John 10
New Living Translation
The Good Shepherd and His Sheep
10 “I tell you the truth, anyone who sneaks over the wall of a sheepfold, rather than going through the gate, must surely be a thief and a robber! 2 But the one who enters through the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. 3 The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep recognize his voice and come to him. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4 After he has gathered his own flock, he walks ahead of them, and they follow him because they know his voice. 5 They won’t follow a stranger; they will run from him because they don’t know his voice.”
6 Those who heard Jesus use this illustration didn’t understand what he meant, 7 so he explained it to them: “I tell you the truth, I am the gate for the sheep. 8 All who came before me[a] were thieves and robbers. But the true sheep did not listen to them. 9 Yes, I am the gate. Those who come in through me will be saved.[b] They will come and go freely and will find good pastures. 10 The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life.
11 “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd sacrifices his life for the sheep. 12 A hired hand will run when he sees a wolf coming. He will abandon the sheep because they don’t belong to him and he isn’t their shepherd. And so the wolf attacks them and scatters the flock. 13 The hired hand runs away because he’s working only for the money and doesn’t really care about the sheep.
14 “I am the good shepherd; I know my own sheep, and they know me, 15 just as my Father knows me and I know the Father. So I sacrifice my life for the sheep. 16 I have other sheep, too, that are not in this sheepfold. I must bring them also. They will listen to my voice, and there will be one flock with one shepherd.
17 “The Father loves me because I sacrifice my life so I may take it back again. 18 No one can take my life from me. I sacrifice it voluntarily. For I have the authority to lay it down when I want to and also to take it up again. For this is what my Father has commanded.”
19 When he said these things, the people[c] were again divided in their opinions about him. 20 Some said, “He’s demon possessed and out of his mind. Why listen to a man like that?” 21 Others said, “This doesn’t sound like a man possessed by a demon! Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?”
Jesus Claims to Be the Son of God
22 It was now winter, and Jesus was in Jerusalem at the time of Hanukkah, the Festival of Dedication. 23 He was in the Temple, walking through the section known as Solomon’s Colonnade. 24 The people surrounded him and asked, “How long are you going to keep us in suspense? If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly.”
25 Jesus replied, “I have already told you, and you don’t believe me. The proof is the work I do in my Father’s name. 26 But you don’t believe me because you are not 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 can snatch them away from me, 29 for my Father has given them to me, and he is more powerful than anyone else.[d] No one can snatch them from the Father’s hand. 30 The Father and I are one.”
31 Once again the people picked up stones to kill him. 32 Jesus said, “At my Father’s direction I have done many good works. For which one are you going to stone me?”
33 They replied, “We’re stoning you not for any good work, but for blasphemy! You, a mere man, claim to be God.”
34 Jesus replied, “It is written in your own Scriptures[e] that God said to certain leaders of the people, ‘I say, you are gods!’[f] 35 And you know that the Scriptures cannot be altered. So if those people who received God’s message were called ‘gods,’ 36 why do you call it blasphemy when I say, ‘I am the Son of God’? After all, the Father set me apart and sent me into the world. 37 Don’t believe me unless I carry out my Father’s work. 38 But if I do his work, believe in the evidence of the miraculous works I have done, even if you don’t believe me. Then you will know and understand that the Father is in me, and I am in the Father.”
39 Once again they tried to arrest him, but he got away and left them. 40 He went beyond the Jordan River near the place where John was first baptizing and stayed there awhile. 41 And many followed him. “John didn’t perform miraculous signs,” they remarked to one another, “but everything he said about this man has come true.” 42 And many who were there believed in Jesus.
Footnotes
- 10:8 Some manuscripts do not include before me.
- 10:9 Or will find safety.
- 10:19 Greek Jewish people; also in 10:24, 31.
- 10:29 Other manuscripts read for what my Father has given me is more powerful than anything; still others read for regarding that which my Father has given me, he is greater than all.
- 10:34a Greek your own law.
- 10:34b Ps 82:6.
