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10:1 "Very truly, I tell you, anyone who does not enter the sheepfold by the gate but climbs in by another way is a thief and a bandit. 10:2 The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. 10:3 The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep hear his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 10:4 When he has brought out all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice. 10:5 They will not follow a stranger, but they will run from him because they do not know the voice of strangers." 10:6 Jesus used this figure of speech with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them. 10:7 So again Jesus said to them, "Very truly, I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. 10:8 All who came before me are thieves and bandits; but the sheep did not listen to them. 10:9 I am the gate. Whoever enters by me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture. 10:10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly. 10:11 "I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. 10:12 The hired hand, who is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and runs away-- and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. 10:13 The hired hand runs away because a hired hand does not care for the sheep. 10:14 I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, 10:15 just as the Father knows me and I know the Father. And I lay down my life for the sheep. 10:16 I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd. 10:17 For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life in order to take it up again. 10:18 No one takes it 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 up again. I have received this command from my Father." 10:19 Again the Jews were divided because of these words. 10:20 Many of them were saying, "He has a demon and is out of his mind. Why listen to him?" 10:21 Others were saying, "These are not the words of one who has a demon. Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?" 10:22 At that time the festival of the Dedication took place in Jerusalem. It was winter, 10:23 and Jesus was walking in the temple, in the portico of Solomon. 10:24 So the Jews gathered around him and said to him, "How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly." 10:25 Jesus answered, "I have told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father's name testify to me; 10:26 but you do not believe, because you do not belong to my sheep. 10:27 My sheep hear my voice. I know them, and they follow me. 10:28 I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one will snatch them out of my hand. 10:29 What my Father has given me is greater than all else, and no one can snatch it out of the Father's hand. 10:30 The Father and I are one." 10:31 The Jews took up stones again to stone him. 10:32 Jesus replied, "I have shown you many good works from the Father. For which of these are you going to stone me?" 10:33 The Jews answered, "It is not for a good work that we are going to stone you, but for blasphemy, because you, though only a human being, are making yourself God." 10:34 Jesus answered, "Is it not written in your law, 'I said, you are gods'? 10:35 If those to whom the word of God came were called 'gods'-- and the scripture cannot be annulled-- 10:36 can you say that the one whom the Father has sanctified and sent into the world is blaspheming because I said, 'I am God's Son'? 10:37 If I am not doing the works of my Father, then do not believe me. 10:38 But if I do them, even though you do not believe me, believe the works, so that you may know and understand that the Father is in me and I am in the Father." 10:39 Then they tried to arrest him again, but he escaped from their hands. 10:40 He went away again across the Jordan to the place where John had been baptizing earlier, and he remained there. 10:41 Many came to him, and they were saying, "John performed no sign, but everything that John said about this man was true." 10:42 And many believed in him there.