Luke 15:11–21

The Lost Son

¹¹Then Jesus said, “A man had two sons. ¹²The younger son said to his father, ‘Father, give me my share of the property.’ So the father divided his property between his two sons. 

¹³“After a few days, the younger son gathered his possessions and left for a country far away from home. There he wasted everything he had on a wild lifestyle. ¹⁴He had nothing left when a severe famine spread throughout that country. He had nothing to live on. ¹⁵So he got a job from someone in that country and was sent to feed pigs in the fields. ¹⁶No one in the country would give him any food, and he was so hungry that he would have eaten what the pigs were eating. 

¹⁷“Finally, he came to his senses. He said, ‘How many of my father’s hired men have more food than they can eat, while I’m starving to death here? ¹⁸I’ll go at once to my father, and I’ll say to him, “Father, I’ve sinned against heaven and you. ¹⁹I don’t deserve to be called your son anymore. Make me one of your hired men.” ’ 

²⁰“So he went at once to his father. While he was still at a distance, his father saw him and felt sorry for him. He ran to his son, put his arms around him, and kissed him. ²¹Then his son said to him, ‘Father, I’ve sinned against heaven and you. I don’t deserve to be called your son anymore.’^a