Luke 15:1-23

¹Many HYP tax collectors and others whom people considered to be habitual sinners kept coming to Jesus to listen to him teach.

²The Pharisees and men who taught the Jewish laws who were there SYN began to grumble, saying, “This man welcomes sinners and he also defiles himself by eating with them!”

³So Jesus told them this parable:

⁴“Suppose that one of you had a hundred sheep. If one of them were lost, ◄you (sg) would certainly leave the ninety-nine sheep in the pasture, and go and search for the one lost sheep until you found it./would you not leave the ninety-nine sheep in the pasture, and go and search for the one lost sheep until you found it?► RHQ

⁵When you (sg) found it, you would put it on your shoulders and be happy.

⁶When you brought it home, you would call together your friends and neighbors and say to them, ‘Be happy with me, because I have found my sheep that was lost!’

⁷I tell you (pl) that similarly God will be very happy about each and every sinner who turns from doing evil. God is not happy about ninety-nine people who think that they are IRO righteous and think that they do not need to turn from doing evil.

⁸Or, suppose that a woman has ten very valuable silver coins. If she loses one of them, ◄she will certainly light a lamp and sweep the floor and search carefully until she finds it!/will she not light a lamp and sweep the floor and search carefully until she finds it?► RHQ

⁹When she finds it, she will call together her friends and neighbors and say, ‘Be happy with me, because I have found the coin that I lost!’

¹⁰I tell you that similarly the angels will be happy about even just one sinner who turns from doing evil.”

¹¹Then Jesus told them this parable to compare what the Pharisees and teachers of the Jewish law thought about those who turn from their sinful behavior with what God thinks about such people. He said, “A certain man had two sons.

¹²One day the younger son said to his father, ‘Father, I do not want to wait until you(sg) die. Give me now the share of your property that belongs to me!’ So the man divided his property between his two sons.

¹³A few days later, the younger son sold his share. He gathered his money and other things together and went to a country far away. There he spent all his money foolishly in reckless/wild living.

¹⁴After he had spent all his money, there was a great famine throughout that country. And soon he did not have enough food to eat.

¹⁵So he went to one of the landowners in that area and asked for work. The man sent him to work taking care of the pigs in his field.

¹⁶Because he was very hungry, he would have been glad to eat the bean pods that the pigs ate. But no one gave him anything to eat.

¹⁷Finally he thought clearly about what he had done. He said to himself, ‘All of my father's hired servants have plenty of food! They have more SYN than they can eat, but here I am dying because I do not have anything to eat HYP!

¹⁸So I will leave here and go back to my father. I will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against God MTY, EUP and against you (sg).

¹⁹I am no longer worthy to be called {of you calling me} your son. Just hire me to be like one of the other hired servants.”’

²⁰So he left there and went back to his father's house. But while he was still some distance from the house, his father saw him. He pitied him. He ran to his son and embraced him and kissed him on the cheek.

²¹His son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against God MTY/EUP and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called {of you calling me} your son.’

²²But his father said to his servants, ‘Go quickly and bring to me the best robe in the house! Then put it on my son. Put a ring on his finger to show that I am honoring him again as my son! Put sandals on his feet to show that I do not consider him to be a slave!

²³Then bring the fat calf and kill it and cook it. We (inc) must eat and celebrate,