Chapter 10

¹“I tell you, any man who does not enter the sheepfold by the door, but climbs over at some other place, is a thief and robber. ²But the man who enters by the door is the shepherd of the flock. ³The watchman opens the door to him, and the sheep obey his voice, and he calls to his own sheep and leads them out. ⁴When he gets his own flock all out, he goes in front of them, and the sheep follow him, because they know his voice. ⁵But they will never follow a stranger but will run away from him, because they do not know the voices of strangers.”

⁶This was the figure Jesus used in speaking to them, but they did not understand what he meant by it.

⁷So Jesus said again,

“I tell you, I am the door of the sheepfold. ⁸All who have come before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep would not obey them. ⁹I am the door. Whoever enters through me will be saved, and will pass in and out and find pasture. ¹⁰A thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come to let them have life, and to let them have it in abundance. ¹¹I am the good shepherd. A good shepherd will give his life for his sheep. ¹²A hired man who is not a shepherd and does not own the sheep, when he sees a wolf coming, will leave the sheep and run away, and the wolf will carry them off and scatter the flock. ¹³For he is only a hired man, and does not care about the sheep. ¹⁴I am the good shepherd. I know my sheep and my sheep know me, ¹⁵just as the Father knows me and I know the Father, and I am giving my life for my sheep. ¹⁶I have other sheep too that do not belong to this fold. I must lead them too, and they will obey my voice, and they will all become one flock, with one shepherd. ¹⁷This is why the Father loves me, because I am giving my life, but giving it to take it back again. ¹⁸No one has taken it from me, but I am giving it of my own accord. I have power to give it, and I have power to take it back again. These are the orders I have received from my Father.”

¹⁹These words caused a fresh division of opinion among the Jews. ²⁰Many of them said,

“He is possessed and mad! Why do you listen to him?”

²¹Others said,

“These are not the words of a man who is possessed. Can a madman make blind men see?”

²²That was the time of the Rededication Festival at Jerusalem. It was winter time ²³and Jesus was walking up and down inside the Temple, in Solomon’s Colonnade. ²⁴So the Jews gathered around him and said to him,

“How much longer are you going to keep us in suspense? If you are really the Christ, tell us so frankly!”

²⁵Jesus answered,

“I have told you so, and you will not believe it. The things I have been doing by my Father’s authority are my credentials, ²⁶but you do not believe it because you do not belong to my sheep. ²⁷My sheep listen to my voice, and I know them and they follow me, ²⁸and I give them eternal life, and they shall never be lost, and no one shall tear them out of my hands. ²⁹What my Father has intrusted to me is of more importance than everything else, and no one can tear anything out of the Father’s hands. ³⁰The Father and I are one.”

³¹The Jews again picked up stones to stone him with. ³²Jesus answered,

“I have let you see many good things from the Father; which of them do you mean to stone me for?”

³³The Jews answered,

“We are not stoning you for doing anything good, but for your impious talk, and because you, a mere man, make yourself out to be God.”

³⁴Jesus answered,

“Is it not declared in your Law, ‘I said, “You are gods*#“)? ³⁵If those to whom God’s message was addressed were called gods—and the Scripture cannot be set aside— ³⁶do you mean to say to me whom the Father has consecrated and made his messenger to the world, ‘You are blasphemous,’ because I said, ‘I am God’s Son’? ³⁷If I am not doing the things my Father does, do not believe me. ³⁸But if I am doing them, then even if you will not believe me, believe the things I do, in order that you may realize and learn that the Father is in union with me, and I am in union with the Father.”

³⁹In consequence of this they again tried to arrest him, and he withdrew out of their reach.

⁴⁰He went across the Jordan again to the place where John used to baptize at first, and there he stayed. ⁴¹And people came to him in great numbers, and they said of him,

“John did not show any sign in proof of his mission, but all that he said about this man was true.”

⁴²And many became believers in him in that place.