John 10

The Ideal Shepherd

10“^•I assure you: Anyone who doesn’t enter the sheep pen by the door but climbs in some other way, is a thief and a robber. ^o2The one who enters by the door is the shepherd ^pof the sheep. ^q3The doorkeeper opens it for him, and the sheep hear his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. ⁴When he has brought all his own outside, he goes ahead of them. The sheep follow him because they recognize his voice. ⁵They will never follow a stranger; instead they will run away from him, because they don’t recognize the voice of strangers.”

⁶Jesus gave them this illustration, but they did not understand ^rwhat He was telling them.

The Good Shepherd

⁷So Jesus said again, “I assure you: I am ^sthe door of the sheep. ^t8All who came before Me ^uare thieves and robbers, but the sheep didn’t listen to them. ⁹I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved and will come in and go out and find pasture. ¹⁰A thief comes only to steal ^vand to kill and to destroy. ^wI have come so that they may have life and have it in abundance.

¹¹“I am the good shepherd. ^xThe good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. ^y12The hired man, since he is not the shepherd and doesn’t own the sheep, leaves them ^zand runs away when he sees a wolf ^acoming. The wolf then snatches and scatters them. ¹³This happens because he is a hired man and doesn’t care about the sheep.

¹⁴“I am the good shepherd. I know My own sheep, and they know Me, ¹⁵as the Father knows Me, and I know the Father. ^bI lay down My life ^cfor the sheep. ¹⁶But I have other sheep ^dthat are not of this fold; I must bring them also, and they will listen to My voice. Then there will be one flock, one shepherd. ^e17This is why the Father loves Me, ^fbecause I am laying down My life ^gso I may take it up again. ¹⁸No 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.” ^h

¹⁹Again a division ⁱtook place among the Jews because of these words. ²⁰Many of them were saying, “He has a demon ^jand He’s crazy! Why do you listen to Him?” ²¹Others were saying, “These aren’t the words of someone demon-possessed. Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?” ^k

Jesus at the Festival of Dedication

²²Then the Festival of Dedication ^ltook place in Jerusalem, and it was winter. ²³Jesus was walking in the temple complex in Solomon’s Colonnade. ^mn24Then the Jews surrounded Him and asked, “How long are You going to keep us in suspense? ^oIf You are the Messiah, ^ptell us plainly.” ^qr

²⁵“I did tell you and you don’t believe,” Jesus answered them. “The works ^sthat I do in My Father’s name testify about Me. ²⁶But you don’t believe because you are not My sheep. ^tu27My sheep hear My voice, I know them, and they follow Me. ²⁸I give them eternal life, ^vand they will never perish ^w—ever! No one will snatch ^xthem out of My hand. ²⁹My Father, ^ywho has given them to Me, is greater than all. No one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. ³⁰The Father and I are one.” ^za

Renewed Efforts to Stone Jesus

³¹Again the Jews picked up rocks to stone Him. ^b

³²Jesus replied, “I have shown you many good works ^cfrom the Father. Which of these works are you stoning Me for?”

³³“We aren’t stoning ^dYou for a good work,” the Jews answered, “but for blasphemy, because You—being a man—make Yourself God.”

³⁴Jesus answered them, “Isn’t it written in your scripture, ^eI said, you are gods? ^fg35If He called those whom the word ^hof God came to ‘gods’—and the Scripture ⁱcannot be broken— ³⁶do 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? ^j37If I am not doing My Father’s works, ^kdon’t believe Me. ³⁸But if I am doing them and you don’t believe Me, believe the works. This way you will know and understand ^lthat the Father is in Me and I in the Father.” ^m39Then they were trying again to seize Him, ⁿyet He eluded their grasp. ^o

Many beyond the Jordan Believe in Jesus

⁴⁰So He departed again across the Jordan ^pto the place where John ^qhad been baptizing earlier, and He remained there. ⁴¹Many came to Him ^rand said, “John never did a sign, but everything John said about this man was true.” ⁴²And many believed in Him there.