Parable of the Good Shepherd

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 some other way, he is a thief and a robber. 2But the one who enters by the door is a shepherd of the sheep. 3To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep listen to his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4When he puts all his own sheep outside, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice. 5However, a stranger they simply will not follow, but will flee from him, because they do not know the voice of strangers.” 6Jesus told them this figure of speech, but they did not understand what the things which He was saying to them [a]meant.

7So Jesus said to them again, “Truly, truly I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. 8All those who came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. 9I am the door; if anyone enters through Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. 10The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came so that they would have life, and [b]have it abundantly.

11“I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep. 12He who is a hired hand, and not a shepherd, who is not the owner of the sheep, sees the wolf coming, and leaves the sheep and flees; and the wolf snatches them and scatters the flock. 13He flees because he is a hired hand and does not care about the sheep. 14I am the good shepherd, and I know My own, and My own know Me, 15just as the Father knows Me and I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep. 16And I have other sheep that are not of this fold; I must bring them also, and they will listen to My voice; and they will become one flock, with one shepherd. 17For this reason the Father loves Me, because I lay down My life so that I may take it back. 18No one has taken it away from Me, but I lay it down on My own. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it back. This commandment I received from My Father.”

19Dissension occurred again among the Jews because of these words. 20Many of them were saying, “He has a demon and is insane. Why do you listen to Him?” 21Others were saying, “These are not the words of one who is demon-possessed. A demon cannot open the eyes of those who are blind, can it?”

Jesus Asserts His Deity

22At that time the [c]Feast of the Dedication took place in Jerusalem; 23it was winter, and Jesus was walking in the temple area, in the portico of Solomon. 24The Jews then surrounded Him and began saying to Him, “How long [d]will You keep us in suspense? If You are the [e]Christ, tell us plainly.” 25Jesus answered them, “I told you, and you do not believe; the works that I do in My Father’s name, these testify of Me. 26But you do not believe, because you are not of My sheep. 27My sheep listen to My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; 28and I give them eternal life, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand. 29[f]My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. 30I and the Father are [g]one.”

31The Jews picked up stones again to stone Him. 32Jesus replied to them, “I showed you many good works from the Father; for which of them are you stoning Me?” 33The Jews answered Him, “We are not stoning You for a good work, but for blasphemy; and because You, being a man, make Yourself out to be God.” 34Jesus answered them, “Has it not been written in your Law: ‘I SAID, YOU ARE GODS’? 35If he called them gods, to whom the word of God came (and the Scripture cannot be nullified), 36are you saying of Him whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world, ‘You are blaspheming,’ because I said, ‘I am the Son of God’? 37If I do not do the works of My Father, do not believe Me; 38but if I do them, even though you do not believe Me, believe the works, so that you may [h]know and understand that the Father is in Me, and I in the Father.” 39Therefore they were seeking again to arrest Him, and He eluded their grasp.

40And He went away again beyond the Jordan to the place where John was first baptizing, and He stayed there. 41Many came to Him and were saying, “While John performed no sign, yet everything John said about this man was true.” 42And many believed in Him there.