Luke 15:1-7 ▼

1 Now all the tax collectors and sinners [including non-observant Jews] were coming near Jesus to listen to Him.

2 Both the Pharisees and the scribes began muttering and complaining, saying, “This man accepts and welcomes sinners and eats with them.”

3 So He told them this parable:

4 “What man among you, if he has a hundred sheep and loses one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness and go after the one which is lost, [searching] until he finds it?

5 And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing.

6 And when he gets home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, because I have found my lost sheep!’

7 I tell you, in the same way there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous people who have no need of repentance.