The Lost Sheep

15 Now all the ^(A)tax collectors and ^[a]sinners were coming near ^[b]Jesus to listen to Him. ² And both the Pharisees and the scribes began to complain, saying, “This man receives sinners and ^(B)eats with them.”

³ And so He told them this parable, saying, ⁴ “^(C)What man among you, if he has a hundred sheep and has lost one of them, does not leave the other ninety-nine in the ^[c]open pasture and go after the one that is lost, until he finds it? ⁵ And when he has found it, he puts it on his shoulders, rejoicing. ⁶ And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, because I have found my sheep that was lost!’ ⁷ I tell you that in the same way, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous people who have no need of repentance.

The Lost Coin

⁸ “Or what woman, if she has ten ^[d]silver coins and loses one coin, does not light a lamp and sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it? ⁹ And when she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Rejoice with me, because I have found the coin which I had lost!’ ¹⁰ In the same way, I tell you, there is joy ^(D)in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”

The Prodigal Son

¹¹ And He said, “A man had two sons. ¹² The younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me ^(E)the share of the estate that ^[e]is coming to me.’ And so he divided his ^[f](F)wealth between them. ¹³ And not many days later, the younger son gathered everything together and went on a journey to a distant country, and there he squandered his estate in ^[g]wild living. ¹⁴ Now when he had ^[h]spent everything, a severe famine occurred in that country, and he began doing without. ¹⁵ So he went and ^[i]hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, and he sent him into his fields to feed pigs. ¹⁶ And he longed to have his fill of the carob pods that the pigs were eating, and no one was giving him anything. ¹⁷ But when he came to ^[j]his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired laborers have more than enough bread, but I am dying here ^[k]from hunger! ¹⁸ I will set out and go to my father, and will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven, and ^[l]in your sight; ¹⁹ I am no longer worthy to be called your son; treat me as one of your hired laborers.”’ ²⁰ So he set out and came to ^[m]his father. But when he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion for him, and ran and ^[n](G)embraced him and kissed him. ²¹ And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and ^[o]in your sight; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ ²² But the father said to his slaves, ‘Quickly bring out ^(H)the best robe and put it on him, and ^[p](I)put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet; ²³ and bring the fattened calf, slaughter it, and let’s eat and celebrate; ²⁴ for this son of mine was ^(J)dead and has come to life again; he was lost and has been found.’ And they began to celebrate.

²⁵ “Now his older son was in the field, and when he came and approached the house, he heard music and dancing. ²⁶ And he summoned one of the servants and began inquiring what these things could be. ²⁷ And he said to him, ‘Your brother has come, and your father has slaughtered the fattened calf because he has received him back safe and sound.’ ²⁸ But he became angry and was not willing to go in; and his father came out and began pleading with him. ²⁹ But he answered and said to his father, ‘Look! For so many years I have been serving you and I have never ^[q]neglected a command of yours; and yet you never gave me a young goat, so that I might celebrate with my friends; ³⁰ but when this son of yours came, who has devoured your ^[r](K)wealth with prostitutes, you slaughtered the fattened calf for him.’ ³¹ And he said to him, ‘Son, you ^[s]have always been with me, and all that is mine is yours. ³² But we had to celebrate and rejoice, because this brother of yours was ^(L)dead and has begun to live, and was lost and has been found.’”

The Unrighteous Manager

16 Now He was also saying to the disciples, “There was a rich man who had a manager, and this manager was ^[t]reported to him as ^(M)squandering his possessions. ² And he summoned him and said to him, ‘What is this I hear about you? Give an accounting of your management, for you can no longer be manager.’ ³ And the manager said to himself, ‘What am I to do, since my ^[u]master is taking the management away from me? I am not strong enough to ^[v]dig; I am ashamed to beg. ⁴ I know what I will do, so that when I am removed from the management people will welcome me into their homes.’ ⁵ And he summoned each one of his ^[w]master’s debtors, and he began saying to the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’ ⁶ And he said, ‘A hundred ^[x]jugs of oil.’ And he said to him, ‘Take your bill, and sit down quickly and write fifty.’ ⁷ Then he said to another, ‘And how much do you owe?’ And he said, ‘A hundred ^[y]kors of wheat.’ He *said to him, ‘Take your bill, and write eighty.’ ⁸ And his ^[z]master complimented the unrighteous manager because he had acted shrewdly; for the sons of ^(N)this age are more shrewd in relation to their own ^[aa]kind than the ^(O)sons of light. ⁹ And I say to you, ^(P)make friends for yourselves by means of the ^[ab](Q)wealth of unrighteousness, so that when it ^[ac]is all gone, ^(R)they will receive you into the eternal dwellings.

¹⁰ “^(S)The one who is faithful in a very little thing is also faithful in much; and the one who is unrighteous in a very little thing is also unrighteous in much. ¹¹ Therefore if you have not ^[ad]been faithful in the use of unrighteous ^[ae](T)wealth, who will entrust the true wealth to you? ¹² And if you have not ^[af]been faithful in the use of that which is another’s, who will give you that which is your own? ^13 (U)No ^[ag]servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and ^[ah](V)wealth.”

¹⁴ Now the Pharisees, who were ^(W)lovers of money, were listening to all these things and ^(X)were ^[ai]ridiculing Him. ¹⁵ And He said to them, “You are the ones who ^(Y)justify yourselves in the sight of people, but ^(Z)God knows your hearts; because that which is highly esteemed among people is detestable in the sight of God.

¹⁶ “^(AA)The Law and the Prophets were proclaimed until John came; since that time ^(AB)the gospel of the kingdom of God ^[aj]has been preached, and everyone is forcing his way into it. ^17 (AC)But it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one ^[ak]stroke of a letter of the Law to fail.

¹⁸ “^(AD)Everyone who ^[al]divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery, and he who marries one who is ^[am]divorced from a husband commits adultery.

The Rich Man and Lazarus

¹⁹ “Now there was a rich man, and he habitually dressed in purple and fine linen, enjoying himself in splendor every day. ²⁰ And a poor man named Lazarus ^(AE)was laid at his gate, covered with sores, ²¹ and longing to be fed from the scraps which fell from the rich man’s table; not only that, the dogs also were coming and licking his sores. ²² Now it happened that the poor man died and was carried away by the angels to ^[an](AF)Abraham’s arms; and the rich man also died and was buried. ²³ And in ^(AG)Hades he raised his eyes, being in torment, and *saw Abraham far away and Lazarus in his ^[ao]arms. ²⁴ And he cried out and said, ‘^(AH)Father Abraham, have mercy on me and send Lazarus, so that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool off my tongue, for I am in agony in ^(AI)this flame.’ ²⁵ But Abraham said, ‘Child, remember that ^(AJ)during your life you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus bad things; but now he is being comforted here, and you are in agony. ²⁶ And ^[ap]besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been set, so that those who want to go over from here to you will not be able, nor will any people cross over from there to us.’ ²⁷ And he said, ‘Then I request of you, father, that you send him to my father’s house— ²⁸ for I have five brothers—in order that he may ^(AK)warn them, so that they will not come to this place of torment as well.’ ²⁹ But Abraham *said, ‘They have ^[aq](AL)Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them.’ ³⁰ But he said, ‘No, ^(AM)father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent!’ ³¹ But he said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be persuaded even if someone rises from the dead.’”