John 10:11-16

10:11 “I am the good ¹  shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life ²  for the sheep. 10:12 The hired hand, ³  who is not a shepherd and does not own sheep, sees the wolf coming and abandons ⁴  the sheep and runs away. ⁵  So the wolf attacks ⁶  the sheep and scatters them. 10:13 Because he is a hired hand and is not concerned about the sheep, ⁷  he runs away. ⁸ 

10:14 “I am the good shepherd. I ⁹  know my own ¹⁰  and my own know me – 10:15 just as the Father knows me and I know the Father – and I lay down my life ¹¹  for ¹²  the sheep. 10:16 I have ¹³  other sheep that do not come from ¹⁴  this sheepfold. ¹⁵  I must bring them too, and they will listen to my voice, ¹⁶  so that ¹⁷  there will be one flock and ¹⁸  one shepherd.

John 10:26-27

10:26 But you refuse to believe because you are not my sheep. 10:27 My sheep listen to my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.

Psalms 95:7

95:7 For he is our God;

we are the people of his pasture,

the sheep he owns. ¹⁹ 

Today, if only you would obey him! ²⁰ 

Psalms 100:3

100:3 Acknowledge that the Lord is God!

He made us and we belong to him; ²¹ 

we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.

Zechariah 13:7

13:7 “Awake, sword, against my shepherd,

against the man who is my associate,”

says the Lord who rules over all.

Strike the shepherd that the flock may be scattered; ²² 

I will turn my hand against the insignificant ones.

Matthew 25:32

25:32 All ²³  the nations will be assembled before him, and he will separate people one from another like a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.

Luke 15:3-7

15:3 So ²⁴  Jesus ²⁵  told them ²⁶  this parable: ²⁷  15:4 “Which one ²⁸  of you, if he has a hundred ²⁹  sheep and loses one of them, would not leave the ninety-nine in the open pasture ³⁰  and go look for ³¹  the one that is lost until he finds it? ³²  15:5 Then ³³  when he has found it, he places it on his shoulders, rejoicing. 15:6 Returning ³⁴  home, he calls together ³⁵  his ³⁶  friends and neighbors, telling them, ‘Rejoice with me, because I have found my sheep that was lost.’ 15:7 I tell you, in the same way there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner ³⁷  who repents than over ninety-nine righteous people ³⁸  who have no need to repent. ³⁹ 

Luke 19:10

19:10 For the Son of Man came ⁴⁰  to seek and to save the lost.”

Acts 20:28

20:28 Watch out for ⁴¹  yourselves and for all the flock of which ⁴²  the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, ⁴³  to shepherd the church of God ⁴⁴  that he obtained ⁴⁵  with the blood of his own Son. ⁴⁶ 

Hebrews 13:20

Benediction and Conclusion

13:20 Now may the God of peace who by the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead the great shepherd of the sheep, our Lord Jesus Christ,

Hebrews 13:1

Final Exhortations

13:1 Brotherly love must continue.

Hebrews 2:1

Warning Against Drifting Away

2:1 Therefore we must pay closer attention to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away.

[10:11]  ¹ tn Or “model” (see R. E. Brown, John [AB], 1:386, who argues that “model” is a more exact translation of καλός [kalos] here).

[10:11]  ² tn Or “The good shepherd dies willingly.”

[10:12]  ³ sn Jesus contrasts the behavior of the shepherd with that of the hired hand. This is a worker who is simply paid to do a job; he has no other interest in the sheep and is certainly not about to risk his life for them. When they are threatened, he simply runs away.

[10:12]  ⁴ tn Grk “leaves.”

[10:12]  ⁵ tn Or “flees.”

[10:12]  ⁶ tn Or “seizes.” The more traditional rendering, “snatches,” has the idea of seizing something by force and carrying it off, which is certainly possible here. However, in the sequence in John 10:12, this action precedes the scattering of the flock of sheep, so “attacks” is preferable.

