The Ideal Shepherd

1“•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.a 2The one who enters by the door is the shepherdb of the sheep.c 3The 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 understandd what He was telling them.

The Good Shepherd

7So Jesus said again, “I assure you: I ame the door of the sheep.f 8All who came before Meg are 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 stealh and to kill and to destroy.i I have come so that they may have life and have it in abundance.

11“I am the good shepherd.j The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.k 12The hired man, since he is not the shepherd and doesn’t own the sheep, leaves theml and runs away when he sees a wolfm coming. 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.n I lay down My lifeo for the sheep. 16But I have other sheepp that 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.q 17This is why the Father loves Me,r because I am laying down My lifes so 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.”t

19Again a divisionu took place among the •Jews because of these words. 20Many of them were saying, “He has a demonv and 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? ”w

Jesus at the Festival of Dedication

22Then the Festival of Dedicationx took place in Jerusalem, and it was winter. 23Jesus was walking in the •temple complex in Solomon’s Colonnade.y, z 24Then the Jews surrounded Him and asked, “How long are You going to keep us in suspense?aa If You are the •Messiah,ab tell us plainly.”ac, ad

25“I did tell you and you don’t believe,” Jesus answered them. “The worksae that I do in My Father’s name testify about Me. 26But you don’t believe because you are not My sheep.af,ag 27My sheep hear My voice, I know them, and they follow Me. 28I give them eternal life,ah and they will never perishai — ever! No one will snatchaj them out of My hand. 29My Father,ak who 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.”al,am

Renewed Efforts to Stone Jesus

31Again the Jews picked up rocks to stone Him.an

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

33“We aren’t stoningap You 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,aq I said, you are gods?ar,as 35If He called those whom the wordat of God came to ‘gods’ — and the Scriptureau cannot 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?av 37If I am not doing My Father’s works,aw don’t believe Me. 38But if I am doing them and you don’t believe Me, believe the works. This way you will know and understandax that the Father is in Me and I in the Father.”ay 39Then they were trying again to seize Him,az yet He eluded their grasp.ba

Many beyond the Jordan Believe in Jesus

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