John 10
10
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. 2But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. 3To him the gatekeeper opens. The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. 5#[ver. 12, 13]A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.” 6This figure of speech Jesus #ch. 9:40 used with them, but they #See Mark 9:32did not understand what he was saying to them.
7So Jesus again said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, #ver. 9; [ch. 14:6; Eph. 2:18]I am the door of the sheep. 8All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. 9I am the door. If anyone enters by me, #[ch. 5:34] he will be saved and will go in and out and #Ps. 23:2; Ezek. 34:14find pasture. 10The thief comes only to steal and #[Jer. 23:1; Ezek. 34:3]kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. 11#Isa. 40:11; Ezek. 34:12, 23; 37:24; Zech. 13:7; Heb. 13:20; 1 Pet. 2:25; 5:4; [ch. 21:15-17; Ps. 23; Rev. 7:17] I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd #ver. 15, 17; ch. 15:13; 1 John 3:16; [Matt. 20:28; Mark 10:45]lays down his life for the sheep. 12He who is #[Ezek. 34:2-6] a hired hand and not a shepherd, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and #Zech. 11:17; 13:7 leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and #[Jer. 23:1-3]scatters them. 13He flees because #[1 Pet. 5:2] he is a hired hand and #Zech. 11:16cares nothing for the sheep. 14#See ver. 11 I am the good shepherd. #ver. 27; Nah. 1:7; 2 Tim. 2:19 I know my own and #ver. 4my own know me, 15#See Matt. 11:27 just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and #See ver. 11I lay down my life for the sheep. 16And #Isa. 56:8 I have other sheep that are not of this fold. #[Ezek. 34:11-13; Matt. 8:11, 12; Eph. 2:13-18; 1 Pet. 2:25] I must bring them also, and #ch. 5:25; 18:37; [Acts 28:28] they will listen to my voice. So there will be #[ch. 11:52; 12:32; 17:11, 21, 22] one flock, #Ezek. 34:23; 37:24one shepherd. 17#Phil. 2:9; See ch. 5:20 For this reason the Father loves me, #Isa. 53:7, 8, 12; Heb. 2:9 because #ver. 11I lay down my life that I may take it up again. 18#[Matt. 26:53] No one takes it from me, but #[See ver. 17 above] I lay it down #[ch. 5:30] of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and #ch. 2:19; [Phil. 2:7] I have authority to take it up again. #ch. 12:49; 14:31; 15:10This charge I have received from my Father.”
19 # ch. 7:43; 9:16 There was again a division among the Jews because of these words. 20Many of them said, #See ch. 7:20 “He has a demon, and #[Mark 3:21]is insane; why listen to him?” 21Others said, “These are not the words of one who is oppressed by a demon. #[Ex. 4:11; Ps. 146:8]; See ch. 9:33Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?”
I and the Father Are One
22At that time the Feast of Dedication took place at Jerusalem. It was winter, 23and Jesus was walking in the temple, #Acts 3:11; 5:12in the colonnade of Solomon. 24So the Jews gathered around him and said to him, “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are #ch. 1:41 the Christ, #Matt. 26:63; Luke 22:67tell us plainly.” 25Jesus answered them, “I told you, and you do not believe. #ver. 38; See ch. 5:36 The works that I do #See ch. 5:43in my Father’s name bear witness about me, 26but #[ch. 8:47]you do not believe because you are not among my sheep. 27#ver. 14, 16My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. 28#[1 John 2:25; 5:11] I give them eternal life, and #ch. 17:12; 18:9 they will never perish, and #ch. 6:37no one will snatch them out of my hand. 29My Father, #ch. 6:37; 17:2 who has given them to me,#10:29 Some manuscripts What my Father has given to me#[ch. 14:28] is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of #[Deut. 32:39; Isa. 49:2; 51:16]the Father’s hand. 30#ch. 17:11, 22; [ch. 5:19; 14:9]I and the Father are one.”
31 # ch. 8:59 The Jews picked up stones again to stone him. 32Jesus answered them, “I have shown you many good works from the Father; for which of them are you going to stone me?” 33The Jews answered him, “It is not for a good work that we are going to stone you but #See Lev. 24:16; Matt. 9:3 for blasphemy, because you, being a man, #ch. 5:18make yourself God.” 34Jesus answered them, “Is it not written in #[ch. 12:34; 15:25; 1 Cor. 14:21] your Law, #Cited from Ps. 82:6‘I said, you are gods’? 35If he called them gods to whom the word of God came—and Scripture cannot be #[Matt. 5:17, 19]broken— 36do you say of him whom #[ch. 6:27] the Father consecrated and #See ch. 3:17 sent into the world, ‘You are blaspheming,’ because #ch. 5:17, 18; [ver. 30]I said, ‘I am the Son of God’? 37#ch. 15:24If I am not doing the works of my Father, then do not believe me; 38but if I do them, #ver. 25; [ch. 14:11] even though you do not believe me, believe the works, that you may know and understand that #ch. 14:10, 11, 20; 17:21, 23; [ch. 8:29]the Father is in me and I am in the Father.” 39#ch. 7:30, 44Again they sought to arrest him, but he escaped from their hands.
