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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 ^(C1)a thief and a robber.² "But the one who enters by the door is ^(C1)a shepherd of the sheep.³ "To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep listen to ^(C1)his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and ^(C2)leads them out.⁴ "When he puts all his own sheep outside, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know ^(C1)his voice.⁵ "However, a stranger they simply will not follow, but will flee from him, because they do not know ^(C1)the voice of strangers."⁶ Jesus told them this ^(C1)figure of speech, but they did not understand what the things which He was saying to them ^(F1)meant.

⁷ So Jesus said to them again, "Truly, truly I say to you, I am ^(C1)the door of the sheep.⁸ "All those who came before Me are ^(C1)thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them.⁹ "^(C1)I am the door; if anyone enters through Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture.¹⁰ "The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came so that they ^(C1)would have life, and ^(F1)have it abundantly.

¹¹ "^(C1)I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd ^(C2)lays down His life for the sheep.¹² "He who is a hired hand, and not a ^(C1)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.¹³ "He flees because he is a hired hand and does not care about the sheep.¹⁴ "^(C1)I am the good shepherd, and ^(C2)I know My own, and My own know Me,¹⁵ just as ^(C1)the Father knows Me and I know the Father; and ^(C2)I lay down My life for the sheep.¹⁶ "And I have ^(C1)other sheep that are not of this fold; I must bring them also, and they will listen to My voice; and they will become ^(C2)one flock, with ^(C3)one shepherd.¹⁷ "For this reason the Father loves Me, because I ^(C1)lay down My life so that I may take it back.¹⁸ "^(C1)No one has taken it away from Me, but I ^(C2)lay it down on My own. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it back. ^(C3)This commandment I received from My Father."

^19 (C1)Dissension occurred again among the Jews because of these words.²⁰ Many of them were saying, "He ^(C1)has a demon and ^(C2)is insane. Why do you listen to Him?"²¹ Others were saying, "These are not the words of one who is ^(C1)demon-possessed. ^(C2)A demon cannot open the eyes of those who are blind, can it?"

Jesus Asserts His Deity

²² At that time the ^(F1)Feast of the Dedication took place in Jerusalem;²³ it was winter, and Jesus was walking in the temple area, in the portico of ^(C1)Solomon.^24 (C1)The Jews then surrounded Him and began saying to Him, "How long ^(F1)will You keep us in suspense? If You are the ^(F2)Christ, tell us ^(C2)plainly."²⁵ Jesus answered them, "^(C1)I told you, and you do not believe; ^(C2)the works that I do in My Father's name, these testify of Me.²⁶ "But you do not believe, because ^(C1)you are not of My sheep.²⁷ "My sheep ^(C1)listen to My voice, and ^(C2)I know them, and they follow Me;²⁸ and I give them ^(C1)eternal life, and they will never perish; and ^(C2)no one will snatch them out of My hand.²⁹ "^(F1)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.³⁰ "^(C1)I and the Father are ^(F1)one."

³¹ The Jews ^(C1)picked up stones again to stone Him.³² Jesus replied to them, "I showed you many good works from the Father; for which of them are you stoning Me?"³³ The Jews answered Him, "We are not stoning You for a good work, but for ^(C1)blasphemy; and because You, being a man, ^(C2)make Yourself out to be God."³⁴ Jesus answered them, "Has it not been written in ^(C1)your ^(C2)Law: '^(C3)I SAID, YOU ARE GODS'?³⁵ "If he called them gods, to whom the word of God came (and the Scripture cannot be nullified),³⁶ are you saying of Him whom the Father ^(C1)sanctified and ^(C2)sent into the world, 'You are blaspheming,' because I said, '^(C3)I am the Son of God'?³⁷ "^(C1)If I do not do the works of My Father, do not believe Me;³⁸ but if I do them, even though you do not believe Me, believe ^(C1)the works, so that you may ^(F1)know and understand that ^(C2)the Father is in Me, and I in the Father."³⁹ Therefore ^(C1)they were seeking again to arrest Him, and ^(C2)He eluded their grasp.

⁴⁰ And He went away ^(C1)again beyond the Jordan to the place where John was first baptizing, and He stayed there.⁴¹ Many came to Him and were saying, "While John performed no ^(C1)sign, yet ^(C2)everything John said about this Man was true."⁴² And ^(C1)many believed in Him there.