Joh 10 | ISV | STEP | The Illustration of the Sheepfold“Truly, truly I tell you, the person who does not enter the sheepfold through the gate, but climbs in by some other way, is a thief and a bandit.

John 10

1 The Illustration of the Sheepfold

“Truly, truly I tell you, the person who does not enter the sheepfold through the gate, but climbs in by some other way, is a thief and a bandit. 2 The one who enters through the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. 3 It is to him the gatekeeper opens the gate, and it is his voice the sheep hear. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4 When he has driven out all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they recognize his voice. 5 They will never follow a stranger, but will run away from him because they do not recognize the voice of strangers.” 6 Jesus used this illustration with them, but they didn't understand what he was saying to them. 7 Jesus the Good ShepherdSo again Jesus said, “Truly, truly I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. 8 All who came before me ^{▼▼Other mss. lack before me} are thieves and bandits, but the sheep did not listen to them. 9 I am the gate. If anyone enters through me, he will be saved. He will come in and go out and find pasture.John 14:6; Eph 2:18 10 The thief comes only to steal, slaughter, and destroy. I have come that they may have life, and have it abundantly.

11 “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down ^{▼▼Other mss. read gives} his life for the sheep.Isa 40:11; Ezek 34:12, 23; 37:24; Heb 13:20; 1Pet 2:25; 5:4 12 The hired hand, who is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming, deserts the sheep, and runs away. So the wolf snatches them and scatters them.Zech 11:16-17 13 For he is a hired hand, and the sheep do not matter to him. 14 I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me,2Tim 2:19 15 just as the Father knows me and I know the Father. And I lay down ^{▼▼Other mss. read give} my life for the sheep.Matt 11:27; John 15:13 16 I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. I must lead these also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock and one shepherd.Isa 56:8; Ezek 37:22; Eph 2:14; 1Pet 2:25 17 This is why the Father loves me, because I lay down my life in order to take it back again.Isa 53:7-8, 12; Heb 2:9 18 No one is taking it from me; I lay it down of my own free will. I have the authority to lay it down, and I have the authority to take it back again. This is a command that I have received from my Father.”John 2:19; 6:38; 15:10; Acts 2:24, 32

19 Once again there was a division among the Jews ^{▼▼I.e. Jewish leaders} because of these words.John 7:43; 9:16 20 Many of them were saying, “He has a demon and is insane. Why bother listening to him?”John 7:20

21 Others were saying, “These are not the words of a man who is demon-possessed. A demon cannot open the eyes of the blind, can it?”Exod 4:11; Ps 94:9; 146:8; John 9:6-7, 32-33

22 Jesus Is Rejected by the JewsNow ^{▼▼Other mss. read Then} Hanukkah ^{▼▼Or the Festival of Dedication} was taking place in Jerusalem. It was winter, 23 and Jesus was walking around in the temple inside the open porch of Solomon.Acts 3:11; 5:12 24 So the Jews surrounded him and said to him, “How long are you going to keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, ^{▼▼I.e. the Messiah} tell us so plainly.”

25 Jesus answered them, “I have told you, but you do not believe it. The works that I do in my Father's name testify on my behalf,John 3:2; 5:36; 10:38 26 but you do not believe because you do not belong to my sheep. ^{▼▼Other mss. read my sheep, just as I told you}John 8:47; 1John 4:6 27 My sheep hear my voice. I know them, and they follow me.John 10:4, 14 28 I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.John 6:37; 17:11-12; 18:9 29 What my Father has given me is greater than all else, and no one can snatch it from the Father's hand.John 14:28 30 I and the Father are one.”John 17:11, 22

31 Again the Jews ^{▼▼I.e. Jewish leaders} picked up stones to stone him to death.John 8:59

32 Jesus replied to them, “I have shown you many good works from my ^{▼▼Other mss. read the} Father. For which of them are you going to stone me?”

33 The Jews answered him, “We are not going to stone you for a good work but for blasphemy, because you, a mere man, are making yourself God!”John 5:18

34 Jesus replied to them, “Is it not written in your ^{▼▼Other mss. read the} law, ‘I said, “You are gods”’? ^{▼▼Ps 82:6}Ps 82:6 35 If he called those to whom the word of God came ‘gods’ (and the Scripture cannot be set aside),Rom 13:1 36 how can you say to the one whom the Father has consecrated and sent into the world, ‘You are blaspheming,’ because I said, ‘I am the Son of God’?Luke 1:35; John 3:17; 6:27; 8:42 37 If I am not doing my Father's works, do not believe me.John 15:24 38 But if I am doing them, even though you do not believe me, believe the works, so that you may know and understand ^{▼▼Other mss. read believe} that the Father is in me and I am in the Father.”John 5:36; 14:10-11; 17:21 39 Again they tried to seize him, but he slipped away out of their hands.John 7:30, 44; 8:59

40 Then he went away again across the Jordan to the place where John had been baptizing at first, and he remained there.John 1:28 41 Many people came to him and kept saying, “John never performed a sign, but all the things that John said about this man were true!”John 3:30 42 And many believed in him there.John 8:30; 11:45