[10:13]  ⁵ tn Grk “does not have a care for the sheep.”

[10:13]  ⁶ tc The phrase “he runs away” is lacking in several important mss (Ì^{44vid,45,66,75} א A*^vid B D L [W] Θ 1 33 1241 al co). Most likely it was added by a later scribe to improve the readability of vv. 12-13, which is one long sentence in Greek. It has been included in the translation for the same stylistic reasons.

[10:14]  ⁷ tn Grk “And I.” Because of the difference between Greek style, which often begins sentences or clauses with “and,” and English style, which generally does not, καί (kai) has not been translated here.

[10:14]  ⁸ tn The direct object is frequently omitted in Greek and must be supplied from the context. Here it could be “sheep,” but Jesus was ultimately talking about “people.”

[10:15]  ⁹ tn Or “I die willingly.”

[10:15]  ¹⁰ tn Or “on behalf of” or “for the sake of.”

[10:16]  ¹¹ tn Grk “And I have.” Because of the difference between Greek style, which often begins sentences or clauses with “and,” and English style, which generally does not, καί (kai) has not been translated here.

[10:16]  ¹² tn Or “that do not belong to”; Grk “that are not of.”

[10:16]  ¹³ sn The statement I have other sheep that do not come from this sheepfold almost certainly refers to Gentiles. Jesus has sheep in the fold who are Jewish; there are other sheep which, while not of the same fold, belong to him also. This recalls the mission of the Son in 3:16-17, which was to save the world – not just the nation of Israel. Such an emphasis would be particularly appropriate to the author if he were writing to a non-Palestinian and primarily non-Jewish audience.

[10:16]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “they will hear my voice.”

[10:16]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “voice, and.”

[10:16]  ¹⁶ tn The word “and” is not in the Greek text, but must be supplied to conform to English style. In Greek it is an instance of asyndeton (omission of a connective), usually somewhat emphatic.

[95:7]  ¹³ tn Heb “of his hand.”

[95:7]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “if only you would listen to his voice.” The Hebrew particle אִם (’im, “if”) and following prefixed verbal form here express a wish (cf. Ps 81:8). Note that the apodosis (the “then” clause of the conditional sentence) is suppressed.

[100:3]  ¹⁵ tn The present translation (like most modern translations) follows the Qere (marginal reading), which reads literally, “and to him [are] we.” The Kethib (consonantal text) has “and not we.” The suffixed preposition לו (“to him”) was confused aurally with the negative particle לא because the two sound identical.

[13:7]  ¹⁷ sn Despite the NT use of this text to speak of the scattering of the disciples following Jesus’ crucifixion (Matt 26:31; Mark 14:27), the immediate context of Zechariah suggests that unfaithful shepherds (kings) will be punished by the Lord precisely so their flocks (disobedient Israel) can be scattered (cf. Zech 11:6, 8, 9, 16). It is likely that Jesus drew on this passage merely to make the point that whenever shepherds are incapacitated, sheep will scatter. Thus he was not identifying himself with the shepherd in this text (the shepherd in the Zechariah text is a character who is portrayed negatively).

[25:32]  ¹⁹ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated.

[15:3]  ²¹ tn Here δέ (de) has been translated as “so” to indicate that Jesus’ telling of the parable is in response to the complaints of the Pharisees and experts in the law.

[15:3]  ²² tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[15:3]  ²³ sn Them means at the minimum the parable is for the leadership, but probably also for those people Jesus accepted, but the leaders regarded as outcasts.

[15:3]  ²⁴ tn Grk “parable, saying.” The participle λέγων (legwn) is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated.

[15:4]  ²³ tn Grk “What man.” The Greek word ἄνθρωπος (anqrwpo") is used here in a somewhat generic sense.

[15:4]  ²⁴ sn This individual with a hundred sheep is a shepherd of modest means, as flocks often had up to two hundred head of sheep.

