| "Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter by the door into the fold of the sheep, but climbs up some other way, he is a thief and a robber. | |
| "But he who enters by the door is a shepherd of the sheep. | |
| "To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. | |
| "When he puts forth all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice. | |
| "A stranger they simply will not follow, but will flee from him, because they do not know the voice of strangers." | |
| This figure of speech Jesus spoke to them, but they did not understand what those things were which He had been saying to them. | |
| So Jesus said to them again, "Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. | |
| "All who came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them. | |
| "I am the door; if anyone enters through Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. | |
| "The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have {it} abundantly. | |
| "I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep. | |
| "He who is a hired hand, and not a 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 {them.} | |
| "{He flees} because he is a hired hand and is not concerned about the sheep. | |
| "I am the good shepherd, and I know My own and My own know Me, | |
| even as the Father knows Me and I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep. | |
| "I have other sheep, which are not of this fold; I must bring them also, and they will hear My voice; and they will become one flock {with} one shepherd. | |
| "For this reason the Father loves Me, because I lay down My life so that I may take it again. | |
| "No one has taken it away from Me, but I lay it down on My own initiative. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This commandment I received from My Father." | |
| A division occurred again among the Jews because of these words. | |
| Many of them were saying, "He has a demon and is insane. Why do you listen to Him?" | |
| Others were saying, "These are not the sayings of one demon-possessed. A demon cannot open the eyes of the blind, can he?" | |
| At that time the Feast of the Dedication took place at Jerusalem; | |
| it was winter, and Jesus was walking in the temple in the portico of Solomon. | |
| The Jews then gathered around Him, and were saying to Him, "How long will You keep us in suspense? If You are the Christ, tell us plainly." | |
| Jesus answered them, "I told you, and you do not believe; the works that I do in My Father's name, these testify of Me. | |
| "But you do not believe because you are not of My sheep. | |
| "My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; | |
| and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand. | |
| "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. | |
| "I and the Father are one." | |
| The Jews picked up stones again to stone Him. | |
| Jesus answered them, "I showed you many good works from the Father; for which of them are you stoning Me?" | |
| The Jews answered Him, "For a good work we do not stone You, but for blasphemy; and because You, being a man, make Yourself out {to be} God." | |
| Jesus answered them, "Has it not been written in your Law, 'I SAID, YOU ARE GODS'? | |
| "If he called them gods, to whom the word of God came (and the Scripture cannot be broken), | |
| do you say of Him, whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world, 'You are blaspheming,' because I said, 'I am the Son of God'? | |
| "If I do not do the works of My Father, do not believe Me; | |
| but if I do them, though you do not believe Me, believe the works, so that you may know and understand that the Father is in Me, and I in the Father." | |
| Therefore they were seeking again to seize Him, and He eluded their grasp. | |
| And He went away again beyond the Jordan to the place where John was first baptizing, and He was staying there. | |
| Many came to Him and were saying, "While John performed no sign, yet everything John said about this man was true." | |
| Many believed in Him there. |
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © The Lockman Foundation 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995. All rights reserved. Used by permission.
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