Luke 15:21

King James Version

And the son said unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight, and am no more worthy to be called thy son.

Parallel Translations

English Standard Version
And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.'

Geneva Bible (1587)
And the sonne sayde vnto him, Father, I haue sinned against heauen, and before thee, and am no more worthie to be called thy sonne.

Christian Standard Bible®
The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight. I’m no longer worthy to be called your son.’

Hebrew Names Version
The son said to him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in your sight. I am no more worthy to be called your son.'

International Standard Version
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.'anymore. Treat me like one of your hired men.">[fn]Psalm 51:4;">[xr]

Darby Translation
And the son said to him, Father, I have sinned against heaven and before thee; I am no longer worthy to be called thy son.

Easy-to-Read Version
The son said, ‘Father, I have sinned against God and have done wrong to you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.'

Amplified Bible
"And the son said to him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.'

American Standard Version
And the son said unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight: I am no more worthy to be called thy son.

Berean Standard Bible
The son declared, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.'

Contemporary English Version
The son said, "Father, I have sinned against God in heaven and against you. I am no longer good enough to be called your son."

Complete Jewish Bible
His son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against Heaven and against you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son — '

Etheridge Translation
And his son said to him, My father, I have sinned against heaven and before thee, and am not worthy thy son to be called.

Murdock Translation
And his son said to him: My father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee, and am not worthy to be called thy son.

King James Version (1611)
And the sonne said vnto him, Father, I haue sinned against heauen, and in thy sight, and am no more worthy to be called thy sonne.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
And the sonne sayde vnto him: Father, I haue sinned agaynst heauen, and in thy syght, and am no more worthy to be called thy sonne.

English Revised Version
And the son said unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight: I am no more worthy to be called thy son.

Lexham English Bible
And his son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight! I am no longer worthy to be called your son!'

Literal Translation
And the son said to him, Father, I have sinned against Heaven and before you, and no longer am I worthy to be called your son.

New Century Version
The son said, ‘Father, I have sinned against God and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.'

New English Translation
Then his son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.'

New King James Version
And the son said to him, "Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight, and am no longer worthy to be called your son.'

New Living Translation
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.'

New Life Bible
The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am not good enough to be called your son.'

New Revised Standard
Then the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.'

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
And the son said unto him - Father! I have sinned against heaven, and before thee: No longer, am I worthy to be called a son of thine, - make me as one of thy hired servants.

Douay-Rheims Bible
And the son said to him: Father: I have sinned against heaven and before thee I am not now worthy to be called thy son.

George Lamsa Translation
And his son said to him, My father, I have sinned before heaven and before you, and I am not worthy to be called your son.

Good News Translation
‘Father,' the son said, ‘I have sinned against God and against you. I am no longer fit to be called your son.'

Webster's Bible Translation
And the son said to him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight, and am no more worthy to be called thy son.

Wesley's New Testament (1755)
And the son said unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven and before thee, and am no more worthy to be called thy son.

Weymouth's New Testament
"`Father,' cried the son, `I have sinned against Heaven and before you: no longer do I deserve to be called a son of yours.'

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
And the sone seide to hym, Fadir, Y haue synned in to heuene, and bifor thee; and now Y am not worthi to be clepid thi sone.

Young's Literal Translation
and the son said to him, Father, I did sin -- to the heaven, and before thee, and no more am I worthy to be called thy son.

World English Bible
The son said to him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in your sight. I am no more worthy to be called your son.'

Revised Standard Version
And the son said to him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.'

Tyndale New Testament (1525)
And the sonne sayd vnto him: father I have synned agaynst heven and in thy sight and am no moare worthy to be called thy sonne.

Update Bible Version
And the son said to him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in your sight: I am no more worthy to be called your son.

Bible in Basic English
And his son said to him, Father, I have done wrong, against heaven and in your eyes: I am no longer good enough to be named your son.

New American Standard Bible
"And the son said to him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.'

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Then sayde the sonne vnto him: Father, I haue synned agaynst heaue, and before the, I am nomore worthy to be called thy sonne.

Mace New Testament (1729)
then the son said to him, father, I have sinned against heaven, and against you, I am no longer worthy to be called your son.

