[1] Tax collectors and other notorious sinners often came to listen to Jesus teach.
[2] This made the Pharisees and teachers of religious law complain that he was associating with such sinful people—even eating with them!
[3] So Jesus told them this story:
[4] “If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them gets lost, what will he do? Won’t he leave the ninety-nine others in the wilderness and go to search for the one that is lost until he finds it?
[5] And when he has found it, he will joyfully carry it home on his shoulders.
[6] When he arrives, he will call together his friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Rejoice with me because I have found my lost sheep.’
[7] In the same way, there is more joy in heaven over one lost sinner who repents and returns to God than over ninety-nine others who are righteous and haven’t strayed away!
[8] “Or suppose a woman has ten silver coins and loses one. Won’t she light a lamp and sweep the entire house and search carefully until she finds it?
[9] And when she finds it, she will call in her friends and neighbors and say, ‘Rejoice with me because I have found my lost coin.’
[10] In the same way, there is joy in the presence of God’s angels when even one sinner repents.”
[11] To illustrate the point further, Jesus told them this story: “A man had two sons.
[12] The younger son told his father, ‘I want my share of your estate now before you die.’ So his father agreed to divide his wealth between his sons.
[13] “A few days later this younger son packed all his belongings and moved to a distant land, and there he wasted all his money in wild living.
[14] About the time his money ran out, a great famine swept over the land, and he began to starve.
[15] He persuaded a local farmer to hire him, and the man sent him into his fields to feed the pigs.
[16] The young man became so hungry that even the pods he was feeding the pigs looked good to him. But no one gave him anything.
[17] “When he finally came to his senses, he said to himself, ‘At home even the hired servants have food enough to spare, and here I am dying of hunger!
[18] I will go home to my father and say, “Father, I have sinned against both heaven and you,
[19] and I am no longer worthy of being called your son. Please take me on as a hired servant.”’
[20] “So he returned home to his father. And while he was still a long way off, his father saw him coming. Filled with love and compassion, he ran to his son, embraced him, and kissed him.
[21] His son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against both heaven and you, and I am no longer worthy of being called your son.’
[22] “But his father said to the servants, ‘Quick! Bring the finest robe in the house and put it on him. Get a ring for his finger and sandals for his feet.
[23] And kill the calf we have been fattening. We must celebrate with a feast,
[24] for this son of mine was dead and has now returned to life. He was lost, but now he is found.’ So the party began.
[25] “Meanwhile, the older son was in the fields working. When he returned home, he heard music and dancing in the house,
[26] and he asked one of the servants what was going on.
[27] ‘Your brother is back,’ he was told, ‘and your father has killed the fattened calf. We are celebrating because of his safe return.’
[28] “The older brother was angry and wouldn’t go in. His father came out and begged him,
[29] but he replied, ‘All these years I’ve slaved for you and never once refused to do a single thing you told me to. And in all that time you never gave me even one young goat for a feast with my friends.
[30] Yet when this son of yours comes back after squandering your money on prostitutes, you celebrate by killing the fattened calf!’
[31] “His father said to him, ‘Look, dear son, you have always stayed by me, and everything I have is yours.
[32] We had to celebrate this happy day. For your brother was dead and has come back to life! He was lost, but now he is found!’”