1 Peter 2:25
New International Version
For “you were like sheep going astray,” but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.

New Living Translation
Once you were like sheep who wandered away. But now you have turned to your Shepherd, the Guardian of your souls.

English Standard Version
For you were straying like sheep, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.

Berean Standard Bible
For “you were like sheep going astray,” but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.

Berean Literal Bible
For you were like sheep going astray, but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.

King James Bible
For ye were as sheep going astray; but are now returned unto the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls.

New King James Version
For you were like sheep going astray, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.

New American Standard Bible
For you were continually straying like sheep, but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Guardian of your souls.

NASB 1995
For you were continually straying like sheep, but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Guardian of your souls.

NASB 1977
For you were continually straying like sheep, but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Guardian of your souls.

Legacy Standard Bible
For you were continually straying like sheep, but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.

Amplified Bible
For you were continually wandering like [so many] sheep, but now you have come back to the Shepherd and Guardian of your souls.

Christian Standard Bible
For you were like sheep going astray, but you have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
For you were like sheep going astray, but you have now returned to the Shepherd and Guardian of your souls.

American Standard Version
For ye were going astray like sheep; but are now returned unto the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls.

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
For you had gone astray like sheep, and you have returned now to The Shepherd and The Caregiver of your souls.

Contemporary English Version
You had wandered away like sheep. Now you have returned to the one who is your shepherd and protector.

Douay-Rheims Bible
For you were as sheep going astray; but you are now converted to the shepherd and bishop of your souls.

English Revised Version
For ye were going astray like sheep; but are now returned unto the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
You were like lost sheep. Now you have come back to the shepherd and bishop of your lives.

Good News Translation
You were like sheep that had lost their way, but now you have been brought back to follow the Shepherd and Keeper of your souls.

International Standard Version
You were "like sheep that kept going astray," but now you have returned to the shepherd and overseer of your souls.

Literal Standard Version
for you were as sheep going astray, but now you turned back to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.

Majority Standard Bible
For “you were like sheep going astray,” but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.

New American Bible
For you had gone astray like sheep, but you have now returned to the shepherd and guardian of your souls.

NET Bible
For you were going astray like sheep but now you have turned back to the shepherd and guardian of your souls.

New Revised Standard Version
For you were going astray like sheep, but now you have returned to the shepherd and guardian of your souls.

New Heart English Bible
For you were going astray like sheep; but now have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.

Webster's Bible Translation
For ye were as sheep going astray; but are now returned to the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls.

Weymouth New Testament
For you were straying like lost sheep, but now you have come back to the Shepherd and Protector of your souls.

World English Bible
For you were going astray like sheep; but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.

Young's Literal Translation
for ye were as sheep going astray, but ye turned back now to the shepherd and overseer of your souls.

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
Christ's Example of Suffering
24He Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. “By His stripes you are healed.” 25For “you were like sheep going astray,” but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.

Cross References
Psalm 23:1
The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.

Isaiah 13:14
Like a hunted gazelle, like a sheep without a shepherd, each will return to his own people, each will flee to his native land.

Isaiah 53:5
But He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed.

Isaiah 53:6
We all like sheep have gone astray, each one has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid upon Him the iniquity of us all.

Ezekiel 34:6
My flock went astray on all the mountains and every high hill. They were scattered over the face of all the earth, with no one to search for them or seek them out.'

John 10:11
I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep.

John 10:16
I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them in as well, and they will listen to My voice. Then there will be one flock and one shepherd.


Treasury of Scripture

For you were as sheep going astray; but are now returned to the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls.

ye.

Psalm 119:176
I have gone astray like a lost sheep; seek thy servant; for I do not forget thy commandments.

Isaiah 53:6
All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.

Jeremiah 23:2
Therefore thus saith the LORD God of Israel against the pastors that feed my people; Ye have scattered my flock, and driven them away, and have not visited them: behold, I will visit upon you the evil of your doings, saith the LORD.

the Shepherd.

1 Peter 5:4
And when the chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away.

Psalm 23:1-3
A Psalm of David. The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want…

Psalm 80:1
To the chief Musician upon ShoshannimEduth, A Psalm of Asaph. Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel, thou that leadest Joseph like a flock; thou that dwellest between the cherubims, shine forth.

