A thief avoids the doorway,

Climbs where truth would never pass;

The shepherd meets the porter,

And his own voice parts the grass.

He calls the sheep by name,

Then walks the road ahead;

They know the sound that leads them,

And from a stranger's voice they turn.

The Shepherd knows the sheep.

The sheep know where to follow.

He does not drive from far behind;

He walks before tomorrow.

The saying met confusion,

So the doorway opened plain:

Through him the sheep find safety,

Go in and out to pasture again.

The thief arrives for ruin,

To steal, destroy, and kill;

The Shepherd brings abundant life

And guards it by his will.

The Good Shepherd lays his life down;

The hired hand runs away.

The wolf may scatter careless men,

But love will choose to stay.

He knows his own, his own know him,

No stranger owns their name;

The Good Shepherd lays his life down

And takes it up again.

The hireling counts the wages,

Then flees when teeth appear.

The Shepherd counts the sheep as his

And stands between the fear.

Other sheep wait outside the fold,

But they will hear the call;

One flock beneath one Shepherd,

One voice that gathers all.

The Good Shepherd lays his life down;

The hired hand runs away.

The wolf may scatter careless men,

But love will choose to stay.

He knows his own, his own know him,

No stranger owns their name;

The Good Shepherd lays his life down

And takes it up again.

Winter held the temple,

Solomon's porch enclosed the test:

"How long wilt thou make us doubt?

Tell plainly who thou art."

The works had borne the answer,

But unbelief refused;

The sheep who hear are known and led,

The others still accuse.

He gives eternal life;

They never shall be lost.

No hand can pluck them from his hand,

No force can pay that cost.

The Father's hand is greater still;

The keeping is not done alone.

The words "I and my Father are one"

Brought stones up from the stone.

They charged him with blasphemy,

He answered from their law:

If Scripture's word cannot be broken,

Why condemn the sanctified Son?

If works do not belong to God,

Then let the claim be left;

But if the works reveal the Father,

Believe what eyes have met.

The Shepherd crossed beyond the Jordan,

Where John's first witness ran.

John did no miracle,

But every word proved true of this man.

There, away from winter stones,

Many heard and understood:

The Shepherd knows the sheep,

And many believed in him.

One voice.

One fold.

One Shepherd.