1 N ow the tax collectors and '> especially wicked] sinners were all coming near to to listen to Him.

2 A nd the Pharisees and the scribes kept muttering and indignantly complaining, saying, This man accepts and receives and welcomes '> preeminently wicked] sinners and eats with them.

3 S o He told them this parable:

4 W hat man of you, if he has a hundred sheep and should lose one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness (desert) and go after the one that is lost until he finds it?

5 A nd when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing.

6 A nd when he gets home, he summons together friends and neighbors, saying to them, Rejoice with me, because I have found my sheep which was lost.

7 T hus, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one '> especially] wicked person who repents ( changes his mind, abhorring his errors and misdeeds, and determines to enter upon a better course of life) than over ninety-nine righteous persons who have no need of repentance.

8 O r what woman, having ten drachmas, if she loses one coin, does not light a lamp and sweep the house and look carefully and diligently until she finds it?

9 A nd when she has found it, she summons her friends and neighbors, saying, Rejoice with me, for I have found the silver coin which I had lost.

10 E ven so, I tell you, there is joy among and in the presence of the angels of God over one '> especially] wicked person who repents ( changes his mind for the better, heartily amending his ways, with abhorrence of his past sins).

11 A nd He said, There was a certain man who had two sons;

12 A nd the younger of them said to his father, Father, give me the part of the property that falls. And he divided the estate between them.

13 A nd not many days after that, the younger son gathered up all that he had and journeyed into a distant country, and there he wasted his fortune in reckless and loose living.

14 A nd when he had spent all he had, a mighty famine came upon that country, and he began to fall behind and be in want.

15 S o he went and forced (glued) himself upon one of the citizens of that country, who sent him into his fields to feed hogs.

16 A nd he would gladly have fed on and filled his belly with the carob pods that the hogs were eating, but nobody gave him anything.

17 T hen when he came to himself, he said, How many hired servants of my father have enough food, and to spare, but I am perishing (dying) here 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 in your sight.

19 I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired servants.

20 S o he got up and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was moved with pity and tenderness; and he ran and embraced him and kissed him '> fervently].

21 A nd 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!

22 B ut the father said to his bond servants, Bring quickly the best robe (the festive robe of honor) and put it on him; and give him a ring for his hand and sandals for his feet.

23 A nd bring out that fattened calf and kill it; and let us revel and feast and be happy and make merry,

24 B ecause this my son was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found! And they began to revel and feast and make merry.

25 B ut his older son was in the field; and as he returned and came near the house, he heard music and dancing.

26 A nd having called one of the servant to him, he began to ask what this meant.

27 A nd he said to him, Your brother has come, and your father has killed that fattened calf, because he has received him back safe and well.

28 B ut was angry and resolved not to go in. Then his father came out and began to plead with him,

29 B ut he answered his father, Look! These many years I have served you, and I have never disobeyed your command. Yet you never gave me a kid, that I might revel and feast and be happy and make merry with my friends;

30 B ut when this son of yours arrived, who has devoured your estate with immoral women, you have killed for him that fattened calf!

31 A nd the father said to him, Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours.

32 B ut it was fitting to make merry, to revel and feast and rejoice, for this brother of yours was dead and is alive again! He was lost and is found!