²⁷ The sheep that are My own hear My voice and listen to Me; I know them, and they follow Me.

³⁷ So Pilate said to Him, “Then You are a King?” Jesus answered, “You say [correctly] that I am a King. This is why I was born, and for this I have come into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth [who is a friend of the truth and belongs to the truth] hears and listens carefully to My voice.”^(A)

³⁹ She had a sister named Mary, who seated herself at the Lord’s feet and was continually listening to His teaching.

²⁸ But He said, “On the contrary, blessed (happy, favored by God) are those who hear the word of God and continually observe it.”

³⁵ Then ^[a]a voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This is My beloved Son, My Chosen One; listen and obey and yield to Him!”

⁸ But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart”—that is, the word [the message, the basis] of faith which we preach—^(A)

¹⁷ So faith comes from hearing [what is told], and what is heard comes by the [preaching of the] message concerning Christ.

¹⁰ if you listen to and obey the voice of the Lord your God to keep His commandments and His statutes which are written in this Book of the Law, and if you turn to the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul (your entire being).

¹¹ “For this commandment which I am commanding you today is not too difficult for you, nor is it ^[a]out of reach. ¹² It is not [a secret hidden] in heaven, that you should say, ‘Who will go up to heaven for us and bring it to us, so that we may hear it and obey it?’ ¹³ Nor is it beyond the sea, that you should say, ‘Who will cross the sea for us and bring it to us, so that we may hear it and obey it?’ ¹⁴ But the word is very near you, in your mouth and in your heart, so that you may obey it.

⁶³ It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh conveys no benefit [it is of no account]. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and life [providing eternal life].

¹⁵ while it is said,