Psalm 9:3–6, 13–14

³When my enemies turn back,
they stumble and perish before your presence.
⁴For you have maintained my just cause;
you have sat on the throne, giving righteous judgment.
⁵You have rebuked the nations; you have made the wicked perish;
you have blotted out their name forever and ever.
⁶The enemy came to an end in everlasting ruins;
their cities you rooted out;
the very memory of them has perished.

¹³Be gracious to me, O Lord!
See my affliction from those who hate me,
O you who lift me up from the gates of death,
¹⁴that I may recount all your praises,
that in the gates of the daughter of Zion
I may rejoice in your salvation.

Old Testament Reading Ecclesiastes 10

¹Dead flies make the perfumer’s ointment give off a stench;
so a little folly outweighs wisdom and honor.
²A wise man’s heart inclines him to the right,
but a fool’s heart to the left.
³Even when the fool walks on the road, he lacks sense,
and he says to everyone that he is a fool.
⁴If the anger of the ruler rises against you, do not leave your place,
for calmness will lay great offenses to rest.

⁵There is an evil that I have seen under the sun, as it were an error proceeding from the ruler: ⁶folly is set in many high places, and the rich sit in a low place. ⁷I have seen slaves on horses, and princes walking on the ground like slaves.

⁸He who digs a pit will fall into it,
and a serpent will bite him who breaks through a wall.
⁹He who quarries stones is hurt by them,
and he who splits logs is endangered by them.
¹⁰If the iron is blunt, and one does not sharpen the edge,
he must use more strength,
but wisdom helps one to succeed.
¹¹If the serpent bites before it is charmed,
there is no advantage to the charmer.
¹²The words of a wise man’s mouth win him favor,
but the lips of a fool consume him.
¹³The beginning of the words of his mouth is foolishness,
and the end of his talk is evil madness.
¹⁴A fool multiplies words,
though no man knows what is to be,
and who can tell him what will be after him?
¹⁵The toil of a fool wearies him,
for he does not know the way to the city.
¹⁶Woe to you, O land, when your king is a child,
and your princes feast in the morning!
¹⁷Happy are you, O land, when your king is the son of the nobility,
and your princes feast at the proper time,
for strength, and not for drunkenness!
¹⁸Through sloth the roof sinks in,
and through indolence the house leaks.
¹⁹Bread is made for laughter,
and wine gladdens life,
and money answers everything.
²⁰Even in your thought, do not curse the king,
nor in your bedroom curse the rich,
for a bird of the air will carry your voice,
or some winged creature tell the matter.

New Testament Reading John 10:1–21

¹“Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs in by another way, that man is a thief and a robber. ²But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. ³To him the gatekeeper opens. The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. ⁴When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. ⁵A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.” ⁶This figure of speech Jesus used with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them.

⁷So Jesus again said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. ⁸All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. ⁹I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture. ¹⁰The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. ¹¹I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. ¹²He who is a hired hand and not a shepherd, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. ¹³He flees because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. ¹⁴I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, ¹⁵just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep. ¹⁶And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd. ¹⁷For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again. ¹⁸No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father.”

¹⁹There was again a division among the Jews because of these words. ²⁰Many of them said, “He has a demon, and is insane; why listen to him?” ²¹Others said, “These are not the words of one who is oppressed by a demon. Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?”