Luke 15
15
The Story of the Lost Sheep
1-3By this time a lot of men and women of questionable 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.
4-7“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.
The Story of the Lost Coin
8-10“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.”
The Story of the Lost Son
11-12a 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.’
12b-16 “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 feel it. 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 corn-cobs in the pig slop, but no one would give him any.
17-20a “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.
20b-21 “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.’
22-24“But the father wasn’t listening. He was calling to the servants, ‘Quick. Bring a clean set of clothes and dress him. Put the family ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Then get a prize-winning heifer and roast it. We’re going to feast! We’re going to have a wonderful time! My son is here—given up for dead and now alive! Given up for lost and now found!’ And they began to have a wonderful time.
25-27“All this time his older son was out in the field. When the day’s work was done he came in. As he approached the house, he heard the music and dancing. Calling over one of the houseboys, he asked what was going on. He told him, ‘Your brother came home. Your father has ordered a feast—barbecued beef!—because he has him home safe and sound.’
28-30“The older brother stomped off in an angry sulk and refused to join in. His father came out and tried to talk to him, but he wouldn’t listen. The son said, ‘Look how many years I’ve stayed here serving you, never giving you one moment of grief, but have you ever thrown a party for me and my friends? Then this son of yours who has thrown away your money on whores shows up and you go all out with a feast!’
31-32“His father said, ‘Son, you don’t understand. You’re with me all the time, and everything that is mine is yours—but this is a wonderful time, and we had to celebrate. This brother of yours was dead, and he’s alive! He was lost, and he’s found!’”
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THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson. All rights reserved. Used by permission of NavPress. Represented by Tyndale House Publishers.
Luke 15
15
1 Now tax collectors and sinners were drawing near to him, so that they might listen to him.
2 And the Pharisees and the scribes murmured, saying, "This one accepts sinners and eats with them."
3 And he told this parable to them, saying:
4 "What man among you, who has one hundred sheep, and if he will have lost one of them, would not leave the ninety-nine in the desert and go after the one whom he had lost, until he finds it?
5 And when he has found it, he places it on his shoulders, rejoicing.
6 And returning home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, saying to them: 'Congratulate me! For I have found my sheep, which had been lost.'
7 I say to you, that there will be so much more joy in heaven over one sinner repenting, than over the ninety-nine just, who do not need to repent.
8 Or what woman, having ten drachmas, if she will have lost one drachma, would not light a candle, and sweep the house, and diligently search until she finds it?
9 And when she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying: 'Rejoice with me! For I have found the drachma, which I had lost.'
10 So I say to you, there will be joy before the Angels of God over even one sinner who is repentant."
11 And he said: "A certain man had two sons.
12 And the younger of them said to the father, 'Father, give me the portion of your estate which would go to me.' And he divided the estate between them.
13 And after not many days, the younger son, gathering it all together, set out on a long journey to a distant region. And there, he dissipated his substance, living in luxury.
14 And after he had consumed it all, a great famine occurred in that region, and he began to be in need.
15 And he went and attached himself to one of the citizens of that region. And he sent him to his farm, in order to feed the swine.
16 And he wanted to fill his belly with the scraps that the swine ate. But no one would give it to him.
17 And returning to his senses, he said: 'How many hired hands in my father's house have abundant bread, while I perish here in famine!
18 I shall rise up and go to my father, and I will say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you.
19 I am not worthy to be called your son. Make me one of your hired hands.'
20 And rising up, he went to his father. But while he was still at a distance, his father saw him, and he was moved with compassion, and running to him, he fell upon his neck and kissed him.
21 And the son said to him: 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. Now I am not worthy to be called your son.'
22 But the father said to his servants: 'Quickly! Bring out the best robe, and clothe him with it. And put a ring on his hand and shoes on his feet.
23 And bring the fatted calf here, and kill it. And let us eat and hold a feast.
24 For this son of mine was dead, and has revived; he was lost, and is found.' And they began to feast.
25 But his elder son was in the field. And when he returned and drew near to the house, he heard music and dancing.
26 And he called one of the servants, and he questioned him as to what these things meant.
27 And he said to him: 'Your brother has returned, and your father has killed the fatted calf, because he has received him safely.'
28 Then he became indignant, and he was unwilling to enter. Therefore, his father, going out, began to plead with him.
29 And in response, he said to his father: 'Behold, I have been serving you for so many years. And I have never transgressed your commandment. And yet, you have never given me even a young goat, so that I might feast with my friends.
30 Yet after this son of yours returned, who has devoured his substance with loose women, you have killed the fatted calf for him.'
31 But he said to him: 'Son, you are with me always, and all that I have is yours.
32 But it was necessary to feast and to rejoice. For this brother of yours was dead, and has revived; he was lost, and is found.' "
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