40He went away again across the Jordan to the place #ch. 1:28where John had been baptizing at first, and there he remained. 41And many came to him. And they said, “John did no sign, but #ch. 1:7, 29-34; 3:27-30; 5:33everything that John said about this man was true.” 42And #See ch. 7:31many believed in him there.
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The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
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John 10
10
The Good Shepherd and His Sheep
1 “I tell you the truth, anyone who sneaks over the wall of a sheepfold, rather than going through the gate, must surely be a thief and a robber! 2But the one who enters through the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. 3The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep recognize his voice and come to him. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4After he has gathered his own flock, he walks ahead of them, and they follow him because they know his voice. 5They won’t follow a stranger; they will run from him because they don’t know his voice.”
6Those who heard Jesus use this illustration didn’t understand what he meant, 7so he explained it to them: “I tell you the truth, I am the gate for the sheep. 8All who came before me#10:8 Some manuscripts do not include before me. were thieves and robbers. But the true sheep did not listen to them. 9Yes, I am the gate. Those who come in through me will be saved.#10:9 Or will find safety. They will come and go freely and will find good pastures. 10The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life.
11 “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd sacrifices his life for the sheep. 12A hired hand will run when he sees a wolf coming. He will abandon the sheep because they don’t belong to him and he isn’t their shepherd. And so the wolf attacks them and scatters the flock. 13The hired hand runs away because he’s working only for the money and doesn’t really care about the sheep.
14 “I am the good shepherd; I know my own sheep, and they know me, 15just as my Father knows me and I know the Father. So I sacrifice my life for the sheep. 16I have other sheep, too, that are not in this sheepfold. I must bring them also. They will listen to my voice, and there will be one flock with one shepherd.
17 “The Father loves me because I sacrifice my life so I may take it back again. 18No one can take my life from me. I sacrifice it voluntarily. For I have the authority to lay it down when I want to and also to take it up again. For this is what my Father has commanded.”
19When he said these things, the people#10:19 Greek Jewish people; also in 10:24, 31. were again divided in their opinions about him. 20Some said, “He’s demon possessed and out of his mind. Why listen to a man like that?” 21Others said, “This doesn’t sound like a man possessed by a demon! Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?”
Jesus Claims to Be the Son of God
22It was now winter, and Jesus was in Jerusalem at the time of Hanukkah, the Festival of Dedication. 23He was in the Temple, walking through the section known as Solomon’s Colonnade. 24The people surrounded him and asked, “How long are you going to keep us in suspense? If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly.”
25Jesus replied, “I have already told you, and you don’t believe me. The proof is the work I do in my Father’s name. 26But you don’t believe me because you are not my sheep. 27My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. 28I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one can snatch them away from me, 29for my Father has given them to me, and he is more powerful than anyone else.#10:29 Other manuscripts read for what my Father has given me is more powerful than anything; still others read for regarding that which my Father has given me, he is greater than all. No one can snatch them from the Father’s hand. 30The Father and I are one.”
31Once again the people picked up stones to kill him. 32Jesus said, “At my Father’s direction I have done many good works. For which one are you going to stone me?”
33They replied, “We’re stoning you not for any good work, but for blasphemy! You, a mere man, claim to be God.”
34Jesus replied, “It is written in your own Scriptures#10:34a Greek your own law. that God said to certain leaders of the people, ‘I say, you are gods!’#10:34b Ps 82:6. 35And you know that the Scriptures cannot be altered. So if those people who received God’s message were called ‘gods,’ 36why do you call it blasphemy when I say, ‘I am the Son of God’? After all, the Father set me apart and sent me into the world. 37Don’t believe me unless I carry out my Father’s work. 38But if I do his work, believe in the evidence of the miraculous works I have done, even if you don’t believe me. Then you will know and understand that the Father is in me, and I am in the Father.”
39Once again they tried to arrest him, but he got away and left them. 40He went beyond the Jordan River near the place where John was first baptizing and stayed there awhile. 41And many followed him. “John didn’t perform miraculous signs,” they remarked to one another, “but everything he said about this man has come true.” 42And many who were there believed in Jesus.
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