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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 (a)A 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 ^(b)used with them, but they ^(c)did not understand what he was saying to them.

⁷ So Jesus again said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, ^(d)I 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, ^(e)he will be saved and will go in and out and ^(f)find pasture. ¹⁰ The thief comes only to steal and ^(g)kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. ^11 (h)I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd ⁽ⁱ⁾lays down his life for the sheep. ¹² He who is ^(j)a hired hand and not a shepherd, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and ^(k)leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and ^(l)scatters them. ¹³ He flees because ^(m)he is a hired hand and ⁽ⁿ⁾cares nothing for the sheep. ^14 (o)I am the good shepherd. ^(p)I know my own and ^(q)my own know me, ^15 (r)just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and ^(s)I lay down my life for the sheep. ¹⁶ And ^(t)I have other sheep that are not of this fold. ^(u)I must bring them also, and ^(v)they will listen to my voice. So there will be ^(w)one flock, ^(x)one shepherd. ^17 (y)For this reason the Father loves me, ^(z)because ^(aa)I lay down my life that I may take it up again. ^18 (ab)No one takes it from me, but ^(ac)I lay it down ^(ad)of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and ^(ae)I have authority to take it up again. ^(af)This charge I have received from my Father."

^19 (ag)There was again a division among the Jews because of these words. ²⁰ Many of them said, ^(ah)"He has a demon, and ^(ai)is insane; why listen to him?" ²¹ Others said, "These are not the words of one who is oppressed by a demon. ^(aj)Can 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, ^(ak)in 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 ^(al)the Christ, ^(am)tell us plainly." ²⁵ Jesus answered them, "I told you, and you do not believe. ^(an)The works that I do ^(ao)in my Father's name bear witness about me, ²⁶ but ^(ap)you do not believe because you are not among my sheep. ^27 (aq)My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. ^28 (ar)I give them eternal life, and ^(as)they will never perish, and ^(at)no one will snatch them out of my hand. ²⁹ My Father, ^(au)who has given them to me,^{[a] (av)}is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of ^(aw)the Father's hand. ^30 (ax)I and the Father are one."

^31 (ay)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 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 ^(az)for blasphemy, because you, being a man, ^(ba)make yourself God." ³⁴ Jesus answered them, "Is it not written in ^(bb)your Law, ^(bc)‘I said, you are gods'? ³⁵ If he called them gods to whom the word of God came—and Scripture cannot be ^(bd)broken— ³⁶ do you say of him whom ^(be)the Father consecrated and ^(bf)sent into the world, ‘You are blaspheming,' because ^(bg)I said, ‘I am the Son of God'? ^37 (bh)If I am not doing the works of my Father, then do not believe me; ³⁸ but if I do them, ^(bi)even though you do not believe me, believe the works, that you may know and understand that ^(bj)the Father is in me and I am in the Father." ^39 (bk)Again they sought to arrest him, but he escaped from their hands.

⁴⁰ He went away again across the Jordan to the place ^(bl)where John had been baptizing at first, and there he remained. ⁴¹ And many came to him. And they said, "John did no sign, but ^(bm)everything that John said about this man was true." ⁴² And ^(bn)many believed in him there.