John 10
10
The Parable of the Good Shepherd and the Sheep
1 “Truly, truly, I say to you, the one who does not enter by the door into the fold of the sheep, but climbs up from elsewhere, he is a thief and a robber. 2 But the one who enters by 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 When he has brought out all his own, he goes in front of them, and the sheep follow him, because they know his voice. 5 And a stranger they will never follow, but they will flee from him, because they do not know the voice of strangers.” 6 Jesus told them this figure of speech, but they did not understand what it was that He was saying to them.
Jesus is the Good Shepherd
7 Therefore, Jesus said to them again, “Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. 8 All who came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep do not listen to them. 9 I am the door. If anyone enters through Me, he will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture. 10 The thief does not come except to steal and kill and destroy. I have come that they may have life, and have it abundantly. 11 I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep. 12 The hired worker, since he is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and abandons the sheep and flees. Then the wolf seizes them and scatters them. 13 He flees * because he is a hired worker and the welfare * of the sheep is of no concern to him. 14 I am the good shepherd, and I know those who belong to Me, and I am known by those who belong to 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 which are not from this fold. It is necessary for Me to bring these also, and they will listen to My voice. So they will become one flock, one shepherd. 17 For this reason, the Father loves Me, because I lay down My life, so that I may take it up again. 18 No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This commandment I received from My Father.”
19 Division happened again among the Jews because of these words. 20 And many of them were saying, “He has a demon and speaks like a madman. Why do you listen to Him?” 21 Others were saying, “These are not the sayings of one possessed by a demon. A demon cannot open the eyes of the blind, can it?”
The Deity of Jesus
22 Then came the Feast of the Dedication in Jerusalem. It was winter, 23 and Jesus was walking in the temple* in Solomon’s Colonnade. 24 So the Jews encircled Him and were saying to Him, “How long will You hold us in suspense? If You are the Christ, tell us plainly.” 25 Jesus responded to them, “I told you, but you do not believe. The works that I do in the name of My Father, these testify about Me. 26 But you do not believe, 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 eternal life, and they shall never perish forever, ** and no one will snatch them out of My hand. 29 My 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 the Father are one.”
31 Then the Jews picked up stones again to stone Him. 32 Jesus answered them, “I have shown you many good works from the Father. For which one of them do you stone Me?” 33 The Jews replied to 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 have said, “You are gods” ’? 35 If He called them ‘gods’ to whom the word of God came * —and the Scripture * cannot be invalidated— 36 do 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 If I am not doing the works of My Father, do not believe Me; 38 but if I am doing them, even though you do not believe Me, believe the works, so that you may know and understand that the Father is in Me and I in the Father.” 39 Therefore, they were seeking again to seize Him, and He escaped from their hand.
40 And He went away again on the other side of the Jordan, to the place where John was baptising at first, and He stayed there. 41 And many came to Him and were saying, “John performed no sign, but everything John said about this man was true.” 42 And many believed in Him in that place.
Notes
13 The clause He flees is contextually supplied for clarity
13 The noun phrase the welfare is contextually supplied for clarity
23 Or outer courts of the temple
28 The word forever is retained for exegetical purposes
28 Greek to the age
29 Greek the . Here, the Greek definite article functions pronominally, corresponding contextually to the English possessive My
35 The postpositive, non-restrictive relative clause to whom the word of God came is omitted in one ancient Greek manuscript
35 The same ancient Greek manuscript that omits to whom the word of God came also omits the Scripture within the same text
36 Or set apart for His purpose
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John 10: AFINTLIT
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Copyright © 2026 Michael Adeyemi Adegbola. This Scripture text is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License (CC BY-SA 4.0).
