John 10:1-10

1Jesus then said, ‘I tell you this: A shepherd keeps his sheep in a safe place with a wall round it. There is a gate into that safe place. Anyone who gets into that place by another way, not through the gate, is not the shepherd. That person is a robber. He comes to take away the sheep for himself.

2But the shepherd goes in through the gate.

3The person who watches the gate opens it for the shepherd. The sheep recognize the shepherd's voice. He calls each of his own sheep by their name and he leads them out.

4When he has brought out all his own sheep, he goes in front of them. The sheep follow him because they know his voice.

5They will not follow a stranger. They will run away from a stranger because they do not recognize his voice.’

6Jesus told this story like a picture to teach the people. But they did not understand what he was saying to them.

7So Jesus spoke again. He said, ‘I tell you this: I am like the gate for the sheep.

8All other men who came before me were like robbers. But the sheep did not listen to them.

9I am like the gate. Everyone who comes in through me will be safe. They will be free to come in and to go out. And they will find plenty of food.

10The robber only wants to take away my sheep. He wants to kill them. He comes only to destroy them. But I have come so that they can have true life. And so that they can have everything that they need.