Read the Bible

¹ Now all the tax collectors and sinners kept coming to listen to Jesus.[fn][xr] ² But the Pharisees and the scribes kept complaining, "This man welcomes sinners and eats with them."[xr] ³ So he told them this parable: ⁴ "Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. He leaves the ninety-nine in the wilderness and looks for the one that is lost until he finds it, doesn't he?[xr] ⁵ When he finds it, he puts it on his shoulders and rejoices. ⁶ Then he goes home, calls his friends and neighbors together, and says to them, 'Rejoice with me, for I have found my lost sheep!'[xr] ⁷ In the same way, I tell you that there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous people who need no repentance."[xr] ⁸ "Or suppose a woman has ten coins and loses one of them.[fn] She lights a lamp, sweeps the house, and searches carefully until she finds it, doesn't she? ⁹ When she finds it, she calls her friends and neighbors together and says, 'Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin that I lost!' ¹⁰ In the same way, I tell you that there is joy in the presence of God's angels over one sinner who repents."

¹¹ Then Jesus[fn] said, "A man had two sons. ¹² The younger one said to his father, 'Father, give me my share of the estate.' So the father[fn] divided his property between them.[xr] ¹³ A few days later, the younger son gathered all he had and traveled to a distant country. There he wasted his possessions on wild living. ¹⁴ After he had spent everything, a severe famine took place throughout that country, and he began to be in need. ¹⁵ So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, who sent him into his fields to feed pigs. ¹⁶ He would gladly have filled himself with the husks the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything. ¹⁷ "Then he came to his senses and said, 'How many of my father's hired men have more food than they can eat, and here I am starving to death! ¹⁸ I will get up, go to my father, and say to him, "Father, I have sinned against heaven[fn] and you. ¹⁹ I don't deserve to be called your son anymore. Treat me like one of your hired men."' ²⁰ "So he got up and went to his father. While he was still far away, his father saw him and was filled with compassion. He ran to his son,[fn] threw his arms around him, and kissed him affectionately.[xr] ²¹ Then his son said to him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven[fn] and you. I don't deserve to be called your son anymore.'[fn][xr] ²² But the father said to his servants, 'Hurry! Bring out the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. ²³ Bring the fattened calf and kill it, and let's eat and celebrate! ²⁴ For my son was dead and has come back to life. He was lost and has been found.' And they began to celebrate.[xr] ²⁵ "Now his older son was in the field. As he was coming back to the house, he heard music and dancing. ²⁶ So he called to one of the servants and asked what was happening. ²⁷ The servant[fn] told him, 'Your brother has come home, and your father has killed the fattened calf because he got him back safely.' ²⁸ "Then the older son[fn] became angry and wouldn't go into the house.[fn] So his father came out and began to plead with him. ²⁹ But he answered his father, "Listen! All these years I've worked like a slave for you. I've never disobeyed a command of yours. Yet you've never given me so much as a young goat so that I could celebrate with my friends. ³⁰ But this son of yours spent your money on prostitutes, and when he came back, you killed the fattened calf for him!' ³¹ "His father[fn] said to him, 'My child, you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. ³² But we had to celebrate and rejoice, because this brother of yours was dead and has come back to life. He was lost and has been found.'"[xr]