1. Then Jesus spoke this parable to the religious leaders, "A man who enters the barn in any way other than the door is a thief and has come to steal the sheep.
2. "The shepherd of the sheep enters through the door. The doorkeeper opens the door and lets the shepherd in, and the sheep hear the shepherd's voice, and he leads them out.
3. "Then when he has led them out, he walks in front of them and leads them to pasture, and they follow him, because they recognize his voice.
4. "The sheep will not follow a stranger, because they do not recognize his voice; instead, they will run away."
5. This parable Jesus spoke to them, but they did not understand what He was telling them, so He spoke more plainly.
6. "I am the door for the sheep. All who came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them.
7. "I am the door; if anyone enters through Me, that person will be saved, and they will go in and out and find pasture.
8. "The thief comes to kill, steal, and destroy, but I have come that they may have life and have that life more abundantly.
9. "I am the good shepherd, and the shepherd lays down His life for the sheep.
10. "The hired hand, who is not the owner, sees the wolf coming for the sheep and runs away; then the wolf snatches the sheep and the flock is scattered. He flees, because he is the hired hand and has no real concern for the sheep.
11. "I am the good shepherd, and I know My own, and My own know Me, even as the Father knows Me and I know the Father, and I lay My life down for the sheep.
12. "I have other sheep, which are not of this fold. And I must gather them also, and they will hear My voice and will become one with the flock and have one shepherd.
13. "For this reason the Father loves Me, because I lay down My life so that I may take it up again.
14. "No one has taken it from Me, but I lay it down by My own will. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This is the commandment I received from My Father."
15. So a division occurred among the religious leaders because of these words Jesus spoke. Many were saying, "He has a demon and is insane. Why do you listen to Him?"
16. Others were saying, "These sayings are not the sayings of a demon-possessed person."
17. Some time later, in the winter, during the religious feast being hosted in Jerusalem, Jesus was walking among the grounds of the temple and the council of the elders of the people, both the chief priests and scribes encircled Him and were saying to Him, "How long will You keep us in suspense? If You are the Christ, tell us plainly."
18. Jesus answered them, "I told you, and yet you do not believe. The works that I do in My Father's name testify about Me.
19. "But you do not believe in Me, because you are not My sheep. My sheep hear My voice and they know Me, and they follow Me, and to them I give eternal life so they will never perish, and no one can snatch them from My hand.
20. "My Father who has given them to Me is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them from the Father's hand.
21. "I and the Father are one."
22. At that, the religious leaders became enraged and picked up stones to kill Him, but Jesus said to them, "I showed you many good works from the Father, for which one are you stoning Me?"
23. The religious leaders said, "We are not going to stone You for any good works but rather because You being a man make Yourself out to be God."
24. Jesus answered them, "From your own scriptures, you say 'you are gods,' how can you stone the one whom the Father has sanctified and sent into the world because I say I and the Father are one and that I am the Son of God?
25. "If I do not do the works of the Father, do not believe Me; but if I do them, even though you may not believe Me, believe in the works so that you may come to know and understand that the Father is in Me, and I am in the Father."
26. But they went to seize Jesus anyway, yet He eluded their grasp.
27. And Jesus went far away then to the place where John the Baptist was first baptizing people before his arrest, and He remained there for some time.
28. Many came to Him in that place and realized that what John the Baptist had said about Him was true. And many believed in Christ in that place.
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