John

¹“Amen, amen, I tell you; whoever does not enter by the gate into the sheep fold, but climbs up some other way is a thief and a robber. ²But the one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. ³The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. The shepherd¹¹⁶³ calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. ⁴And whenever he brings out his own sheep, he goes before them and the sheep follow him because they know his voice. ⁵They will by no means follow a stranger, but flee from him because they do not recognize¹¹⁶⁴ the voice of strangers.” ⁶Jesus spoke this parable to them, but they did not understand what he was telling them.

⁷Jesus therefore said to them again, “Amen, amen, I tell you; I am the gate for the sheep. ⁸All who have come before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. ⁹I am the gate! Anyone who enters in by me will be saved, and go in and out, and will find pasture. ¹⁰The thief only comes to steal, kill, and destroy. I came so that people may have life, and have it in abundance. ¹¹I am the good shepherd!¹¹⁶⁵ The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. ¹²The one who is a hired hand, not a shepherd, and who does not own the sheep, leaves the sheep and flees when he sees the wolf coming. Then the wolf snatches the sheep and scatters them. ¹³The hired hand flees because he is a hired hand and does not care for the sheep. ¹⁴I am the good shepherd! I know my own, and I am known by my own; ¹⁵even as the Father knows me, and I know the Father. I lay down my life for the sheep. ¹⁶I have other sheep, which are not of this fold.¹¹⁶⁶ I must bring them also, and they will hear my voice. And there will be one flock—one shepherd. ¹⁷Therefore, the Father loves me, because I lay down my life,¹¹⁶⁷ so that I may take it again. ¹⁸No one takes my life¹¹⁶⁸ away from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again.¹¹⁶⁹ I received this commandment from my Father.”

¹⁹Once again, a division arose among the Jews on account of these words. ²⁰Many of them said, “He has a demon and he is insane! Why do you listen to him?” ²¹Others said, “These are not the sayings of someone possessed by a demon. It is not possible for a demon to open the eyes of the blind, is it?”¹¹⁷⁰

At the Feast of the Dedication

²²At that time, it was the Feast of the Dedication¹¹⁷¹ in Jerusalem. ²³It was winter, and Jesus was walking in the temple, in Solomon’s porch. ²⁴The Jews therefore gathered around him and asked him, “How long will you hold us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.”

²⁵Jesus answered them, “I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father’s Name, these bear witness to me. ²⁶But you do not believe, because you are not of my sheep, as I told you. ²⁷My sheep hear my voice; I know them, and they follow me. ²⁸I give eternal life to them; they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. ²⁹My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all. No one is able to snatch them out of my Father’s hand. ³⁰I and the Father are one.”

³¹Again, the Jews picked up rocks to stone him. ³²Jesus told them, “I have shown you many good works from my Father. For which of those do you stone me?”

³³The Jews answered him, “We do not stone you for a good work, but for blasphemy: because you, being a man, make yourself God.”¹¹⁷²

³⁴Jesus answered them, “Is it not written in your law, ‘I said, you are gods?’^{1173 35}If he called them gods, (those to whom the word of God came, and the Scripture cannot be broken), ³⁶do you say of him whom the Father has consecrated¹¹⁷⁴ and sent into the world, ‘You blaspheme,’ because I said, ‘I am the Son of God?’ ³⁷If I do not do the works of my Father, do not believe me. ³⁸But if I do them, even though you do not believe me, believe the works, so that you may recognize¹¹⁷⁵ and believe that the Father is in me, and I in him.”

³⁹Therefore they sought again to seize him, but he escaped out of their hand. ⁴⁰He went away again beyond the Jordan into the place where John was baptizing at first, and he stayed there. ⁴¹Many came to him, saying, “John indeed did no sign, but everything that John said about this man is true!” ⁴²And many believed in him there.

The raising of Lazarus: the sixth sign

1163. Or “he”
1164. Or “know”
1165. Isaias 40:11; Ezekiel 34:11-12,15,22
1166. Isaias 56:8
1167. Isaias 53:7-8
1168. Greek “it”
1169. John 2:19
1170. Exodus 4:11
1171. The “Feast of the Dedication” is the Greek name for “Hanukkah,” a celebration of the re-dedication of the Temple (see 1 Maccabees 4:59)
1172. Or possibly “a god” (see verses 34-35)
1173. Psalm 82:6/81 LXX
1174. Or “sanctified.” This seems to be reference to Christ’s consecration as Great High Priest.
1175. Or “know”