10:1 "Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter by the door into the fold of the sheep, but climbs up some other way, we acknowledge as a thief and a robber. |
10:2 "But he who enters by the door serves as a shepherd of the sheep. |
10:3 "To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. |
10:4 "When he puts forth all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice. |
10:5 "A stranger they simply will not follow, but will flee from him, because they do not know the voice of strangers." |
10:6 This figure of speech Jesus spoke to them, but they did not understand those things which He had said to them. |
10:7 So Jesus said to them again, "Truly, truly, I say to you, I serve as the door of the sheep. |
10:8 "All who came before Me proved themselves thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them. |
10:9 "I represent the door; if anyone enters through Me, he will receive salvation, and will go in and out and find pasture. |
10:10 "The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly. |
10:11 "I serve as the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep. |
10:12 "He who serves as 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. |
10:13 "He flees because he serves as a hired hand and does not concern himself about the sheep. |
10:14 "I serve as the good shepherd, and I know My own and My own know Me, |
10:15 even as the Father knows Me and I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep. |
10:16 "I have other sheep, which do not belong to this fold; I must bring them also, and they will hear My voice; and they will become one flock with one shepherd. |
10:17 "For this reason the Father loves Me, because I lay down My life so that I may take it again. |
10:18 "No one has taken it away from Me, but I lay it down on My own initiative. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This commandment I received from My Father." |
10:19 A division occurred again among the Jews because of these words. |
10:20 Many of them said, "He has a demon and has gone insane. Why do you listen to Him?" |
10:21 Others said, "These do not represent the sayings of one demon-possessed. A demon cannot open the eyes of the blind, can he?" |
10:22 At that time the Feast of the Dedication took place at Jerusalem; |
10:23 winter had arrived, and Jesus walked in the temple in the portico of Solomon. |
10:24 The Jews then gathered around Him, and said to Him, "How long will You keep us in suspense? If You consider yourself the Christ, tell us plainly." |
10:25 Jesus answered them, "I told you, and you do not believe; the works that I do in My Father's name, these testify of Me. |
10:26 "But you do not believe because you do not belong to My sheepfold. |
10:27 "My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; |
10:28 and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand. |
10:29 "My Father, who has given them to Me, has more greatness than all; and no one could snatch them out of the Father's hand. |
10:30 "I and the Father consist of one." |
10:31 The Jews picked up stones again to stone Him. |
10:32 Jesus answered them, "I showed you many good works from the Father; for which of them do you stone Me?" |
10:33 The Jews answered Him, "For a good work we do not stone You, but for blasphemy; and because You, only a man, make Yourself out as equivalent to God." |
10:34 Jesus answered them, "Has the scripture not stated in your Law, 'I SAID, I CONSIDER YOU GODS'? |
10:35 "If he called them gods, to whom the word of God came (and the Scripture we cannot break), |
10:36 do you say of Him, whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world, 'You blaspheme,' because I said, 'I acknowledge God as my Father'? |
10:37 "If I do not do the works of My Father, do not believe Me; |
10:38 but if I do them, though you do not believe Me, believe the works, so that you may know and understand that the Father dwells in Me, and I in the Father." |
10:39 Therefore they seek again to seize Him, and He eluded their grasp. |
10:40 And He went away again beyond the Jordan to the place where John first baptized, and He stayed there. |
10:41 Many came to Him and said, "While John performed no sign, yet everything John said about this man proved true." |
10:42 Many believed in Him there. |