THE GOOD SHEPHERD

10 “Truly I tell you, anyone who doesn’t enter the sheep pen by the gate but climbs in some other way is a thief and a robber.aa 2 The one who enters by the gate is the shepherdab of the sheep.ac 3 The gatekeeper opens it for him, and the sheep hear his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4 When he has brought all his own outside, he goes ahead of them. The sheep follow him because they know his voice. 5 They will never follow a stranger; instead they will run away from him, because they don’t know the voice of strangers.” 6 Jesus gave them this figure of speech, but they did not understandad what he was telling them.

7 Jesus said again, “Truly I tell you, I amae the gate for the sheep.af 8 All who came before meA are thieves and robbers, but the sheep didn’t listen to them. 9 I am the gate. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will come in and go out and find pasture. 10 A thief comes only to steala and kill and destroy.b I have come so that they may have life and have it in abundance.

11 “I am the good shepherd.c The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.d 12 The hired hand, since he is not the shepherd and doesn’t own the sheep, leaves themB and runs away when he sees a wolfe coming. The wolf then snatches and scatters them. 13 This happens because he is a hired hand and doesn’t care about the sheep.

14 “I am the good shepherd. I know my own, and my own know me, 15 just as the Father knows me, and I know the Father.f I lay down my lifeg for the sheep. 16 But I have other sheeph that are not from this sheep pen; I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. Then there will be one flock, one shepherd.i 17 This is why the Father loves me,j because I lay down my lifek so that I may take it up again. 18 No one takes it from me, but I lay it down on my own. I have the right to lay it down, and I have the right to take it up again. I have received this command from my Father.”l

19 Again the Jews were dividedm because of these words. 20 Many of them were saying, “He has a demonn and he’s crazy. Why do you listen to him?” 21 Others were saying, “These aren’t the words of someone who is demon-possessed. Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?”o

JESUS AT THE FESTIVAL OF DEDICATION

22 Then the Festival of Dedication took place in Jerusalem, and it was winter. 23 Jesus was walking in the temple in Solomon’s Colonnade.p 24 The Jews surrounded him and asked, “How long are you going to keep us in suspense?C If you are the Messiah,q tell us plainly.”D,r

25 “I did tell you and you don’t believe,” Jesus answered them. “The workss that I do in my Father’s name testify about me. 26 But you don’t believe because you are not of my sheep.E,t 27 My sheep hear my voice, I know them, and they follow me. 28 I give them eternal life,u and they will never perish.v No one will snatchw them out of my hand. 29 My Father,x who has given them to me, is greater than all. No one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. 30 I and the Father are one.”y

RENEWED EFFORTS TO STONE JESUS

31 Again the Jews picked up rocks to stone him.z

32 Jesus replied, “I have shown you many good worksaa from the Father. For which of these works are you stoning me?”

33 “We aren’t stoningab you for a good work,” the Jews answered, “but for blasphemy, because you—being a man—make yourself God.”

34 Jesus answered them, “Isn’t it written in your law,F I said, you are gods?G,ac 35 If he called those to whom the wordad of God came ‘gods’—and the Scriptureae cannot be broken—36 do you say, ‘You are blaspheming’ to the one the Father set apart and sent into the world, because I said: I am the Son of God?af 37 If I am not doing my Father’s works,ag don’t believe me. 38 But if I am doing them and you don’t believe me, believe the works. This way you will know and understandH that the Father is in me and I in the Father.”ah 39 Then they were trying again to seize him,ai but he escaped their grasp.aj

MANY BEYOND THE JORDAN BELIEVE IN JESUS

40 So he departed again across the Jordanak to the place where Johnal had been baptizing earlier, and he remained there. 41 Many came to himam and said, “John never did a sign, but everything John said about this man was true.” 42 And many believed in him there.

LAZARUS DIES AT BETHANY

11 Now a man was sick—Lazarus from Bethany,an the village of Mary and her sister Martha.ao 2 Mary was the one who anointed the Lord with perfume and wiped his feet with her hair,ap and it was her brother Lazarus who was sick. 3 So the sisters sent a message to him: “Lord, the one you love is sick.”

4 When Jesus heard it, he said, “This sickness will not end in death but is for the glory of God,aq so that the Son of Godar may be glorified through it.” 5 Now Jesus loved Martha, her sister, and Lazarus. 6 So when he heard that he was sick, he stayed two more days in the place where he was. 7 Then after that, he said to the disciples, “Let’s go to Judeaas again.”

8 “Rabbi,”a the disciples told him, “just now the Jews tried to stone you,b and you’re going there again?”

