15:4 “Supposing one of you has a hundred sheep,” he said, “and you lose one of them. What will you do? Why, you’ll leave the ninety-nine out in the countryside, and you’ll go off looking for the lost one until you find it!
15:5 And when you find it, you’ll be so happy—you’ll put it on your shoulders
15:6 and come home, and you’ll call your friends and neighbors in. ‘Come and have a party!’ you’ll say. ‘Celebrate with me! I’ve found my lost sheep!’
15:7 “Well, let me tell you: that’s how glad they will be in heaven over one sinner who repents—more than over ninety-nine righteous people who don’t need repentance.
15:8 “Or supposing a woman has ten drachmas and loses one of them. What will she do? Why, she’ll light a lamp, and sweep the house, and hunt carefully until she finds it!
15:9 And when she finds it she’ll call her friends and neighbors in. ‘Come and have a party!’ she’ll say. ‘Celebrate with me! I’ve found my lost coin!’
15:10 “Well, let me tell you: that’s how glad God’s angels feel when a single sinner repents.”
15:11 Jesus went on: “Once there was a man who had two sons.
15:12 The younger son said to the father, ‘Father, give me my share in the property.’ So he divided up his livelihood between them.
15:13 Not many days later the younger son turned his share into cash, and set off for a country far away, where he spent his share in having a riotous good time.
15:14 “When he had spent it all, a severe famine came on that country, and he found himself destitute.
15:15 So he went and attached himself to one of the citizens of that country, who sent him into the fields to feed his pigs.
15:16 He longed to satisfy his hunger with the pods that the pigs were eating, and nobody gave him anything.
15:17 “He came to his senses. ‘Just think!’ he said to himself. ‘There are all my father’s hired hands with plenty to eat—and here am I, starving to death!
15:18 I shall get up and go to my father, and I’ll say to him: “Father; I have sinned against heaven and before you;
15:19 I don’t deserve to be called your son any longer. Make me like one of your hired hands.” ’
15:20 And he got up and went to his father. “While he was still a long way off, his father saw him and his heart was stirred with love and pity. He ran to him, hugged him tight, and kissed him.
15:21 ‘Father,’ the son began, ‘I have sinned against heaven and before you; I don’t deserve to be called your son any longer.’
15:22 But the father said to his servants, ‘Hurry! Bring the best clothes and put them on him! Put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet!
15:23 And bring the calf that we’ve fattened up, kill it, and let’s eat and have a party!
15:24 This son of mine was dead, and is alive again! He was lost, and now he’s found!’ And they began to celebrate.”
15:25 “The older son was out in the fields. When he came home, and got near to the house, he heard music and dancing.
15:26 He called one of the servants and asked what was going on.
15:27 “ ‘Your brother’s come home!’ he said. ‘And your father has thrown a great party—he’s killed the fattened calf!—because he’s got him back safe and well!’
15:28 “He flew into a rage, and wouldn’t go in. “Then his father came out and pleaded with him.
15:29 ‘Look here!’ he said to his father, ‘I’ve been slaving for you all these years! I’ve never disobeyed a single commandment of yours. And you never even gave me a young goat so I could have a party with my friends.
15:30 But when this son of yours comes home, once he’s finished gobbling up your livelihood with his whores, you kill the fattened calf for him!’
15:31 “ ‘My son,’ he replied, ‘you’re always with me. Everything I have belongs to you.
15:32 But we had to celebrate and be happy! This brother of yours was dead and is alive again! He was lost, and now he’s found!’ ”
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