Parable of the Good Shepherd

10 “Truly, truly I say to you, the one who does not enter by the door into the fold of the sheep, but climbs up some other way, he is ^(A)a thief and a robber. ² But the one who enters by the door is ^(B)a shepherd of the sheep. ³ To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep listen to ^(C)his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and ^(D)leads them out. ⁴ When he puts all his own sheep outside, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know ^(E)his voice. ⁵ However, a stranger they simply will not follow, but will flee from him, because they do not know ^(F)the voice of strangers.” ⁶ Jesus told them this ^(G)figure of speech, but they did not understand what the things which He was saying to them ^[a]meant.

⁷ So Jesus said to them again, “Truly, truly I say to you, I am ^(H)the door of the sheep. ⁸ All those who came before Me are ^(I)thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. ^9 (J)I am the door; if anyone enters through Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. ¹⁰ The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came so that they ^(K)would have life, and ^[b]have it abundantly.

¹¹ “^(L)I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd ^(M)lays down His life for the sheep. ¹² He who is a hired hand, and not a ^(N)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 the flock. ¹³ He flees because he is a hired hand and does not care about the sheep. ^14 (O)I am the good shepherd, and ^(P)I know My own, and My own know Me, ¹⁵ just as ^(Q)the Father knows Me and I know the Father; and ^(R)I lay down My life for the sheep. ¹⁶ And I have ^(S)other sheep that are not of this fold; I must bring them also, and they will listen to My voice; and they will become ^(T)one flock, with ^(U)one shepherd. ¹⁷ For this reason the Father loves Me, because I ^(V)lay down My life so that I may take it back. ^18 (W)No one has taken it away from Me, but I ^(X)lay it down on My own. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it back. ^(Y)This commandment I received from My Father.”

^19 (Z)Dissension occurred again among the Jews because of these words. ²⁰ Many of them were saying, “He ^(AA)has a demon and ^(AB)is insane. Why do you listen to Him?” ²¹ Others were saying, “These are not the words of one who is ^(AC)demon-possessed. ^(AD)A demon cannot open the eyes of those who are blind, can it?”

Jesus Asserts His Deity

²² At that time the ^[c]Feast of the Dedication took place in Jerusalem; ²³ it was winter, and Jesus was walking in the temple area, in the portico of ^(AE)Solomon. ^24 (AF)The Jews then surrounded Him and began saying to Him, “How long ^[d]will You keep us in suspense? If You are the ^[e]Christ, tell us ^(AG)plainly.” ²⁵ Jesus answered them, “^(AH)I told you, and you do not believe; ^(AI)the works that I do in My Father’s name, these testify of Me. ²⁶ But you do not believe, because ^(AJ)you are not of My sheep. ²⁷ My sheep ^(AK)listen to My voice, and ^(AL)I know them, and they follow Me; ²⁸ and I give them ^(AM)eternal life, and they will never perish; and ^(AN)no one will snatch them out of My hand. ^29 [f]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. ^30 (AO)I and the Father are ^[g]one.”

³¹ The Jews ^(AP)picked up stones again to stone Him. ³² Jesus replied to them, “I showed you many good works from the Father; for which of them are you stoning Me?” ³³ The Jews answered Him, “We are not stoning You for a good work, but for ^(AQ)blasphemy; and because You, being a man, ^(AR)make Yourself out to be God.” ³⁴ Jesus answered them, “Has it not been written in ^(AS)your ^(AT)Law: ‘^(AU)I said, you are gods’? ³⁵ If he called them gods, to whom the word of God came (and the Scripture cannot be nullified), ³⁶ are you saying of Him whom the Father ^(AV)sanctified and ^(AW)sent into the world, ‘You are blaspheming,’ because I said, ‘^(AX)I am the Son of God’? ^37 (AY)If I do not do the works of My Father, do not believe Me; ³⁸ but if I do them, even though you do not believe Me, believe ^(AZ)the works, so that you may ^[h]know and understand that ^(BA)the Father is in Me, and I in the Father.” ³⁹ Therefore ^(BB)they were seeking again to arrest Him, and ^(BC)He eluded their grasp.

⁴⁰ And He went away ^(BD)again beyond the Jordan to the place where John was first baptizing, and He stayed there. ⁴¹ Many came to Him and were saying, “While John performed no ^(BE)sign, yet ^(BF)everything John said about this man was true.” ⁴² And ^(BG)many believed in Him there.