9 “Aren’t there twelve hours in a day?” Jesus answered. “If anyone walks during the day, he doesn’t stumble, because he sees the light of this world.c 10 But if anyone walks during the night,d he does stumble, because the light is not in him.”

11 He said this, and then he told them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep,e but I’m on my way to wake him up.”

12 Then the disciples said to him, “Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will get well.”

13 Jesus, however, was speaking about his death, but they thought he was speaking about natural sleep. 14 So Jesus then told them plainly, “Lazarus has died. 15 I’m glad for you that I wasn’t there so that you may believe. But let’s go to him.”

16 Then Thomasf (called “Twin”A) said to his fellow disciples, “Let’s go too so that we may die with him.”

THE RESURRECTION AND THE LIFE

17 When Jesus arrived, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tombg four days. 18 Bethany was near Jerusalemh (less than two milesB away). 19 Many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to comfort them about their brother. 20 As soon as Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went to meet him, but Mary remained seated in the house.

21 Then Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother wouldn’t have died. 22 Yet even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you.”

23 “Your brother will risei again,” Jesus told her.

24 Martha said to him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.”j

25 Jesus said to her, “I amk the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me,l even if he dies, will live.m 26 Everyone who lives and believes in me will never die.n Do you believe this?”

27 “Yes, Lord,” she told him, “I believe you are the Messiah,o the Sonp of God, who comes into the world.”q

JESUS SHARES THE SORROW OF DEATH

28 Having said this, she went back and called her sister Mary, saying in private, “The Teacher is here and is calling for you.”

29 As soon as Mary heard this, she got up quickly and went to him.r 30 Jesus had not yet come into the village but was still in the place where Martha had met him. 31 The Jews who were with her in the house consoling her saw that Mary got up quickly and went out. They followed her, supposing that she was going to the tombs to cry there.

32 As soon as Mary came to where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feett and told him, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother wouldn’t have died!”

33 When Jesus saw her crying, and the Jews who had come with her crying, he was deeply moved* in his spiritu and troubled. 34 “Where have you put him?” he asked.

“Lord,” they told him, “come and see.”

35 Jesus wept.v

36 So the Jews said, “See how he lovedw him!” 37 But some of them said, “Couldn’t he who opened the blind man’s eyesx also have kept this man from dying?”

THE SEVENTH SIGN: RAISING LAZARUS FROM THE DEAD

38 Then Jesus, deeply moved again, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone was lying against it.y 39 “Remove the stone,” Jesus said.

Martha, the dead man’s sister, told him, “Lord, there is already a stench because he has been dead four days.”

40 Jesus said to her, “Didn’t I tell you that if you believed you would see the gloryz of God?”aa

41 So they removed the stone. Then Jesus raised his eyes and said, “Father, I thankab you that you heard me.ac 42 I know that you always hear me, but because of the crowd standing here I said this, so that they may believe you sentad me.” 43 After he said this, he shouted with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” 44 The dead man came out bound hand and foot with linen strips and with his face wrapped in a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Unwrap him and let him go.”

THE PLOT TO KILL JESUS

45 Therefore, many of the Jews who came to Mary and saw what he did believed in him.ae 46 But some of them went to the Phariseesaf and told them what Jesus had done.

47 So the chief priests and the Pharisees convened the Sanhedrinag and were saying, “What are we going to do since this man is doing many signs? 48 If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and the Romansa will come and take away both our place and our nation.”

49 One of them, Caiaphas,b who was high priestc that year, said to them, “You know nothing at all! 50 You’re not considering that it is to yourA advantage that one man should die for the people rather than the whole nation perish.”d 51 He did not say this on his own, but being high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus was going to diee for the nation, 52 and not for the nation only, but also to unite the scattered childrenf of God. 53 So from that day on they plotted to kill him.g 54 Jesus therefore no longer walked openlyh among the Jews but departed from there to the countryside near the wilderness,i to a town called Ephraim, and he stayed there with the disciples.

55 Now the Jewish Passoverj was near, and many went up to Jerusalemk from the country to purify themselves before the Passover. 56 They were looking for Jesus and asking one another as they stood in the temple,l “What do you think? He won’t come to the festival,m will he?” 57 The chief priestsn and the Pharisees had given orders that if anyone knew where he was, he should report it so that they could arrest him.

THE ANOINTING AT BETHANY

12 Six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethanyo where LazarusB was, the one Jesus had raised from the dead.p 2 Soq they gave a dinner for him there; Marthar was serving them, and Lazarus was one of those reclining at the table with him. 3 Then Mary took a pound of perfume, pure and expensive nard, anointed Jesus’s feet, and wiped his feet with her hair.s So the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.

