John 10

¹“Amen, amen, I tell you: the one who does not enter the sheepfold through the door but climbs up by some other way—that person is a thief and a bandit. ²But the one who enters through the door is the shepherd of the sheep. ³The gatekeeper opens the door for him, and the sheep listen to his voice; he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. ⁴When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice. ⁵They will never follow a stranger; instead, they will run away from him because they do not know the voice of strangers.”

⁶Jesus told them this figure of speech, but they did not grasp what he was telling them. ⁷So Jesus said again, “Amen, amen, I tell you: I am the door for the sheep. ⁸All who came before me are thieves and bandits, but the sheep did not listen to them. ⁹I am the door; if anyone enters through me, they will be rescued, and they will come in and go out and find pasture. ¹⁰The thief comes only to steal, to slaughter, and to destroy. I came so that they might have life, and have it in abundance.

¹¹I am the noble shepherd. The noble shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. ¹²The hired hand, who is not a shepherd and does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and abandons the sheep and runs away—and the wolf snatches them and scatters them— ¹³because he is a hired hand and has no concern for the sheep. ¹⁴I am the noble 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. ¹⁶I have other sheep that are not from this fold; I must lead those as well, and they will listen to my voice. Then there will be one flock, one shepherd.

¹⁷The Father loves me for this reason: because I lay down my life so that I may take it up again. ¹⁸No one takes it from me; rather, I lay it down of my own accord. I have the authority to lay it down, and I have the authority to take it up again. This is the mandate I received from my Father.”

¹⁹A division again broke out among the Judeans because of these words. ²⁰Many of them were saying, “He has a demon and is out of his mind! Why do you listen to him?” ²¹Others said, “These are not the sayings of a demon-possessed man. Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?”

²²Then the Festival of Dedication took place in Jerusalem. It was winter, ²³and Jesus was walking in the temple complex, in the Colonnade of Solomon. ²⁴So the Judeans surrounded him and began asking him, “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly.”

²⁵Jesus answered them, “I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father’s name—these bear witness about me. ²⁶But you do not believe because you are not among my sheep. ²⁷My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. ²⁸I give them eternal life, and they will never perish—ever—and no one will snatch them out of my hand. ²⁹My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. ³⁰I and the Father are one.”

³¹The Judeans again picked up stones to stone him. ³²Jesus replied to them, “I have shown you many noble works from the Father. For which of these works are you stoning me?”

³³The Judeans answered him, “We are not stoning you for a noble work but for blasphemy, because you, being a mere man, make yourself out to be God.”

³⁴Jesus answered them, “Is it not written in your Law, ‘I said, you are gods’? ³⁵If it called those people ‘gods’ to whom the word of God came—and the Scripture cannot be nullified— ³⁶do you say of the one whom the Father consecrated and sent into the world, ‘You are blaspheming,’ because I said, ‘I am God’s Son’? ³⁷If I am not doing the works of my Father, do not believe me. ³⁸But if I am doing them, even if you do not believe me, believe the works, so that you may come to know and continue to know that the Father is in me and I am in the Father.”

³⁹They tried again to seize him, but he escaped from their hands. ⁴⁰He went away again across the Jordan to the place where John was first baptizing, and he stayed there. ⁴¹Many came to him and were saying, “John performed no sign, but everything John said about this man was true.” ⁴²And many believed in him there.