| 1 'In all truth I tell you, anyone who does not enter the sheepfold through the gate, but climbs in some other way, is a thief and a bandit. | |
| 2 He who enters through the gate is the shepherd of the flock; | |
| 3 the gatekeeper lets him in, the sheep hear his voice, one by one he calls his own sheep and leads them out. | |
| 4 When he has brought out all those that are his, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow because they know his voice. | |
| 5 They will never follow a stranger, but will run away from him because they do not recognise the voice of strangers.' | |
| 6 Jesus told them this parable but they failed to understand what he was saying to them. | |
| 7 So Jesus spoke to them again: In all truth I tell you, I am the gate of the sheepfold. | |
| 8 All who have come before me are thieves and bandits, but the sheep took no notice of them. | |
| 9 I am the gate. Anyone who enters through me will be safe: such a one will go in and out and will find pasture. | |
| 10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I have come so that they may have life and have it to the full. | |
| 11 I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd lays down his life for his sheep. | |
| 12 The hired man, since he is not the shepherd and the sheep do not belong to him, abandons the sheep as soon as he sees a wolf coming, and runs away, and then the wolf attacks and scatters the sheep; | |
| 13 he runs away because he is only a hired man and has no concern for the sheep. | |
| 14 I am the good shepherd; I know my own and my own know me, | |
| 15 just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for my sheep. | |
| 16 And there are other sheep I have that are not of this fold, and I must lead these too. They too will listen to my voice, and there will be only one flock, one shepherd. | |
| 17 The Father loves me, because I lay down my life in order to take it up again. | |
| 18 No one takes it from me; I lay it down of my own free will, and as I have power to lay it down, so I have power to take it up again; and this is the command I have received from my Father. | |
| 19 These words caused a fresh division among the Jews. | |
| 20 Many said, 'He is possessed, he is raving; why do you listen to him?' | |
| 21 Others said, 'These are not the words of a man possessed by a devil: could a devil open the eyes of the blind?' | |
| 22 It was the time of the feast of Dedication in Jerusalem. It was winter, | |
| 23 and Jesus was in the Temple walking up and down in the Portico of Solomon. | |
| 24 The Jews gathered round him and said, 'How much longer are you going to keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us openly.' | |
| 25 Jesus replied: I have told you, but you do not believe. The works I do in my Father's name are my witness; | |
| 26 but you do not believe, because you are no sheep of mine. | |
| 27 The sheep that belong to me listen to my voice; I know them and they follow me. | |
| 28 I give them eternal life; they will never be lost and no one will ever steal them from my hand. | |
| 29 The Father, for what he has given me, is greater than anyone, and no one can steal anything from the Father's hand. | |
| 30 The Father and I are one. | |
| 31 The Jews fetched stones to stone him, | |
| 32 so Jesus said to them, 'I have shown you many good works from my Father; for which of these are you stoning me?' | |
| 33 The Jews answered him, 'We are stoning you, not for doing a good work, but for blasphemy; though you are only a man, you claim to be God.' | |
| 34 Jesus answered: Is it not written in your Law: I said, you are gods? | |
| 35 So it uses the word 'gods' of those people to whom the word of God was addressed -- and scripture cannot be set aside. | |
| 36 Yet to someone whom the Father has consecrated and sent into the world you say, 'You are blaspheming' because I said, 'I am Son of God.' | |
| 37 If I am not doing my Father's work, there is no need to believe me; | |
| 38 but if I am doing it, then even if you refuse to believe in me, at least believe in the work I do; then you will know for certain that the Father is in me and I am in the Father. | |
| 39 They again wanted to arrest him then, but he eluded their clutches. | |
| 40 He went back again to the far side of the Jordan to the district where John had been baptising at first and he stayed there. | |
| 41 Many people who came to him said, 'John gave no signs, but all he said about this man was true'; | |
| 42 and many of them believed in him. | |
