John 10

1 “Amen, amen, I tell you, the one who does not come in through the door into the fold of the sheep, but climbs up some other way, that one is a thief and a robber. [a] 2 But the one who comes in through the door is the shepherd of the sheep. 3 To this one the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4 Whenever he has put out all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him, because they know his voice. 5 But a stranger they will never follow; they will run away from him, because they do not know the voice of strangers.” 6 Jesus told them this figure of speech, but they did not know what the things he was saying to them were. [c]

7 So Jesus said to them again, “Amen, amen, I tell you that I am the door of the sheep. 8 All who came before me are thieves and robbers; but the sheep did not hear them. 9 I am the door. If anyone comes in through me he will be saved, and he will go in and go out and find pasture. 10 The thief does not come except to steal and to kill and to destroy; I came so that they may have life, and may have abundance.

11 I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. [d] 12 The hired man, who is not a shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and runs away — and the wolf snatches them and scatters them — 13 because he is a hired man and the sheep do not matter to him.

14 I am the good shepherd, and I know my own and my own know me, 15 just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep. 16 And I have other sheep that are not from this fold; those too I must bring, and they will hear my voice, and they will become one flock, one shepherd. 17 This is why the Father loves me: because I lay down my life, so that I may take it up again. 18 No one takes it away from me; rather, I lay it down of myself. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father.”

19 A division happened again among the Jews because of these words. 20 And many of them were saying, “He has a demon and is out of his mind. Why do you listen to him?” 21 Others were saying, “These are not the words of a demon-possessed man. A demon cannot open the eyes of the blind, can it?”

22 At that time the Dedication took place in Jerusalem. It was winter, 23 and Jesus was walking in the temple, in Solomon’s colonnade. 24 So the Jews surrounded him and were saying to him, “How long will you lift up our soul? If you are the Christ, tell us openly.” [e]

25 Jesus answered them, “I told you, and you do not trust. The works that I do in my Father’s name, these testify about me; 26 but you do not trust, because you are not of my sheep. 27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me, 28 and I give them everlasting life, and they will never perish, ever, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. [f] 29 My Father, as to what he has given me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch out of the Father’s hand. [g] 30 I and the Father are one.” † †

31 The Jews picked up stones again in order to stone him. 32 Jesus answered them, “I showed you many good works from the Father. For which of them are you stoning me?” 33 The Jews answered him, “We are not stoning you for a good work but for blasphemy, and because you, being a man, make yourself God.”

34 Jesus answered them, “Is it not written in your law, ‘I said, “You are gods”’? [h] 35 If he called them gods, to whom the word of God came — and the Scripture cannot be broken — 36 do you say of the one whom the Father set apart and sent into the world, ‘You are blaspheming,’ because I said, ‘I am the Son of God’? [i] 37 If I do not do the works of my Father, do not trust me; 38 but if I do, even if you do not trust me, trust the works, so that you may come to know and go on knowing that the Father is in me and I am in the Father.”

39 So they were seeking again to seize him; and he went out of their hand. 40 And he went away again across the Jordan, to the place where John was immersing at the first, and he remained there. [j] 41 And many came to him, and they were saying, “John did no sign, but everything John said about this man was true.” [k] 42 And many trusted in him there.