckoned less than
nothing and emptiness. 18 And to whom will you liken El? Or what likeness will you array to Him? 19 The craftsman pours out the casted image, the smelter spreads it with gold;
and he casts the chains of silver. 20 He too poor for that offering chooses a tree that will not rot; he seeks a
skilled artisan for him, to prepare a carved image that will not be shaken. 21 Have you not known? Have you not heard? Was it not told to you from the
beginning? Did you not discern from the foundations of the earth? 22 He who sits on the circle of the earth, even those living in it are like
grasshoppers; He who stretches the heavens like a curtain, and spreads them like
a tent to live in; 23 who brings princes into nothing. He makes judges of the earth as nothing. 24 Yea, they shall not be planted; yea, they are not sown; yea, their stem is
not taking root in the earth. And He shall also blow on them, and they shall
wither, and the whirlwind shall lift them up like stubble and take them away. 25 To whom then will you compare Me, or am I equaled, says the Holy One? 26 Lift up your eyes on high and look: Who has created these? Who brings out
their host by number? By greatness of vigor, and might of power, He calls them
all by names; not one is lacking.
John 10:1-42
1 Truly, truly I say to you that he who does not enter into the sheepfold of the
flock by the gate but climbs up by another place; he is a thief and a robber. 2 But the one entering through the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. 3 The doorkeeper opens to him, and the sheep hear his voice, and he calls his
own sheep by name, and leads them out. 4 And when he puts forth his own sheep, he goes in front of them, and the sheep
follow him because they know his voice. 5 But they will not follow a foreigner, never! But they will flee from him,
because they do not know the voice of the strangers. 6 YAHUSHUA spoke this parable to them, but they did not know what it was which
He spoke to them. 7 Then YAHUSHUA again said to them, Truly, truly, I say to you that I am the
gate of the sheep. 8 All who came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear
them. 9 I am the gate. If anyone enters through Me, he will have life, and will go in,
and will go out, and will find pasture. 10 The thief does not come except that he may steal, and kill, and destroy. I
came that they may have life and may have it abundantly. 11 I am the Good Shepherd! The Good Shepherd lays down His life on behalf of the
sheep. 12 But the hireling, not even being a shepherd, who does not own the sheep, sees
the wolf coming and forsakes the sheep and flees. And the wolf seizes them, and
scatters the sheep. 13 But the hireling flees because he is a hireling, and there is not a care to
him concerning the sheep. 14 I am the Good Shepherd, and I know those that are Mine, and I am known by the
ones that are Mine. 15 Even as the Father knows Me, I also know the Father; and I lay down My life
for the sheep. 16 And I also have other sheep, those who were not from this sheepfold. And also
them, It is necessary for me to bring them and they will hear my voice and all
the flocks will become one. And there will be One Shepherd. 17 For this reason My Father loves Me, because I lay down My life, that I may
take it up again. 18 No man takes it from Me but I lay it down by My own will. For I have
authority to lay it down and I have authority to take it up again, for this
commandment I have received from my Father. 19 Then a division occurred again among the Jews, because of these words. 20 And many of them said, He has a demon and is insane. Why do you hear Him? 21 Others said, These are not words of one having been possessed by a demon. A
demon is not able to open the eyes of blind ones. 22 And the Feast of Dedication took place in Jerusalem, and it was winter. 23 And YAHUSHUA was walking in the sanctuary, in Solomon’s Porch. 24 Then the Jews encircled Him, and said to Him, Until when do You lift up our
soul? If You are the Messiah, tell us openly. 25 YAHUSHUA answered them, I told you, and you did not believe. The works which
I do in the name of My Father, these bear witness about Me. 26 But you do not believe for you are not of My sheep, as I said to you. 27 My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. 28 And I give eternal life to them, and they shall not perish forever! And not
anyone shall snatch them out of My hand. 29 My Father who has given them to Me is greater than all, and no one is able to
snatch out of My Father’s hand. 30 I and the Father are One ! 31 Then again the Jews took up stones, that they might stone Him. 32 YAHUSHUA answered them, Many pleasing works from the presence of My Father I
have shown you. For which of them do you stone Me? 33 The Jews answered Him, saying, We do not stone You concerning a good work,
but concerning blasphemy; and because You, being a son of man, make Yourself
ELOHIM. 34 YAHUSHUA answered them, Has it not been written in your Law, “I have told
you, you are elohim?” 35 If those people He called elohim because the Word of ELOHIM was with them and
scripture is not able to be broken. 36 To Him whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world you say, You
blaspheme! concerning that I had told you that I am the SON of ELOHIM. 37 If I do not do the works of My Father, do not believe Me. 38 But if I do, even if you do not believe Me, believe the works, that you may
perceive and may believe that the Father is in Me, and I in Him. 39 Then again they sought to seize Him. And He went forth from their hand. 40 And He went away across the Jordan to the place where John was at first
baptizing and remained there. 41 And many came to Him and said, John indeed did no miraculous sign, but all
things that John said concerning this One were true. 42 And many believed into Him there.