[15:4]  ²⁵ tn Or “desert,” but here such a translation might suggest neglect of the 99 sheep left behind.

[15:4]  ²⁶ tn Grk “go after,” but in contemporary English the idiom “to look for” is used to express this.

[15:4]  ²⁷ sn Until he finds it. The parable pictures God’s pursuit of the sinner. On the image of Jesus as the Good Shepherd, see John 10:1-18.

[15:5]  ²⁵ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[15:6]  ²⁷ tn Grk “And coming into his…” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[15:6]  ²⁸ sn A touch of drama may be present, as the term calls together can mean a formal celebration (1 Kgs 1:9-10).

[15:6]  ²⁹ tn Grk “the”; in context the article is used as a possessive pronoun (ExSyn 215). It occurs before “neighbors” as well (“his friends and his neighbors”) but has not been translated the second time because of English style.

[15:7]  ²⁹ sn There will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents. The pursuit of the sinner is a priority in spite of the presence of others who are doing well (see also Luke 5:32; 19:10). The theme of repentance, a major Lukan theme, is again emphasized.

[15:7]  ³⁰ tn Here δικαίοις (dikaioi") is an adjective functioning substantivally and has been translated “righteous people.”

[15:7]  ³¹ tn Or “who do not need to repent”; Grk “who do not have need of repentance.”

[19:10]  ³¹ sn The Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost is Jesus’ mission succinctly defined. See Luke 15:1-32.

[20:28]  ³³ tn Or “Be on your guard for” (cf. v. 29). Paul completed his responsibility to the Ephesians with this warning.

[20:28]  ³⁴ tn Grk “in which.”

[20:28]  ³⁵ tn Or “guardians.” BDAG 379-80 s.v. ἐπίσκοπος 2 states, “The term was taken over in Christian communities in ref. to one who served as overseer or supervisor, with special interest in guarding the apostolic tradition…Ac 20:28.” This functional term describes the role of the elders (see v. 17). They were to guard and shepherd the congregation.

[20:28]  ³⁶ tc The reading “of God” (τοῦ θεοῦ, tou qeou) is found in א B 614 1175 1505 al vg sy; other witnesses have “of the Lord” (τοῦ κυρίου, tou kuriou) here (so Ì⁷⁴ A C* D E Ψ 33 1739 al co), while the majority of the later minuscule mss conflate these two into “of the Lord and God” (τοῦ κυρίου καὶ [τοῦ] θεοῦ, tou kuriou kai [tou] qeou). Although the evidence is evenly balanced between the first two readings, τοῦ θεοῦ is decidedly superior on internal grounds. The final prepositional phrase of this verse, διὰ τοῦ αἵματος τοῦ ἰδίου (dia tou {aimato" tou idiou), could be rendered “through his own blood” or “through the blood of his own.” In the latter translation, the object that “own” modifies must be supplied (see tn below for discussion). But this would not be entirely clear to scribes; those who supposed that ἰδίου modified αἵματος would be prone to alter “God” to “Lord” to avoid the inference that God had blood. In a similar way, later scribes would be prone to conflate the two titles, thereby affirming the deity (with the construction τοῦ κυρίου καὶ θεοῦ following the Granville Sharp rule and referring to a single person [see ExSyn 272, 276-77, 290]) and substitutionary atonement of Christ. For these reasons, τοῦ θεοῦ best explains the rise of the other readings and should be considered authentic.

[20:28]  ³⁷ tn Or “acquired.”

[20:28]  ³⁸ tn Or “with his own blood”; Grk “with the blood of his own.” The genitive construction could be taken in two ways: (1) as an attributive genitive (second attributive position) meaning “his own blood”; or (2) as a possessive genitive, “with the blood of his own.” In this case the referent is the Son, and the referent has been specified in the translation for clarity. See further C. F. DeVine, “The Blood of God,” CBQ 9 (1947): 381-408.