^10:9I am the door. If anyone enters through me, he will be saved, and will come in and go out,²¹ and find pasture.²²^10:10The thief comes only to steal and kill²³ and destroy; I have come so that they may have life, and may have it abundantly.²⁴

^10:11“I am the good²⁵ shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life²⁶ for the sheep. ^10:12The hired hand,²⁷ who is not a shepherd and does not own sheep, sees the wolf coming and abandons²⁸ the sheep and runs away.²⁹ So the wolf attacks³⁰ the sheep and scatters them. ^10:13Because he is a hired hand and is not concerned about the sheep,³¹ he runs away.³²

Read in Logos

John 10:10: The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.

Footnotes

21 Since the Greek phrase εἰσέρχομαι καὶ ἐξέρχομαι (eiserchomai kai exerchomai, “come in and go out”) is in some places an idiom for living or conducting oneself in relationship to some community (“to live with, to live among” [cf. Acts 1:21; see also Num 27:17; 2 Chr 1:10]), it may well be that Jesus’ words here look forward to the new covenant community of believers. Another significant NT text is Luke 9:4, where both these verbs occur in the context of the safety and security provided by a given household for the disciples. See also εἰσέρχομαι 1.b.β.
22 That is, pasture land in contrast to cultivated land.
23 That is, “to slaughter” (in reference to animals).
24 That is, more than one would normally expect or anticipate.
25 Or “model” (see R. E. Brown, John [], 1:, who argues that “model” is a more exact translation of καλός [kalos] here).
26 Or “The good shepherd dies willingly.” Jesus speaks openly of his vicarious death twice in this section (John 10:11, 15). Note the contrast: The thief takes the life of the sheep (10:10), the good shepherd lays down his own life for the sheep. Jesus is not speaking generally here, but specifically: He has his own substitutionary death on the cross in view. For a literal shepherd with a literal flock, the shepherd’s death would have spelled disaster for the sheep; in this instance it spells life for them (Compare the worthless shepherd of Zech 11:17, by contrast).
27 Jesus contrasts the behavior of the shepherd with that of the hired hand. This is a worker who is simply paid to do a job; he has no other interest in the sheep and is certainly not about to risk his life for them. When they are threatened, he simply runs away.
28 Grk “leaves.”
29 Or “flees.”
30 Or “seizes.” The more traditional rendering, “snatches,” has the idea of seizing something by force and carrying it off, which is certainly possible here. However, in the sequence in John 10:12, this action precedes the scattering of the flock of sheep, so “attacks” is preferable.
31 Grk “does not have a care for the sheep.”
32 The phrase “he runs away” is lacking in several important (𝔓44vid,45, 66, 75 א A*vid B D L [W] Θ 1 33 1241 co). Most likely it was added by a later scribe to improve the readability of vv. 12–13, which is one long sentence in Greek. It has been included in the translation for the same stylistic reasons.

In other versions

ESVEnglish Standard Version

I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. He who is a hired hand and not a shepherd, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. He flees because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep.

NIVNew International Version (2011)

I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. They will come in and go out, and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.

“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. The hired hand is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep. So when he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf attacks the flock and scatters it. The man runs away because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep.

CSBChristian Standard Bible

I am the gate. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will come in and go out and find pasture. A thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I have come so that they may have life and have it in abundance.

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

NLTNew Living Translation

Yes, I am the gate. Those who come in through me will be saved. They will come and go freely and will find good pastures. The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life.

“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd sacrifices his life for the sheep. A hired hand will run when he sees a wolf coming. He will abandon the sheep because they don’t belong to him and he isn’t their shepherd. And so the wolf attacks them and scatters the flock. The hired hand runs away because he’s working only for the money and doesn’t really care about the sheep.

LEBThe Lexham English Bible

I am the door. If anyone enters through me, he will be saved, and will come in and will go out and will find pasture. The thief comes only so that he can steal and kill and destroy; I have come so that they may have life, and have it abundantly.

“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. The hired hand, who is not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, sees the wolf approaching and abandons the sheep and runs away—and the wolf seizes them and scatters them—because he is a hired hand and he is not concerned about the sheep.

KJV 1900King James Version

I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture. The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly. I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep. But he that is an hireling, and not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, seeth the wolf coming, and leaveth the sheep, and fleeth: and the wolf catcheth them, and scattereth the sheep. The hireling fleeth, because he is an hireling, and careth not for the sheep.

Public Domain