John 10 (NMV)
1 "Truly, truly I tell you, anyone who doesn't enter the sheep pen by the gate but climbs in some other way is a thief and a robber.
2 But the one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep.
3 The gatekeeper opens it for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.
4 When he has brought out all his own, he goes ahead of them. The sheep follow him because they recognize his voice.
5 They will never follow a stranger; instead, they will run away from him, because they do not recognize the voice of strangers."
6 Jesus gave them this illustration, but they did not understand what He was telling them.
7 So Jesus said again, "Truly, truly I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep.
8 All who came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep didn't listen to them.
9 I am the gate. If anyone enters through Me, he will be saved and will come in and go out and find pasture.
10 A thief comes only to steal, kill, and destroy. I have come so that they may have life and have it in abundance.
11 I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep.
12 The hired hand, since he is not the shepherd and the sheep are not his own, sees the wolf coming, abandons the sheep, and runs away. Then the wolf attacks and scatters them.
13 This happens because he is a hired hand and does not care about 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. I lay down My life for the sheep.
16 But I have other sheep that are not from this sheepfold; I must bring them also, and they will listen to My voice. Then there will be one flock and one shepherd.
17 This is why the Father loves Me, because I lay down My life so that I may take it up again.
18 No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of My own accord. I have the authority to lay it down, and I have the authority to take it up again. I have received this command from My Father."
19 Again the Jews were divided because of these words.
20 Many of them were saying, "He has a demon and is insane. Why listen to Him?"
21 Others were saying, "These aren't the words of someone possessed by a demon. Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?"
22 Then the Festival of Dedication took place in Jerusalem, and it was winter.
23 Jesus was walking in the temple courts in Solomon's Colonnade.
24 The Jews surrounded Him and asked, "How long are You going to keep us in suspense? If You are the Messiah, tell us plainly."
25 "I did tell you and you don't believe," Jesus answered them. "The works that I do in My Father's name testify about Me.
26 But you don't believe because you are not of My sheep.
27 My sheep listen to My voice; I know them, and they follow Me.
28 I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one will snatch them out of My hand.
29 My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all. No one can snatch them out of the Father's hand.
30 I and the Father are one."
31 Again the Jews picked up stones to stone Him.
32 Jesus replied, "I have shown you many good works from the Father. For which of these are you stoning Me?"
33 "We aren't stoning You for a good work," the Jews answered, "but for blasphemy, because You, a man, are making Yourself God."
34 Jesus answered them, "Isn't it written in your Law: 'I said, you are gods'?
35 If He called those to whom the word of God came 'gods', and the Scripture cannot be broken,
36 do you say, 'You are blaspheming' to the One the Father set apart and sent into the world, because I said, 'I am the Son of God'?
37 If I am not doing My Father's works, don't believe Me.
38 But if I am doing them and you don't believe Me, believe the works. This way you will know and understand that the Father is in Me and I am in the Father."
39 Then they were trying again to seize Him, but He escaped their grasp.
40 So He departed again across the Jordan to the place where John had been baptizing earlier, and He stayed there.
41 Many came to Him and said, "John never performed a sign, but everything John said about this man was true."
42 And many believed in Him there.