Twenty - John - 10

10:1  In truth I tell you, whoever does not go into the sheepfold through the door, but climbs up at some other place, that man is a thief and a robber;

10:2  But the man who goes in through the door is shepherd to the sheep.

10:3  For him the watchman opens the door; and the sheep listen to his voice; and he calls his own sheep by name, and leads them out.

10:4  When he has brought them all out, he walks in front of them, and his sheep follow him, because they know his voice.

10:5  They will not follow a stranger, but will run away from him; because they do not know a stranger's voice."

10:6  This was the allegory that Jesus told them, but they did not understand of what he was speaking.

10:7  So he continued. "In truth I tell you, I am the Door for the sheep.

10:8  All who came before me were thieves and robbers; but the sheep did not listen to them.

10:9  I am the Door; he who goes in through me will be safe, and he will go in and out and find pasture.

10:10  The thief comes only to steal, to kill, and to destroy; I have come that they may have Life, and may have it in greater fulness.

10:11  I am the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd lays down his life for his sheep.

10:12  The hired man who is not a shepherd, and who does not own the sheep, when he sees a wolf coming, leaves them and runs away; then the wolf seizes them, and scatters the flock.

10:13  He does this because he is only a hired man and does not care about the sheep.

10:14  I am the Good Shepherd; and I know my sheep, and my sheep know me--

10:15  Just as the Father knows me and I know the Father--and I lay down my life for the sheep.

10:16  I have other sheep besides, which do not belong to this fold; I must lead them also, and they will listen to my voice; and they shall become one flock under 'one Shepherd.'

10:17  This is why the Father loves me, because I lay down my life- -to receive it again.

10:18  No one took it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to receive it again. This is the command which I received from my Father."

10:19  In consequence of these words a difference of opinion again arose among the Jews.

10:20  Many of them said. "He is possessed by a demon and is mad; why do you listen to him?"

10:21  Others said. "This is not the teaching of one who is possessed by a demon. Can a demon give sight to the blind?"

10:22  Soon after this the Festival of the Re-dedication was held at Jerusalem.

10:23  It was winter; and Jesus was walking in the Temple Courts, in the Colonnade of Solomon,

10:24  When the Jews gathered round him, and said. "How long are you going to keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us so frankly."

10:25  "I have told you so," replied Jesus, "and you do not believe me. The work that I am doing in my Father's name bears testimony to me.

10:26  But you do not believe me, because you are not of my flock.

10:27  My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me;

10:28  And I give them Immortal Life, and they shall not be lost; nor shall any one snatch them out of my hands.

10:29  What my Father has entrusted to me is more than all else; and no one can snatch anything out of the Father's hands.

10:30  The Father and I are one."

10:31  The Jews again brought stones to throw at him;

10:32  And seeing this, Jesus said. "I have done before your eyes many good actions, inspired by the Father; for which of them would you stone me?"

10:33  "It is not for any good action that we would stone you," answered the Jews, "but for blasphemy; and because you, who are only a man, make yourself out to be God."

10:34  "Are there not," replied Jesus, "these words in your Law--'I said "Ye are gods"'?

10:35  If those to whom God's word were addressed were said to be 'gods'-- and Scripture cannot be set aside--

10:36  Do you say of one whom the Father has consecrated and sent as his Messenger to the world 'You are blaspheming,' because I said 'I am God's Son'?

10:37  If I am not doing the work that my Father is doing, do not believe me;

10:38  If I am doing it, even though you do not believe me, believe what that work shows; so that you may understand, and understand more and more clearly, that the Father is in union with me, and I with the Father."

10:39  Upon this the Jews again sought to arrest him; but he escaped their hands.

10:40  Then Jesus again crossed the Jordan to the place where John used to baptize at first, and stayed there some time, during which many people came to see him.

10:41  "John gave no sign of his mission," they said; "but everything that he said about this man was true."

10:42  And many learned to believe in Jesus there.