7^* So Jesus said again, “Amen, amen, I say to you, I am the gate for the sheep. 8^* All who came [before me] are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. 9I am the gate. Whoever enters through me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture. 10A thief comes only to steal and slaughter and destroy; I came so that they might have life and have it more abundantly. 11I am the good shepherd. A good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.^c 12A hired man, who is not a shepherd and whose sheep are not his own, sees a wolf coming and leaves the sheep and runs away, and the wolf catches and scatters them.^d 13This is because he works for pay and has no concern for the sheep. 14I am the good shepherd, and I know mine and mine know me, 15just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I will lay down my life for the sheep.^e 16I have other sheep^* that do not belong to this fold. These also I must lead, and they will hear my voice, and there will be one flock, one shepherd.^f 17This is why the Father loves me, because I lay down my life in order to take it up again.^g 18No one takes it from me, but I lay it down on my own. I have power to lay it down, and power to take it up again.^* This command I have received from my Father.”^h