1 Now all the tax collectors and the sinners were coming near Him to listen to Him.
2 Both the Pharisees and the scribes [began] to grumble, saying, |This man receives sinners and eats with them.|
3 So He told them this parable, saying,
4 |What man among you, if he has a hundred sheep and has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open pasture and go after the one which is lost until he finds it?
5 |When he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing.
6 |And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, 'Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!'
7 |I tell you that in the same way, there will be [more] joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.
8 |Or what woman, if she has ten silver coins and loses one coin, does not light a lamp and sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it?
9 |When she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, 'Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin which I had lost!'
10 |In the same way, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.|
11 And He said, |A man had two sons.
12 |The younger of them said to his father, 'Father, give me the share of the estate that falls to me.' So he divided his wealth between them.
13 |And not many days later, the younger son gathered everything together and went on a journey into a distant country, and there he squandered his estate with loose living.
14 |Now when he had spent everything, a severe famine occurred in that country, and he began to be impoverished.
15 |So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, and he sent him into his fields to feed swine.
16 |And he would have gladly filled his stomach with the pods that the swine were eating, and no one was giving [anything] to him.
17 |But when he came to his senses, he said, 'How many of my father's hired men have more than enough bread, but I am dying here with hunger!
18 I will get up and go to my father, and will say to him, |Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in your sight;
19 I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me as one of your hired men.|'
20 |So he got up and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion [for him], and ran and embraced him and kissed him.
21 |And the son said to him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.'
