The Good Shepherd
1 “Truly I tell you, anyone who doesn’t enter the sheep pen by the gate but climbs in some other way is a thief and a robber. x 2 The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd y of the sheep. z 3 The gatekeeper opens it for him, and the sheep hear his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4 When he has brought all his own outside, he goes ahead of them. The sheep follow him because they know his voice. 5 They will never follow a stranger; instead they will run away from him, because they don’t know the voice of strangers.”6 Jesus gave them this figure of speech, but they did not understand a what he was telling them.
7 Jesus said again, “Truly I tell you, I am b the gate for the sheep.c 8 All who came before me Z are thieves and robbers, but the sheep didn’t listen to them. 9 I am the gate. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will come in and go out and find pasture. 10 A thief comes only to steal d and kill and destroy. e I have come so that they may have life and have it in abundance.
11 “I am the good shepherd. f The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. g 12 The hired hand, since he is not the shepherd and doesn’t own the sheep, leaves them A and runs away when he sees a wolfh coming. The wolf then snatches and scatters them. 13 This happens because he is a hired hand and doesn’t care about the sheep.
14 “I am the good shepherd. I know my own, and my own know me, 15 just as the Father knows me, and I know the Father. i I lay down my lifej for the sheep. 16 But I have other sheep k that are not from this sheep pen; I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. Then there will be one flock, one shepherd. l 17 This is why the Father loves me, m because I lay down my life n so that I may take it up again. 18 No one takes it from me, but I lay it down on my own. I have the right to lay it down, and I have the right to take it up again. I have received this command from my Father.” o
19 Again the Jews were divided p because of these words. 20 Many of them were saying, “He has a demon q and he’s crazy. Why do you listen to him? ” 21 Others were saying, “These aren’t the words of someone who is demon-possessed. Can a demon open the eyes of the blind? ” r
Jesus at the Festival of Dedication
22 Then the Festival of Dedication took place in Jerusalem, and it was winter. 23 Jesus was walking in the temple in Solomon’s Colonnade. s 24 The Jews surrounded him and asked, “How long are you going to keep us in suspense? B If you are the Messiah, t tell us plainly.” C,u
25 “I did tell you and you don’t believe,” Jesus answered them. “The works v that I do in my Father’s name testify about me. 26 But you don’t believe because you are not of my sheep D,w 27 My sheep hear my voice, I know them, and they follow me.28 I give them eternal life, x and they will never perish. y No one will snatch z them out of my hand.29 My Father, a who has given them to me, is greater than all. No one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand.30 I and the Father are one.” b
Renewed Efforts to Stone Jesus
31 Again the Jews picked up rocks to stone him. c
32 Jesus replied, “I have shown you many good worksd from the Father. For which of these works are you stoning me? ”
33 “We aren’t stoning e you for a good work,” the Jews answered, “but for blasphemy, because you—being a man—make yourself God.”
34 Jesus answered them, “Isn’t it written in your law, E I said, you are gods? F,f 35 If he called those whom the word g of God came to ‘gods’—and the Scripture h cannot be broken— 36 do you say, ‘You are blaspheming’ to the one the Father set apart and sent into the world, because I said: I am the Son of God?i 37 If I am not doing my Father’s works, j don’t believe me. 38 But if I am doing them and you don’t believe me, believe the works. This way you will know and understand G that the Father is in me and I in the Father.” k 39 Then they were trying again to seize him, l but he eluded their grasp. m
Many beyond the Jordan Believe in Jesus
40 So he departed again across the Jordan n to the place where John o had been baptizing earlier, and he remained there. 41 Many came to him p and said, “John never did a sign, but everything John said about this man was true.” 42 And many believed in him there.