John 10

1 “Most certainly, I tell you, one who doesn’t enter by the door into the sheep fold, but climbs up some other way, is a thief and a robber.

2 But one who enters in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep.

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

4 Whenever he brings out his own sheep, he goes before them; and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice.

5 They will by no means follow a stranger, but will flee from him; for they don’t know the voice of strangers.”

6 Jesus spoke this parable to them, but they didn’t understand what he was telling them.

7 Jesus therefore said to them again, “Most certainly, I tell you, I am the sheep’s door.

8 All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep didn’t listen to them.

9 I am the door. If anyone enters in by me, he will be saved, and will go in and go out and will find pasture.

10 The thief only comes to steal, kill, and destroy. I came that they may have life, and may have it abundantly.

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

12 He who is a hired hand, and not a shepherd, who doesn’t own the sheep, sees the wolf coming, leaves the sheep, and flees. The wolf snatches the sheep and scatters them.

13 The hired hand flees because he is a hired hand and doesn’t care for the sheep.

14 I am the good shepherd. I know my own, and I’m known by my own;

15 even as the Father knows me, and I know the Father. I lay down my life for the sheep.

16 I have other sheep which are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will hear my voice. They will become one flock with one shepherd.

17 Therefore the Father loves me, because I lay down my life, that I may take it again.

18 No one takes it away from me, but I lay it down by myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. I received this commandment from my Father.”

19 Therefore a division arose again among the Jews because of these words.

20 Many of them said, “He has a demon and is insane! Why do you listen to him?”

21 Others said, “These are not the sayings of one possessed by a demon. It isn’t possible for a demon to open the eyes of the blind, is it?”

22 It was the Feast of the Dedication at Jerusalem.

23 It was winter, and Jesus was walking in the temple, in Solomon’s porch.

24 The Jews therefore came around him and said to him, “How long will you hold us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.”

25 Jesus answered them, “I told you, and you don’t believe. The works that I do in my Father’s name, these testify about me.

26 But you don’t believe, because you are not of my sheep, as I told you.

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

28 I give eternal life to them. They will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.

29 My Father who has given them to me is greater than all. No one is able to snatch them out of my Father’s hand.

30 I and the Father are one.”

31 Therefore the Jews took up stones again to stone him.

32 Jesus answered them, “I have shown you many good works from my Father. For which of those works do you stone me?”

33 The Jews answered him, “We don’t stone you for a good work, but for blasphemy, because you, being a man, make yourself God.”

34 Jesus answered them, “Isn’t it written in your law, ‘I said, you are gods’?

35 If he called them gods, to whom the word of God came (and the Scripture can’t be broken),

36 do you say of him whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world, ‘You blaspheme,’ because I said, ‘I am the Son of God’?

37 If I don’t do the works of my Father, don’t believe me.

38 But if I do them, though you don’t believe me, believe the works, that you may know and believe that the Father is in me, and I in the Father.”

39 They sought again to seize him, and he went out of their hand.

40 He went away again beyond the Jordan into the place where John was baptizing at first, and he stayed there.

41 Many came to him. They said, “John indeed did no sign, but everything that John said about this man is true.”

42 Many believed in him there.

Around John 10

Book context

JohnEditorial draft

John states its own purpose near the end: these signs “are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in his name” (20:31). It opens with Jesus as the Word who “became flesh and lived among us” (1:14), and it is built around a selection of signs and long conversations (20:30). The closing verses attribute the book to “the disciple who testifies about these things” (21:24). Church tradition identifies him as the apostle John; scholars still discuss who that disciple was. Much of John’s material and order differs from Matthew, Mark and Luke.

Why we say this

HisFullGlory editorial · common interpretation · not yet reviewed by a theological reader

From the text itself

Sources

Notes summarise their sources in our own words. Where Christians or scholars disagree, the note says so. Notes are not original-language evidence and do not replace the text.

AI explanation

John 10 · Written by an AI model · Not reviewed by a theological reader

This explanation was written by an AI model to help you get started. It names no sources and can contain mistakes. Scripture comes first, and context with sources is shown separately on this page.

What this chapter says

Jesus speaks of a sheepfold. The one who enters by the door is the shepherd; the sheep know his voice. A thief climbs in another way. Jesus says, “I am the good shepherd.” The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep, while a hired hand runs when the wolf comes. He knows his own and they know him, as the Father knows him. He has other sheep who are not of this fold, and there will be one flock with one shepherd. No one takes his life; he lays it down himself.

The crowd is divided again. At the Feast of the Dedication, in winter, in Solomon's porch, they ask him to say plainly whether he is the Christ. He points to his works. No one will snatch his sheep out of his hand, he says, and “I and the Father are one.” They pick up stones. He escapes across the Jordan, where many believe in him.

Background

Shepherds were a familiar figure in Israel's Scriptures, and kings and leaders were often called shepherds; see Psalm 23 and Ezekiel 34. Here the image is more personal: the shepherd knows each sheep by name. The Feast of the Dedication, today called Hanukkah, remembers the rededication of the temple. Christians read the other sheep in different ways, often as a promise of non-Jewish believers joining Jesus' followers. The words about being one with the Father have long been central to Christian teaching on who Jesus is. The Jews in verses 24 to 33 are leaders in the temple.

About this explanation

Written by Claude Sonnet 5.5, an AI model, on 14 October 2026. It draws on the WEB text and general knowledge and was not checked against sources by a person. Every quotation from Scripture is checked automatically against the WEB text.

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World English Bible. Public-domain source and edition notes