Lu-ca 15

One sheep out of a hundred

¹Tax collectors and sinners, all of them, kept coming near to listen to him. ²But the Pharisees and the scribes complained among themselves. “This man welcomes sinners,” they said, “and even shares meals with them.” ³So Jesus put this parable to them: ⁴“Which man among you, if he owned a hundred sheep and lost one of them, would not leave the ninety-nine out in the wild country and search for the lost one until he found it? ⁵And when he finds it, he hoists it onto his shoulders, delighted. ⁶Back at home, he invites his friends and neighbors over. ‘Celebrate with me,’ he tells them, ‘because the sheep I lost has been found.’ ⁷In the same way, I tell you, one sinner who repents will bring more joy in heaven than ninety-nine righteous people who have no need to repent.

A coin swept for and found

⁸Or what woman with ten silver coins, if she lost one of them, would not light a lamp, sweep out her house and hunt for it carefully until she found it? ⁹When she finds it, she gathers her friends and neighbors. ‘Be glad with me,’ she says, ‘for the coin I had lost is found.’ ¹⁰So it is, I tell you: when one sinner repents, there is joy before the angels of God.”^a

A father and his two sons

¹¹Then he said, “A man had two sons. ¹²The younger son said to his father, ‘Father, let me have the part of the estate that will come to me.’ So the father split what he had between the two of them. ¹³Only a few days later the younger son packed up everything he owned and traveled to a far country, where he threw his property away on a reckless way of life. ¹⁴When he had used up everything, a terrible famine struck that whole land, and he began to go without. ¹⁵So he went and attached himself to one of the people of that country, and the man sent him out into his fields to look after pigs. ¹⁶He wished he could fill himself up with the carob pods the pigs were eating, but no one gave him a thing.^{b 17}At last he saw his situation clearly. ‘So many of my father’s hired workers have more bread than they can eat,’ he said, ‘while I am dying of hunger here! ¹⁸I will get up and go back to my father, and I will tell him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight. ¹⁹I do not deserve to be called your son any longer. Take me on as one of your hired workers.”’ ²⁰So he set off and went back to his father. His father caught sight of him while he was still far away, and his heart went out to him. He ran to meet him, embraced him and kissed him warmly. ²¹His son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight. I do not deserve to be called your son any longer.’^{c 22}But the father said to his servants, ‘Hurry! Bring out the finest robe and dress him in it. Give him a ring for his hand and sandals for his feet. ²³Fetch the calf we have been fattening and slaughter it. Let us eat and celebrate, ²⁴for my son here was dead, and now he lives again. He was lost, and now he has been found.’ And the celebration began.

The older son

²⁵All this time the older son had been out in the field. On his way back, as he came close to the house, the sound of music and dancing reached him. ²⁶He called over one of the servants and asked him what this could mean. ²⁷‘Your brother is home,’ the servant told him, ‘and your father has slaughtered the fattened calf, because his son has come back to him alive and well.’ ²⁸At this he grew angry and would not go inside. His father came out and appealed to him. ²⁹He replied to his father, ‘Listen! For all these years I have worked like a slave for you. Not once have I gone against your orders. And not once have you given me a young goat for a feast with my friends. ³⁰But this son of yours has eaten up your property with prostitutes, and the moment he turns up, you slaughter the fattened calf for him!’ ³¹His father answered, ‘My child, you are with me always, and all that is mine belongs to you. ³²But it was only right to celebrate and rejoice, for this brother of yours was dead and has come to life; he was lost and has been found.’”