1 “ Most assuredly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door, but climbs up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber.

2 B ut he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep.

3 T o him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice; and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.

4 A nd when he brings out his own sheep, he goes before them; and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice.

5 Y et they will by no means follow a stranger, but will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.”

6 J esus used this illustration, but they did not understand the things which He spoke to them. Jesus the Good Shepherd

7 T hen Jesus said to them again, “Most assuredly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep.

8 A ll who ever came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them.

9 I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture.

10 T he thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.

11 “ I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep.

12 B ut a hireling, he who is not the shepherd, one who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees; and the wolf catches the sheep and scatters them.

13 T he hireling flees because he is a hireling and does not care about the sheep.

14 I am the good shepherd; and I know My sheep, and am known by My own.

15 A s the Father knows Me, even so I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep.

16 A nd other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they will hear My voice; and there will be one flock and one shepherd.

17 “ Therefore My Father loves Me, because I lay down My life that I may take it again.

18 N o one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This command I have received from My Father.”

19 T herefore there was a division again among the Jews because of these sayings.

20 A nd many of them said, “He has a demon and is mad. Why do you listen to Him?”

21 O thers said, “These are not the words of one who has a demon. Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?” The Shepherd Knows His Sheep

22 N ow it was the Feast of Dedication in Jerusalem, and it was winter.

23 A nd Jesus walked in the temple, in Solomon’s porch.

24 T hen the Jews surrounded Him and said to Him, “How long do You keep us in doubt? If You are the Christ, tell us plainly.”

25 J esus answered them, “I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in My Father’s name, they bear witness of Me.

26 B ut you do not believe, because you are not of My sheep, as I said to you.

27 M y sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.

28 A nd I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand.

29 M y Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father’s hand.

30 I and My Father are one.” Renewed Efforts to Stone Jesus

31 T hen the Jews took up stones again to stone Him.

32 J esus answered them, “Many good works I have shown you from My Father. For which of those works do you stone Me?”

33 T he Jews answered Him, saying, “For a good work we do not stone You, but for blasphemy, and because You, being a Man, make Yourself God.”

34 J esus answered them, “Is it not written in your law, ‘I said, “You are gods”’?

35 I f He called them gods, to whom the word of God came (and the Scripture cannot be broken),

36 d o you say of Him whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world, ‘You are blaspheming,’ because I said, ‘I am the Son of God’?

37 I f I do not do the works of My Father, do not believe Me;

38 b ut if I do, though you do not believe Me, believe the works, that you may know and believe that the Father is in Me, and I in Him.”

39 T herefore they sought again to seize Him, but He escaped out of their hand. The Believers Beyond Jordan

40 A nd He went away again beyond the Jordan to the place where John was baptizing at first, and there He stayed.

41 T hen many came to Him and said, “John performed no sign, but all the things that John spoke about this Man were true.”

42 A nd many believed in Him there.