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.