1Then all the tax collectors and sinners came near to Jesus to hear him.
2The Pharisees and the scribes complained. They said, "This man welcomes sinners, and he eats with them."
3So he told them this parable:
4"Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep, and loses one of them. Will he not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness and go after the lost one until he finds it?"
5"And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders with joy."
6"When he comes home, he calls his friends and neighbours together and says to them, 'Be glad with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost.'"
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 need no repentance."
8"Or suppose a woman has ten pieces of silver, and loses one piece. Does she not light a candle, and sweep the house, and search carefully until she finds it?"
9"And when she has found it, she calls her friends and her neighbours together and says, 'Be glad with me, for I have found the piece I had lost.'"
10"In the same way, I tell you, there is joy among the angels of God over one sinner who repents."
11Then he said, "There was a man who had two sons."
12"The younger one said to his father, 'Father, give me my share of the property.' So the father divided what he owned between them."
13"A few days later the younger son gathered everything he had and travelled to a far country. There he wasted all his money on wild living."
14"When he had spent it all, a great famine came on that land, and he began to be in need."
15"So he went and hired himself out to a man of that country, who sent him into his fields to feed pigs."
16"He would gladly have filled his stomach with the pods that the pigs ate, and no one gave him anything."
17"Then he came to his senses and said, 'How many of my father's hired servants have more than enough bread, and here I am dying of hunger!'"
18"'I will get up and go to my father, and I will say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you.'"
19"'I am not worthy to be called your son any more. Make me like one of your hired servants.'"
20"So he got up and went to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt pity for him. He ran to him, threw his arms round his neck, and kissed him."
21"The son said to him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am not worthy to be called your son any more.'"
22"But the father said to his servants, 'Bring out the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his hand and shoes on his feet.'"
23"'Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let us eat and be glad.'"
24"'For this son of mine was dead, and is alive again. He was lost, and is found.' And they began to celebrate."
25"Now his older son was out in the field. As he came near the house, he heard music and dancing."
26"He called one of the servants and asked what all this meant."
27"The servant said to him, 'Your brother has come home, and your father has killed the fattened calf, because he has him back safe and well.'"
28"Then he was angry and would not go in. So his father came out and begged him to come."
29"But he answered his father, 'Look, all these years I have served you. I have never once disobeyed your command. Yet you never gave me even a young goat, so that I could celebrate with my friends.'"
30"'But as soon as this son of yours came home, who has eaten up your property with prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him.'"
31"His father said to him, 'Son, you are always with me, and everything I have is yours.'"
32"'It was right for us to celebrate and be glad. For this brother of yours was dead, and is alive again. He was lost, and is found.'"