John 10:5-26

⁵But they will never follow a stranger. Instead, they will run away from him, because they do not recognize a stranger's voice.”

⁶Jesus said that MET to illustrate the difference between himself and the Pharisees, who were deceiving the people. But they did not understand what he was telling them.

⁷So Jesus spoke to them again. He said, “Listen carefully to what I am saying. I am like MET a gate for the sheep to enter the sheepfold, because I am the one who allows people to enter God's presence.

⁸All of your religious leaders who have come previously without my authority are like MET thieves and bandits because they act violently and dishonestly for their own benefit. But just like sheep do not obey strangers, God's people do not pay attention to them.

⁹I am like a gate. Those will be saved { God will save all those} who come to God by trusting in me. Just like sheep go in and out through the gate safely to find pasture MET, I will provide for them and protect them.

¹⁰Thieves come to a sheep pen only to steal or kill or destroy sheep MET. Similarly, your religious leaders injure God's people spiritually. But I have come in order that people may have eternal/spiritual life, and that they may have abundantly all they need to sustain them spiritually.

¹¹I am like a good shepherd. A good shepherd is willing to die to save the sheep MET. Similarly, I am ready to sacrifice myself to save those who belong to me.

¹²A worker whom someone has hired to look after the sheep is not like the shepherd or the one who owns the sheep. So when he sees a wolf coming, he leaves the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf attacks the flock of sheep and seizes one sheep and causes the others to scatter.

¹³The worker runs away because he is only a man whom someone has hired. He is not really concerned about what happens to the sheep MET. Similarly, your religious teachers do not really care what happens to you.

¹⁴I am like a good shepherd. Just like a good shepherd knows his sheep MET, I know those who belong to me, and they know me

¹⁵in the same way as my Father knows me and I know my Father. Furthermore, I am ready to sacrifice myself for those who belong to me.

¹⁶And I have other people who are not Jews who will some day belong to me. They will be like MET sheep from another sheep pen. I must bring them to God/myself also. They will pay attention to what I say, and eventually all those who belong to me will be like one flock, and I will be like MET their one shepherd.

¹⁷The reason my Father loves me is that I will sacrifice my life. But after I do that, I will become alive again.

¹⁸No one is causing me to die. Instead, I have chosen to sacrifice myself. I have authority to sacrifice myself and I have authority to become alive again. That is what my Father has commanded me to do.”

¹⁹After hearing these words that Jesus said, the Jews were divided again.

²⁰Many of them said, “A demon is controlling him and has caused him to become crazy. ◄It is useless to listen to him!/Why should we listen to him?► RHQ”

²¹But others said, “What he is saying is not something a man whom a demon is controlling would say. ◄No demon could enable a blind man to see like he did!/ How could a demon enable a blind man to see like he did?► RHQ”

²²Then it was time for the celebration to remember when our ancestors rededicated the Temple in Jerusalem. It was in winter.

²³Jesus was in the Temple courtyard, walking in the place that people called King Solomon's porch.

²⁴The Jewish leaders SYN gathered around him and said, “How long will you keep us from knowing for sure if you are the Messiah? If you are the Messiah, tell us clearly!”

²⁵Jesus answered them, “I have told you that I am the Messiah, but you do not believe me! You should know who I am because of the miracles I do with my Father's authority MTY.

²⁶But instead, you do not believe in me because you do not belong to me. You are like MET sheep who belong to a different shepherd.