The Parable of the Lost Sheep

15 Now all the tax collectors and the sinners were drawing near to hear him. ² And both the Pharisees and the scribes were complaining, saying, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them!”

³ So he told them this parable, saying, ⁴ “What man of you, having a hundred sheep and losing one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the grassland and go after the one that was lost until he finds it? ⁵ And when he^[a] has found it,^[b] he places it^[c] on his shoulders, rejoicing. ⁶ And when he^[d] returns to his^[e] home, he calls together his^[f] friends and 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.