John 10:1-21

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 ¹A 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 ²used with them, but they ³did not understand what he was saying to them.

7 So Jesus again said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, ⁴I 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, ⁵he will be saved and will go in and out and ⁶find pasture.

10 The thief comes only to steal and ⁷kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.

11 ⁸I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd ⁹lays down his life for the sheep.

12 He who is ¹⁰a hired hand and not a shepherd, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and ¹¹leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and ¹²scatters them.

13 He flees because ¹³he is a hired hand and ¹⁴cares nothing for the sheep.

14 ¹⁵I am the good shepherd. ¹⁶I know my own and ¹⁷my own know me,

15 ¹⁸just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and ¹⁹I lay down my life for the sheep.

16 And ²⁰I have other sheep that are not of this fold. ²¹I must bring them also, and ²²they will listen to my voice. So there will be ²³one flock, ²⁴one shepherd.

17 ²⁵For this reason the Father loves me, ²⁶because ²⁷I lay down my life that I may take it up again.

18 ²⁸No one takes it from me, but ²⁹I lay it down ³⁰of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and ³¹I have authority to take it up again. ³²This charge I have received from my Father."

19 ³³There was again a division among the Jews because of these words.

20 Many of them said, ³⁴"He has a demon, and ³⁵is insane; why listen to him?"

21 Others said, "These are not the words of one who is oppressed by a demon. ³⁶Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?"

Cross References

• 1. [ver. 12, 13]
• 2. John 9:40
• 3. See Mark 9:32
• 4. ver. 9; [John 14:6; Ephesians 2:18]
• 5. [John 5:34]
• 6. Psalms 23:2; Ezekiel 34:14
• 7. [Jeremiah 23:1; Ezekiel 34:3]
• 8. Isaiah 40:11; Ezekiel 34:12, 23; Ezekiel 37:24; Zechariah 13:7; Hebrews 13:20; 1 Peter 2:25; 1 Peter 5:4; [John 21:15-17; Psalms 23; Revelation 7:17]
• 9. ver. 15, 17; John 15:13; 1 John 3:16; [Matthew 20:28; Mark 10:45]
• 10. [Ezekiel 34:2-6]
• 11. Zechariah 11:17; Zechariah 13:7
• 12. [Jeremiah 23:1-3]
• 13. [1 Peter 5:2]
• 14. Zechariah 11:16
• 15. See ver. 11
• 16. ver. 27; Nahum 1:7; 2 Timothy 2:19
• 17. ver. 4
• 18. See Matthew 11:27
• 19. See ver. 11
• 20. Isaiah 56:8
• 21. [Ezekiel 34:11-13; Matthew 8:11, 12; Ephesians 2:13-18; 1 Peter 2:25]
• 22. John 5:25; John 18:37; [Acts 28:28]
• 23. [John 11:52; John 12:32; John 17:11, 21, 22]
• 24. Ezekiel 34:23; Ezekiel 37:24
• 25. Philippians 2:9; See John 5:20
• 26. Isa. 53:7, 8, 12; Hebrews 2:9
• 27. ver. 11
• 28. [Matthew 26:53]
• 29. [See ver. 17 above]
• 30. [John 5:30]
• 31. John 2:19; [Philippians 2:7]
• 32. John 12:49; John 14:31; John 15:10
• 33. John 7:43; John 9:16
• 34. See John 7:20
• 35. [Mark 3:21]
• 36. [Exodus 4:11; Psalms 146:8]; See John 9:33