4 Then one of his disciples, Judas Iscariott (who was about to betray him), said, 5 “Why wasn’t this perfume sold for three hundred denariiC,u and given to the poor?” 6 He didn’t say this because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief.v He was in charge of the money-bag and would steal part of what was put in it.

7 Jesus answered, “Leave her alone; she has kept it for the day of my burial.w 8 For you always have the poor with you,x but you do not always have me.”

THE DECISION TO KILL LAZARUS

9 Then a large crowd of the Jews learned he was there. They came not only because of Jesus but also to see Lazarus, the one he had raised from the dead.y 10 But the chief priests had decided to kill Lazarus also, 11 because he was the reason many of the Jews were deserting themD and believing in Jesus.

THE TRIUMPHAL ENTRY

12 Thez next day, when the large crowd that had come to the festival heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, 13 they took palm branchesaa and went out to meet him. They kept shouting:

“Hosanna!ab

Blessed is he who comes in the name of the LordE,ac—the King of Israel!”ad

14 Jesus found a young donkeyae and sat on it, just as it is written:

15 Do not be afraid,af

Daughter Zion. Look, your King is coming,

sitting on a donkey’s colt.F,ag

16 His disciples did not understand these things at first. However, when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things had been written about himah and that they had done these things to him.

17 Meanwhile, the crowd, which had been with him when he called Lazarus out of the tombai and raised him from the dead, continued to testify.G 18 This is also why the crowd met him, because they heard he had done this sign. 19 Then the Pharisees said to one another, “You see? You’ve accomplished nothing. Look, the world has gone after him!”aj

JESUS PREDICTS HIS CRUCIFIXION

20 Now some Greeks were among those who went up to worship at the festival. 21 So they came to Philip,ak who was from Bethsaidaal in Galilee,am and requested of him, “Sir,an we want to see Jesus.” 22 Philip went and told Andrew;ao then Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus.

23 Jesus replied to them, “The hour has come for the Son of Manap to be glorified. 24 Truly I tell you, unless a grain of wheataq falls to the ground and dies, it remains by itself. But if it dies, it produces much fruit.a 25 The one who loves his life will lose it,b and the one who hatesc his lifed in this world will keep it for eternal life. 26 If anyone serves me, he must follow me. Where I am, there my servante also will be.f If anyone serves me, the Father will honorg him.

27 “Now my soul is troubled. What should I say—Father, save meh from this hour? But that is why I came to this hour. 28 Father, glorify your name.”A,i

Then a voicej came from heaven:k “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.”l

29 The crowd standing there heard it and said it was thunder. Others said, “An angel has spoken to him.”

30 Jesus responded, “This voice came, not for me, but for you.m 31 Now is the judgment of this world.n Now the ruler of this worldo will be cast out.p 32 As for me, if I am lifted up* from the earth I will draw all people to myself.”q 33 He said this to indicate what kind of death he was about to die.r

34 Then the crowd replied to him, “We have heard from the law that the Messiah will remain forever.s So how can you say, ‘The Son of Mant must be lifted up’? Who is this Son of Man?”

35 Jesus answered, “The light will be with you only a little longer.u Walk while you have the lightv so that darkness doesn’t overtake you.w The one who walks in darkness doesn’t know where he’s going.x 36 While you have the light,y believe in the light so that you may become children of light.” Jesus said this, then went away and hid from them.z

ISAIAH’S PROPHECIES FULFILLED

37 Even though he had performed so many signs in their presence, they did not believe in him. 38 This was to fulfillaa the word of Isaiahab the prophet, who said:C

Lord, who has believed our message?

And to whom has the armac of the Lord been revealed?D,ad

39 This is why they were unable to believe, because Isaiah also said:

40 He has blindedae their eyes

and hardened their hearts,af

so that they would not see with their eyes

or understand with their hearts,

and turn,ag

and I would heal them.E,ah

41 Isaiah said these things becauseF he saw his gloryai and spoke about him.

42 Nevertheless, many did believe in him even among the rulers,aj but because of the Pharisees they did not confess him, so that they would not be banned from the synagogue. 43 For they loved human praiseak more than praise from God.al

A SUMMARY OF JESUS’S MISSION

44 Jesus cried out, “The one who believes in meam believes not in me, but in him who sent me. 45 And the one who sees me sees himan who sent me. 46 I have come as light into the world, so that everyone who believes in me would not remain in darkness. 47 If anyone hears my words and doesn’t keepao them, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the worldap but to save the world.aq 48 The one who rejects mear and doesn’t receive my sayings has this as his judge:G The word I have spoken will judge him on the last day.as 49 For I have not spoken on my own, but the Fatherat himself who sent me has given me a command to say everything I have said. 50 I know that his command is eternal life.au So the things that I speak, I speak just as the Father has told me.”av