who may go out before them and go in before them, who may lead them out and bring them in, that the congregation of the Lord may not be like sheep which have no shepherd.”
Parallel translations
- WEB who may go out before them, and who may come in before them, and who may lead them out, and who may bring them in; that the congregation of Yahweh not be as sheep which have no shepherd.”
- KJV Which may go out before them, and which may go in before them, and which may lead them out, and which may bring them in; that the congregation of the LORD be not as sheep which have no shepherd.
- BSB who will go out and come in before them, and who will lead them out and bring them in, so that the congregation of the LORD will not be like sheep without a shepherd.”
- NASB who will go out and come in before them, and lead them out and bring them in, so that the congregation of the Lord will not be like sheep that have no shepherd.”
- NLT Give them someone who will guide them wherever they go and will lead them into battle, so the community of the Lord will not be like sheep without a shepherd.”
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
He prays for a leader to guide Israel so they will not be like sheep without a shepherd.
Overview
Moses longs for a shepherd to go before the people in and out, lest they scatter leaderless. This very image is taken up by Jesus, who was moved with compassion for the crowds harassed and helpless like sheep without a shepherd (Matthew 9:36), revealing Himself as the true Shepherd Israel ultimately needed.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 18
- Ezek 34:5They were scattered, because there was no shepherd; and they became food to all the animals of the field, and were scattered.
- Mark 6:34Jesus came out, saw a great multitude, and he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd, and he began to teach them many things.
- 1 Kgs 22:17He said, “I saw all Israel scattered on the mountains, as sheep that have no shepherd. Yahweh said, ‘These have no master. Let them each return to his house in peace.’”
- 2 Chr 1:10Now give me wisdom and knowledge, that I may go out and come in before this people; for who can judge this great people of yours?”
- Matt 9:36But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion for them, because they were harassed and scattered, like sheep without a shepherd.
- Zech 10:2For the teraphim have spoken vanity, and the diviners have seen a lie; and they have told false dreams. They comfort in vain. Therefore they go their way like sheep. They are oppressed, because there is no shepherd.
- Deut 31:2He said to them, “I am one hundred twenty years old today. I can no more go out and come in. Yahweh has said to me, ‘You shall not go over this Jordan.’
- 1 Kgs 3:7Now, Yahweh my God, you have made your servant king instead of David my father. I am just a little child. I don’t know how to go out or come in.
- 1 Sam 8:20that we also may be like all the nations, and that our king may judge us, and go out before us, and fight our battles.”
- 1 Sam 18:13Therefore Saul removed him from his presence, and made him his captain over a thousand; and he went out and came in before the people.
- 1 Pet 2:25For you were going astray like sheep; but now have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.
- 2 Sam 5:2In times past, when Saul was king over us, it was you who led Israel out and in. Yahweh said to you, ‘You will be shepherd of my people Israel, and you will be prince over Israel.’”
- 2 Chr 18:16He said, “I saw all Israel scattered on the mountains, as sheep that have no shepherd. Yahweh said, ‘These have no master. Let them each return to his house in peace.’”
- Zech 13:7“Awake, sword, against my shepherd, and against the man who is close to me,” says Yahweh of Armies. “Strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered; and I will turn my hand against the little ones.
- Matt 10:6Rather, go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
- Matt 15:24But he answered, “I wasn’t sent to anyone but the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”
- John 10:9I am the door. If anyone enters in by me, he will be saved, and will go in and go out, and will find pasture.
- John 10:3–4The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name, and leads them out.
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Christ at the center
In the wilderness Christ is the water from the rock, the bronze serpent lifted up that the dying might look and live (John 3:14), and the star and scepter that Balaam saw rising out of Jacob.
How Numbers 27:17 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.