But because you are not My sheep, you refuse to believe.
Parallel translations
- WEB But you don’t believe, because you are not of my sheep, as I told you.
- KJV But ye believe not, because ye are not of my sheep, as I said unto you.
- NKJV But you do not believe, because you are not of My sheep, as I said to you.
- NASB But you do not believe, because you are not of My sheep.
- NLT But you don’t believe me because you are not my sheep.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Jesus tells them they do not believe because they are not among His sheep. Genuine belief flows from belonging to Christ's flock.
Overview
Rather than saying they are not His sheep because they disbelieve, Jesus reverses it: their unbelief stems from not being His. This points to God's sovereign work in giving people to the Son. It is a sobering word that faith is ultimately a gift, not mere human achievement.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 10
- John 8:47Whoever belongs to God hears the words of God. The reason you do not hear is that you do not belong to God.”
- 2 Cor 4:3–4And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing.
- John 6:65Then Jesus said, “This is why I told you that no one can come to Me unless the Father has granted it to him.”
- John 12:37–40Although Jesus had performed so many signs in their presence, they still did not believe in Him.
- John 10:27My sheep listen to My voice; I know them, and they follow Me.
- Rom 11:7–8What then? What Israel was seeking, it failed to obtain, but the elect did. The others were hardened,
- John 10:4When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice.
- John 6:44–45“No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him, and I will raise him up at the last day.
- John 6:37Everyone the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will never drive away.
- 1 Jn 4:6We are from God. Whoever knows God listens to us; whoever is not from God does not listen to us. That is how we know the Spirit of truth and the spirit of deception.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
John declares him plainly: the eternal Word made flesh, the Lamb of God, the great 'I AM' — bread, light, door, shepherd, way, truth, life, resurrection — that you may believe and have life in his name.
How John 10:26 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.