John 10:1-21

1 Jesus said, "I am telling you the truth: the man who does not enter the sheep pen by the gate, but climbs in some other way, is a thief and a robber.

2 The man who goes in through the gate is the shepherd of the sheep.

3 The gatekeeper opens the gate for him; the sheep hear his voice as he calls his own sheep by name, and he leads them out.

4 When he has brought them out, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him, because they know his voice.

5 They will not follow someone else; instead, they will run away from such a person, because they do not know his voice."

6 Jesus told them this parable, but they did not understand what he meant.

7 So Jesus said again, "I am telling you the truth: I am the gate for the sheep.

8 All others who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them.

9 I am the gate. Those who come in by me will be saved; they will come in and go out and find pasture.

10 The thief comes only in order to steal, kill, and destroy. I have come in order that you might have life - life in all its fullness.

11 "I am the good shepherd, who is willing to die for the sheep. ¹

12 When the hired man, who is not a shepherd and does not own the sheep, sees a wolf coming, he leaves the sheep and runs away; so the wolf snatches the sheep and scatters them.

13 The hired man runs away because he is only a hired man and does not care about the sheep.

14 I am the good shepherd. As the Father knows me and I know the Father, in the same way I know my sheep and they know me. And I am willing to die for them. ²

16 There are other sheep which belong to me that are not in this sheep pen. I must bring them, too; they will listen to my voice, and they will become one flock with one shepherd.

17 "The Father loves me because I am willing to give up my life, in order that I may receive it back again.

18 No one takes my life away from me. I give it up of my own free will. I have the right to give it up, and I have the right to take it back. This is what my Father has commanded me to do."

19 Again there was a division among the people because of these words.

20 Many of them were saying, "He has a demon! He is crazy! Why do you listen to him?"

21 But others were saying, "A man with a demon could not talk like this! How could a demon give sight to blind people?"

Cross References

• 1. +210.11Ben Sira 18.13.
• 2. 10.15Matthew 11.27;Luke 10.22.

Footnotes

• [a]. they will become; [some manuscripts have] there will be.