Teaching in the Villages

²² And He was passing through one city and village after another, teaching, and ^(A)proceeding on His way to Jerusalem. ²³ And someone said to Him, “Lord, are there just a few who are being saved?” And He said to them, ²⁴ “^(B)Strive to enter through the narrow door; for many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able. ²⁵ Once the head of the house gets up and ^(C)shuts the door, and you begin standing outside and knocking on the door, saying, ‘^(D)Lord, open up to us!’ and He then will answer and say to you, ‘^(E)I do not know where you are from.’ ²⁶ Then you will ^(F)begin saying, ‘We ate and drank in Your presence, and You taught in our streets!’ ²⁷ And yet He will ^[a]say, ‘^(G)I do not know where you are from; ^(H)leave Me, all you ^[b]evildoers.’ ^28 (I)In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth when you see Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, but yourselves being thrown out. ²⁹ And they ^(J)will come from east and west, and from north and south, and will recline at the table in the kingdom of God. ³⁰ And behold, ^(K)some are last who will be first, and some are first who will be last.”

³¹ At that very time some Pharisees approached, saying to Him, “Go away and leave this place, because ^(L)Herod wants to kill You.” ³² And He said to them, “Go and tell that ^[c]fox, ‘Behold, I am casting out demons and performing healings today and tomorrow, and on the third day I ^[d](M)reach My goal.’ ³³ Nevertheless ^(N)I must go on My journey today and tomorrow and the next day; for it cannot be that a ^(O)prophet would perish outside Jerusalem. ^34 (P)Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who have been sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, ^(Q)just as a hen gathers her ^[e]young under her wings, and you were unwilling! ³⁵ Behold, your house is left to you desolate; and I say to you, you will not see Me until you say, ‘^(R)Blessed is the One who comes in the name of the Lord!’”

Jesus Heals on the Sabbath

14 It happened that when He went into the house of one of the ^[f]leaders of the Pharisees on the Sabbath to eat bread, ^(S)they were watching Him ^[g]closely. ² And ^[h]there in front of Him was a man suffering from ^[i]edema. ³ And Jesus responded and said to the ^[j](T)lawyers and ^[k]Pharisees, “^(U)Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath, or not?” ⁴ But they kept silent. And He took hold of him and healed him, and sent him away. ⁵ And He said to them, “^[l](V)Which one of you will have a son or an ox fall into a well, and will not immediately pull him out on a Sabbath day?” ^6 (W)And they could offer no reply to this.

Parable of the Guests

⁷ Now He began telling a parable to the invited guests when He noticed how ^(X)they had been picking out the places of honor at the table, saying to them, ⁸ “Whenever you are invited by someone to a wedding feast, ^(Y)do not ^[m]take the place of honor, for someone more distinguished than you may have been invited by him, ⁹ and the one who invited you ^[n]both will come and say to you, ‘Give your place to this person,’ and then ^(Z)in disgrace you will proceed to occupy the last place. ¹⁰ But whenever you are invited, go and ^[o]take the last place, so that when the one who has invited you comes, he will say to you, ‘Friend, ^(AA)move up higher’; then you will have honor in the sight of all who are ^[p]dining at the table with you. ^11 (AB)For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”

¹² Now He also went on to say to the one who had invited Him, “Whenever you give a luncheon or a dinner, do not invite your friends, your brothers, your relatives, nor wealthy neighbors, otherwise they may also invite you to a meal in return, and that will be your ^[q]repayment. ¹³ But whenever you give a ^[r]banquet, invite people who are poor, who have disabilities, who are limping, and people who are blind; ¹⁴ and you will be blessed, since they ^[s]do not have the means to repay you; for you will be repaid at ^(AC)the resurrection of the righteous.”

¹⁵ Now when one of those who were reclining at the table with Him heard this, he said to Him, “^(AD)Blessed is everyone who will eat bread in the kingdom of God!”

Parable of the Dinner

¹⁶ But He said to him, “^(AE)A man was giving a big dinner, and he invited many; ¹⁷ and at the dinner hour he sent his slave to tell those who had been invited, ‘Come, because everything is ready now.’ ¹⁸ And yet they all alike began to make excuses. The first one said to him, ‘I purchased a field and I need to go out to look at it; ^[t]please consider me excused.’ ¹⁹ And another one said, ‘I bought five yoke of oxen, and I am going to try them out; ^[u]please consider me excused.’ ²⁰ And another one said, ‘^(AF)I took a woman as my wife, and for that reason I cannot come.’ ²¹ And the slave came back and reported this to his master. Then the head of the household became angry and said to his slave, ‘Go out at once into the streets and lanes of the city and bring in here those who are poor, those with disabilities, those who are blind, and those who are limping.’ ²² And later the slave said, ‘Master, what you commanded has been done, and still there is room.’ ²³ And the master said to the slave, ‘Go out into the roads and the hedges and press upon them to come in, so that my house will be filled. ²⁴ For I tell you, none of those men who were invited shall taste my dinner.’”