John 10
New Testament for Everyone
The good shepherd
10 “I’m telling you the solemn truth,” said Jesus. “Anyone who doesn’t come into the sheepfold by the gate, but gets in by some other way, is a thief and a brigand. 2 But the one who comes in through the gate is the sheep’s own shepherd. 3 The doorkeeper will open up for him, and the sheep hear his voice. He calls his own sheep by name, and leads them out. 4 When he has brought out all that belong to him, he goes on ahead of them. The sheep follow him, because they know his voice. 5 They won’t follow a stranger; instead, they will run away from him, because they don’t know the stranger’s voice.”
6 Jesus spoke this parable to them, but they didn’t understand what it was he was saying to them.
7 So he spoke to them again.
“I’m telling you the solemn truth,” he said. “I am the gate of the sheep. 8 All the people who came before me were thieves and brigands, but the sheep didn’t listen to them. 9 I am the gate. If anyone comes in by me, they will be safe, and will go in and out and find pasture. 10 The thief only comes to steal, and kill, and destroy. I came so that they could have life—yes, and have it full to overflowing.”
The shepherd and the sheep
11 “I am the good shepherd,” Jesus continued. “The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. 12 But supposing there’s a hired servant, who isn’t himself the shepherd, and who doesn’t himself own the sheep. He will see the wolf coming, and leave the sheep, and run away. Then the wolf will snatch the sheep and scatter them. 13 He’ll run away because he’s only a hired servant, and doesn’t care about the sheep.
14 “I am the good shepherd. I know my own sheep, and my own know me— 15 just as the father knows me and I know the father. And I lay down my life for the sheep. 16 And I have other sheep, too, which don’t belong to this sheepfold. I must bring them, too, and they will hear my voice. Then there will be one flock, and one shepherd.
17 “That’s why the father loves me, because I lay down my life, so that I can take it again. 18 Nobody takes it from me; I lay it down of my own accord. I have the right to lay it down, and I have the right to receive it back again. This is the command I received from my father.”
The Messiah and the father
19 So there was again a division among the Judaeans because of what Jesus had said.
20 “He’s demon-possessed!” some were saying. “He’s raving mad! Why listen to him?”
21 “No,” said some others, “that’s not how demon-possessed people talk. Anyway, how could a demon open a blind man’s eyes?”
22 It was the Feast of the Dedication in Jerusalem. It was winter, 23 and Jesus was walking in the Temple, in Solomon’s Porch. 24 The Judaeans surrounded him.
“How much longer are you going to keep us in suspense?” they asked. “If you are the Messiah, say so out loud!”
25 “I told you,” replied Jesus, “and you didn’t believe. The works which I’m doing in my father’s name give evidence about me. 26 But you don’t believe, because you don’t belong to my sheep.
27 “My sheep hear my voice. I know them, and they follow me. 28 I give them the life of the coming age. They will never, ever perish, and nobody can snatch them out of my hand. 29 My father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and nobody can snatch them out of my father’s hand. 30 I and the father are one.”
Blasphemy!
31 So the Judaeans once more picked up stones to stone him.
32 “I’ve shown you many fine deeds from the father,” Jesus replied to them. “Which of these deeds are you stoning me for?”
33 “We’re not stoning you for good deeds,” replied the Judaeans, “but because of blasphemy! Here you are, a mere man, and you’re making yourself into God!”
34 “It’s written in your law, isn’t it,” replied Jesus to them, “ ‘I said, you are gods?’ 35 Well, if the law calls people ‘gods,’ people to whom God’s word came (and you can’t set the Bible aside), 36 how can you accuse someone of blasphemy when the father has placed him apart and sent him into the world, and he says, ‘I am the son of God’?
37 “If I’m not doing the works of my father, don’t believe me. 38 But if I am doing them, well—even if you don’t believe me, believe the works! That way you will know and grasp that the father is in me, and I am in the father.”
39 So again they tried to arrest him. But Jesus managed to get away from them.
40 He went off once more across the Jordan, to the place where John had been baptizing at the beginning, and he stayed there. 41 Several people came to him.
“John never did any signs,” they said, “but everything that John said about this man was true.”
42 And many believed in him there.
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
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Scripture quotations from The New Testament for Everyone are copyright © Nicholas Thomas Wright 2011, 2018, 2019.