THE MESSAGE
The Story of the Lost Sheep By this time a lot of men and women of doubtful reputation were hanging around Jesus, listening intently. The Pharisees and religion scholars were not pleased, not at all pleased. They growled, "He takes in sinners and eats meals with them, treating them like old friends." Their grumbling triggered this story. "Suppose one of you had a hundred sheep and lost one. Wouldn't you leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness and go after the lost one until you found it? When found, you can be sure you would put it across your shoulders, rejoicing, and when you got home call in your friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Celebrate with me! I've found my lost sheep!' Count on it—there's more joy in heaven over one sinner's rescued life than over ninety-nine good people in no need of rescue. "Or imagine a woman who has ten coins and loses one. Won't she light a lamp and scour the house, looking in every nook and cranny until she finds it? And when she finds it you can be sure she'll call her friends and neighbors: ‘Celebrate with me! I found my lost coin!' Count on it—that's the kind of party God's angels throw every time one lost soul turns to God." Then he said, "There was once a man who had two sons. The younger said to his father, ‘Father, I want right now what's coming to me.' "So the father divided the property between them. It wasn't long before the younger son packed his bags and left for a distant country. There, undisciplined and dissipated, he wasted everything he had. After he had gone through all his money, there was a bad famine all through that country and he began to hurt. He signed on with a citizen there who assigned him to his fields to slop the pigs. He was so hungry he would have eaten the corncobs in the pig slop, but no one would give him any. "That brought him to his senses. He said, ‘All those farmhands working for my father sit down to three meals a day, and here I am starving to death. I'm going back to my father. I'll say to him, Father, I've sinned against God, I've sinned before you; I don't deserve to be called your son. Take me on as a hired hand.' He got right up and went home to his father. "When he was still a long way off, his father saw him. His heart pounding, he ran out, embraced him, and kissed him. The son started his speech: ‘Father, I've sinned against God, I've sinned before you; I don't deserve to be called your son ever again.'

Simplified Cowboy Version
The boy said, 'Dad, I have sinned against heaven and you. I'm unfit to be called your boy.'

New American Standard Bible (1995)
"And the son said to him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.'

Legacy Standard Bible
And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.'

Contextual Overview

¹¹ And he said, A certain man had two sons: ¹² And the younger of them said to his father, Father, give me the portion of goods that falleth to me. And he divided unto them his living. ¹³ And not many days after the younger son gathered all together, and took his journey into a far country, and there wasted his substance with riotous living. ¹⁴ And when he had spent all, there arose a mighty famine in that land; and he began to be in want. ¹⁵ And he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country; and he sent him into his fields to feed swine. ¹⁶ And he would fain have filled his belly with the husks that the swine did eat: and no man gave unto him. ¹⁷ And when he came to himself, he said, How many hired servants of my father's have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger! ¹⁸ I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee, ¹⁹ And am no more worthy to be called thy son: make me as one of thy hired servants. ²⁰ And he arose, and came to his father. But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Father: Luke 15:18, Luke 15:19, Jeremiah 3:13, Ezekiel 16:63, Romans 2:4

against: Psalms 51:4, Psalms 143:2, 1 Corinthians 8:12

Reciprocal: 2 Samuel 12:13 - I have sinned Ezra 9:6 - grown up Psalms 32:5 - I said Psalms 51:17 - thou Psalms 103:13 - Like Daniel 4:26 - the heavens Daniel 9:15 - we have sinned Hosea 14:2 - receive Zechariah 1:3 - and Matthew 6:9 - Our Matthew 8:8 - I am

Cross-References

Genesis 15:15
And thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace; thou shalt be buried in a good old age.

Genesis 15:19
The Kenites, and the Kenizzites, and the Kadmonites,

Exodus 33:2
And I will send an angel before thee; and I will drive out the Canaanite, the Amorite, and the Hittite, and the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite:

Exodus 34:11
Observe thou that which I command thee this day: behold, I drive out before thee the Amorite, and the Canaanite, and the Hittite, and the Perizzite, and the Hivite, and the Jebusite.

Deuteronomy 7:1
When the Lord thy God shall bring thee into the land whither thou goest to possess it, and hath cast out many nations before thee, the Hittites, and the Girgashites, and the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites, seven nations greater and mightier than thou;

Matthew 8:28
And when he was come to the other side into the country of the Gergesenes, there met him two possessed with devils, coming out of the tombs, exceeding fierce, so that no man might pass by that way.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And the son said unto him, father,.... Or "my father", as the Syriac version reads; and the Persic version adds, "pardon me": sin lay heavy on him, and he wanted a view and application of pardoning grace, though he seems to be prevented making this request by the kiss he received from his father:

I have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight; this is what he determined to say, and was allowed to say, having a deep sense of his sin and vileness, and which was increased by the love and kindness his father had shown him. The phrase is Jewish;

:- to which may be added, what is elsewhere said c,

"what is the sense of that passage, Psalms 12:4 "who have said, with our tongues we will prevail?" c. it designs all the transgressions a man sins against earth and if

חוטאין בשמים, "they sin against heaven", and earth; what is the sense of that in Psalms 73:9?''

and am no more worthy to be called thy son: so much he was suffered to say, which fully expresses his sense of his vileness and unworthiness: but he was not allowed to say, "make me as one of thy hired servants"; because this could not be granted; for a son is always a son, and cannot become a servant; see Galatians 4:6.

c T. Hieros Peah, fol. 16. 1.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Luke 15:21. Make me as one of thy hired servants, is added here by several MSS. and versions; but it is evident this has been added, merely to make his conduct agree with his resolution, Luke 15:19. But by this a very great beauty is lost: for the design of the inspired penman is to show, not merely the depth of the profligate son's repentance, and the sincerity of his conversion, but to show the great affection of the father, and his readiness to forgive his disobedient son. His tenderness of heart cannot wait till the son has made his confession; his bowels yearn over him, and he cuts short his tale of contrition and self-reproach, by giving him the most plenary assurances of his pardoning love.