Bishop.

Hebrews 3:1
Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our profession, Christ Jesus;

Acts 20:28
Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood.

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Astray Bishop Continually Guardian Keeps Lost Overseer Protector Sheep Shepherd Souls Straying Turned Watch Way
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Astray Bishop Continually Guardian Keeps Lost Overseer Protector Sheep Shepherd Souls Straying Turned Watch Way
1 Peter 2
1. He exhorts to put away wickedness;
4. showing that Christ is the foundation whereupon they are built.
11. He beseeches them also to abstain from sinful desires;
13. to be obedient to authorities;
18. and teaches servants how to obey their masters;
20. patiently suffering for well doing, after the example of Christ.














(25) For ye were as sheep going astray.--The right reading does not attach "going astray" to "sheep," but as predicate of the sentence, "ye were going astray like sheep." The "for" introduces an explanation of how they came to be in need of "healing." "I may well say that ye were healed; for Israelites though you are, your consciences and memories tell you that you were as far gone in wilful error as any Gentiles, and needed as complete a conversion." (Comp. 1Peter 2:10.) Jew and Gentile take different ways, but both alike fulfil the prophecy, "every man to his own way." The two metaphors, of healing and going astray, do not match very well, but the fact that both are quotations from Isaiah 53 makes their disagreement less harsh. We must notice how deeply that prophecy (the interpretation of which was probably learned from the Baptist) had sunk into St. Peter's mind. (See 1Peter 1:19.)

But are now returned.--The tense of the original verb points to the actual historical time at which it took place, rather than the position now occupied, "but now ye returned." The word "now" is used in the same way in 1Peter 2:10, where literally it is, "but now did obtain mercy." "Returned" does not in the Greek imply that they had at first been under the Shepherd's care and had left Him. The word is that which is often rendered "were converted," and only indicates that they turned round and moved in a contrary direction.

The shepherd and bishop of your souls.--Undoubtedly this means Christ. The first of the two titles is of course suggested by the simile of the sheep. The image is so natural and so frequent, that we can not say for certain that it proves St. Peter's acquaintance with the parable of the Good Shepherd in John 10. More probably, perhaps, he is thinking of Psalm 23:3, "He converted my soul" (LXX.), where "the Lord," as usual, may be taken to mean the Son of God rather than the Father; or else of Ezekiel 34:11; Ezekiel 34:16, where the words rendered "seek them out" in our version is represented in the LXX. by that from which the name of a "bishop" is derived. (Comp. Ezekiel 34:23; Ezekiel 37:24; also Isaiah 40:11, which last citation comes from a passage which has been in St. Peter's mind just before, 1Peter 1:24.) It is hardly necessary to add that to the Hebrew mind the thought of superintendence and ruling, not that of giving food, was uppermost when they spoke of shepherds, and that the pastors spoken of in the Old Testament are not the priests or givers of spiritual nutriment, but the kings and princes. Thus it will here be nearly synonymous with the second title of bishop. This name suggests in the first instance not so much overseeing as visiting--i.e., going carefully into the different cases brought under the officer's notice. (Comp. 1Peter 5:2; 1Peter 5:4, and Acts 20:28.) Both words were already familiar as ecclesiastical words already, and as such were especially appropriate to Christ, the Head of the Church; but as they had not yet become stereotyped in that sense, the writer adds, "of your souls," to show that it was not an outward sovereignty and protectorate which the Messiah had assumed over them. "Soul" is a word of which St. Peter is fond (1Peter 1:9; 1Peter 1:22; 1Peter 2:11; 1Peter 4:19; 2Peter 2:8), but which is, perhaps, never used by St. Paul in this sense. It is to be remarked how St. Peter works almost every section of the Epistle round, so as to end with some encouragement to the readers to cling to Jesus as the Messiah, and to their Christian state, from which they were in danger of receding into Judaism. He makes even the special exhortations lead up to that which is the main exhortation of the Letter. . . .

