I Am the Good Shepherd

1 "Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs in by another way, that man is a thief and a robber.
2 But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep.
3 To him the gatekeeper opens. The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.
4 When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice.
5 1A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers."
6 This figure of speech Jesus 2used with them, but they 3did not understand what he was saying to them.
7 So Jesus again said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, 4I am the door of the sheep.
8 All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them.
9 I am the door. If anyone enters by me, 5he will be saved and will go in and out and 6find pasture.
10 The thief comes only to steal and 7kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.
11 8I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd 9lays down his life for the sheep.
12 He who is 10a hired hand and not a shepherd, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and 11leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and 12scatters them.
13 He flees because 13he is a hired hand and 14cares nothing for the sheep.
14 15I am the good shepherd. 16I know my own and 17my own know me,
15 18just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and 19I lay down my life for the sheep.
16 And 20I have other sheep that are not of this fold. 21I must bring them also, and 22they will listen to my voice. So there will be 23one flock, 24one shepherd.
17 25For this reason the Father loves me, 26because 27I lay down my life that I may take it up again.
18 28No one takes it from me, but 29I lay it down 30of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and 31I have authority to take it up again. 32This charge I have received from my Father."
19 33There was again a division among the Jews because of these words.
20 Many of them said, 34"He has a demon, and 35is insane; why listen to him?"
21 Others said, "These are not the words of one who is oppressed by a demon. 36Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?"

I and the Father Are One

22 At that time the Feast of Dedication took place at Jerusalem. It was winter,
23 and Jesus was walking in the temple, 37in the colonnade of Solomon.
24 So the Jews gathered around him and said to him, "How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are 38the Christ, 39tell us plainly."
25 Jesus answered them, "I told you, and you do not believe. 40The works that I do 41in my Father's name bear witness about me,
26 but 42you do not believe because you are not part of my flock.
27 43My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.
28 44I give them eternal life, and 45they will never perish, and 46no one will snatch them out of my hand.
29 My Father, 47who has given them to me,a48 is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of 49the Father's hand.
30 50I and the Father are one."
31 51The Jews picked up stones again to stone him.
32 Jesus answered them, "I have shown you many good works from the Father; for which of them are you going to stone me?"
33 The Jews answered him, "It is not for a good work that we are going to stone you but 52for blasphemy, because you, being a man, 53make yourself God."
34 Jesus answered them, "Is it not written in 54your Law, 55'I said, you are gods'?
35 If he called them gods to whom the word of God came--and Scripture cannot be 56broken--
36 o you say of him whom 57the Father consecrated and 58sent into the world, 'You are blaspheming,' because 59I said, 'I am the Son of God'?
37 60If I am not doing the works of my Father, then do not believe me;
38 but if I do them, 61even though you do not believe me, believe the works, that you may know and understand that 62the Father is in me and I am in the Father."
39 63Again they sought to arrest him, but he escaped from their hands.
40 He went away again across the Jordan to the place 64where John had been baptizing at first, and there he remained.
41 And many came to him. And they said, "John did no sign, but 65everything that John said about this man was true."
42 And 66many believed in him there.