John 10 in plain modern English. New Ground English Translation.

"I'm telling you the straight truth — anyone who doesn't come into the sheep pen through the gate but climbs in some other way is a thief and a bandit."

"But the one who comes in through the gate — that's the real shepherd of the sheep."

"The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep recognize his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out."

"When he's brought all his own sheep out, he walks ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice."

"They won't follow a stranger — in fact, they'll run from him because they don't recognize the stranger's voice."

Jesus told them this analogy, but they had no idea what he was talking about.

So Jesus said again, "I'm telling you the straight truth — I am the gate for the sheep."

"Everyone who came before me was a thief and a bandit, but the sheep didn't listen to them."

"I am the gate. Anyone who comes in through me will be safe — they'll go in and out freely and find everything they need."

"The thief only comes to steal, slaughter, and destroy. I came so they can have life — an overflowing, limitless life."

"I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep."

"The hired hand isn't really a shepherd — the sheep don't belong to him. So when he sees a wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs. Then the wolf attacks and scatters the flock."

"He runs because he's just working for a paycheck — he doesn't actually care about the sheep."

"I am the good shepherd. I know my own sheep, and my own sheep know me — "

" — just like the Father knows me and I know the Father. And I lay down my life for the sheep."

"I have other sheep that aren't in this pen yet. I need to bring them in too. They'll hear my voice, and there will be one flock with one shepherd."

"This is why the Father loves me — because I lay down my life so that I can take it back again."

"No one takes my life from me — I lay it down on my own. I have the authority to lay it down, and I have the authority to take it back. This is the mission my Father gave me."

These words caused another sharp division among the Jewish leaders.

Many of them were saying, "He has a demon — he's lost his mind! Why are you even listening to him?"

But others said, "These aren't the words of someone with a demon. Can a demon open a blind person's eyes?"

Then came the Festival of Dedication in Jerusalem. It was winter,

and Jesus was walking in the Temple, in Solomon's Colonnade.

The Jewish leaders surrounded him and demanded, "How long are you going to keep us in suspense? If you're The One, just say it plainly."

Jesus answered them, "I already told you, and you don't believe me. The things I do in my Father's name — those speak for themselves."

"But you don't believe because you're not my sheep."

"My sheep hear my voice. I know them, and they follow me."

"I give them limitless life, and they will never be destroyed. No one can rip them out of my hand."

"My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all. No one can rip them out of the Father's hand."

"I and the Father are one."

The Jewish leaders picked up stones again to execute him.

Jesus responded, "I've shown you many beautiful works from the Father. Which one of those are you going to stone me for?"

The Jewish leaders answered, "We're not stoning you for a beautiful work — we're stoning you for blasphemy! You're just a man, and you're making yourself God."

Jesus answered them, "Isn't it written in your own Law, 'I said you are gods'?"

"If he called them 'gods' — the people who received God's word — and Scripture can't be set aside,"

" — then what about the one the Father set apart and sent into the world? How can you say I'm blaspheming just because I said, 'I am God's Son'?"

"If I'm not doing my Father's work, then don't believe me."

"But if I am doing it — even if you don't believe me personally — believe the evidence of what I've done. Then you'll understand and know that the Father is in me, and I am in the Father."

They tried to arrest him again, but he slipped through their hands.

He went back across the Jordan River to the place where John had first been submerging people, and he stayed there.

Many people came to him there and kept saying, "John never performed any miraculous signs, but everything John said about this man turned out to be true."

And many people in that place put their trust in him.