Verse 25. - For ye were as sheep going astray; rather, with the best manuscripts, for ye were going astray like sheep. The apostle is probably still thinking of the great prophecy of Isaiah, and here almost reproduces the words of the sixth verse, "All we like sheep have gone astray." He who had been thrice charged to feed the sheep and the lambs of Christ would think also of the parable of the lost sheep, and of the people of Israel who were "as sheep having no shepherd" (Matthew 9:36). But are now returned unto the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls; literally, but ye returned (the verb is aorist); that is, at the time of their conversion. The aorist passive, ἐπεστράφην, is so frequently used in a middle sense that the translation, "ye were converted," cannot be insisted on (comp. Mark 5:30; Matthew 9:22; Matthew 10:13). Christ is the Shepherd of our souls. The quotation from Isaiah doubtless brought before St. Peter's thoughts the sweet and holy allegory of the good Shepherd, which he had heard from the Savior's lips (comp. also Isaiah 40:11; Ezekiel 34:23; Ezekiel 37:24; also Psalm 22.). The word "bishop" (ἐπίσκοπος) is used in a similar connection in Acts 20:28, "Take heed... to all the flock over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers (ἐπισκόπους);" comp. also Ezekiel 34:11, "I will both search my sheep, and seek them out," where the Greek word for "seek them out" is ἐπισκέψομαι. The Lord Jesus Christ is the chief Shepherd (1 Peter 5:4). He is also the chief Bishop or Overseer of those souls which he has bought to be his own with his most precious blood.



Parallel Commentaries ...


Greek
For
γὰρ (gar)
Conjunction
Strong's 1063: For. A primary particle; properly, assigning a reason.

you were
Ἦτε (Ēte)
Verb - Imperfect Indicative Active - 2nd Person Plural
Strong's 1510: I am, exist. The first person singular present indicative; a prolonged form of a primary and defective verb; I exist.

like
ὡς (hōs)
Adverb
Strong's 5613: Probably adverb of comparative from hos; which how, i.e. In that manner.

sheep
πρόβατα (probata)
Noun - Nominative Neuter Plural
Strong's 4263: A sheep. Probably neuter of a presumed derivative of probaino; something that walks forward, i.e., a sheep.

going astray,
πλανώμενοι (planōmenoi)
Verb - Present Participle Middle or Passive - Nominative Masculine Plural
Strong's 4105: To lead astray, deceive, cause to wander. From plane; to roam.

but
ἀλλὰ (alla)
Conjunction
Strong's 235: But, except, however. Neuter plural of allos; properly, other things, i.e. contrariwise.

now
νῦν (nyn)
Adverb
Strong's 3568: A primary particle of present time; 'now'; also as noun or adjective present or immediate.

you have returned
ἐπεστράφητε (epestraphēte)
Verb - Aorist Indicative Passive - 2nd Person Plural
Strong's 1994: From epi and strepho; to revert.

to
ἐπὶ (epi)
Preposition
Strong's 1909: On, to, against, on the basis of, at.

the
τὸν (ton)
Article - Accusative Masculine Singular
Strong's 3588: The, the definite article. Including the feminine he, and the neuter to in all their inflections; the definite article; the.

Shepherd
Ποιμένα (Poimena)
Noun - Accusative Masculine Singular
Strong's 4166: A shepherd; hence met: of the feeder, protector, and ruler of a flock of men. Of uncertain affinity; a shepherd.

and
καὶ (kai)
Conjunction
Strong's 2532: And, even, also, namely.

Overseer
Ἐπίσκοπον (Episkopon)
Noun - Accusative Masculine Singular
Strong's 1985: From epi and skopos; a superintendent, i.e. Christian officer in genitive case charge of a church.

of
τῶν (tōn)
Article - Genitive Feminine Plural
Strong's 3588: The, the definite article. Including the feminine he, and the neuter to in all their inflections; the definite article; the.

your
ὑμῶν (hymōn)
Personal / Possessive Pronoun - Genitive 2nd Person Plural
Strong's 4771: You. The person pronoun of the second person singular; thou.

souls.
ψυχῶν (psychōn)
Noun - Genitive Feminine Plural
Strong's 5590: From psucho; breath, i.e. spirit, abstractly or concretely.


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NT Letters: 1 Peter 2:25 For you were going astray like sheep (1 Pet. 1P iP i Pet)
1 Peter 2:24
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