Luke 15 : 1 (NLT)
Tax collectors and other notorious sinners often came to listen to Jesus teach.
Luke 15 : 2 (NLT)
This made the Pharisees and teachers of religious law complain that he was associating with such sinful people-- even eating with them!
Luke 15 : 3 (NLT)
So Jesus told them this story:
Luke 15 : 4 (NLT)
"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?
Luke 15 : 5 (NLT)
And when he has found it, he will joyfully carry it home on his shoulders.
Luke 15 : 6 (NLT)
When he arrives, he will call together his friends and neighbors, saying, 'Rejoice with me because I have found my lost sheep.'
Luke 15 : 7 (NLT)
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!
Luke 15 : 8 (NLT)
"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?
Luke 15 : 9 (NLT)
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.'
Luke 15 : 10 (NLT)
In the same way, there is joy in the presence of God's angels when even one sinner repents."
Luke 15 : 11 (NLT)
To illustrate the point further, Jesus told them this story: "A man had two sons.
Luke 15 : 12 (NLT)
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.
Luke 15 : 13 (NLT)
"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.
Luke 15 : 14 (NLT)
About the time his money ran out, a great famine swept over the land, and he began to starve.
Luke 15 : 15 (NLT)
He persuaded a local farmer to hire him, and the man sent him into his fields to feed the pigs.
Luke 15 : 16 (NLT)
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.
Luke 15 : 17 (NLT)
"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!
Luke 15 : 18 (NLT)
I will go home to my father and say, "Father, I have sinned against both heaven and you,
Luke 15 : 19 (NLT)
and I am no longer worthy of being called your son. Please take me on as a hired servant."'
Luke 15 : 20 (NLT)
"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.
Luke 15 : 21 (NLT)
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. '
Luke 15 : 22 (NLT)
"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.
Luke 15 : 23 (NLT)
And kill the calf we have been fattening. We must celebrate with a feast,
Luke 15 : 24 (NLT)
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.
Luke 15 : 25 (NLT)
"Meanwhile, the older son was in the fields working. When he returned home, he heard music and dancing in the house,
Luke 15 : 26 (NLT)
and he asked one of the servants what was going on.
Luke 15 : 27 (NLT)
'Your brother is back,' he was told, 'and your father has killed the fattened calf. We are celebrating because of his safe return.'
Luke 15 : 28 (NLT)
"The older brother was angry and wouldn't go in. His father came out and begged him,
Luke 15 : 29 (NLT)
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.
Luke 15 : 30 (NLT)
Yet when this son of yours comes back after squandering your money on prostitutes, you celebrate by killing the fattened calf!'
Luke 15 : 31 (NLT)
"His father said to him, 'Look, dear son, you have always stayed by me, and everything I have is yours.
Luke 15 : 32 (NLT)
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!'"
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