Luke 15–16

CHAPTER 15

The Parable of the Lost Sheep

¹Now all the ^atax collectors and the ¹sinners were coming near Him to listen to Him.

²And both the Pharisees and the scribes were grumbling, saying, “This man receives sinners and ^aeats with them.”

³So He told them this parable, saying,

⁴“^aWhat man among you, if he has one hundred sheep and has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the ¹open pasture and go after the one which is lost until he finds it?

⁵“And when he has found it, he lays 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, for I have found my sheep which 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 persons who need no repentance.

The Parable of the Lost Drachma

⁸“Or what woman, if she has ten ¹drachmas and loses one ²drachma, 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, for I have found the ¹drachma which I had lost!’

¹⁰“In the same way, I tell you, there is joy ^ain the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”

The Parable of the Prodigal Son

¹¹And He said, “A man had two sons.

¹²“And the younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me ^athe share of the estate that falls to me.’ So he divided his ^1bwealth between them.

¹³“And not many days later, the younger son gathered everything together and went on a journey into a distant country, and there he squandered his estate living recklessly.

¹⁴“Now when he had spent everything, a severe famine occurred in that country, and he began to be impoverished.

¹⁵“So he went and ¹hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, and he sent him into his fields to feed swine.

¹⁶“And he was desiring to be fed with the ¹pods that the swine were eating, and no one was giving anything to him.

¹⁷“But when he came to himself, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired men have more than enough bread, but I am dying here with hunger!

¹⁸‘I will rise up and go to my father, and will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before you.

¹⁹“I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me as one of your hired men.”’

²⁰“So he rose up and came to ¹his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and ran and ^2aembraced him and kissed him.

²¹“And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’

²²“But the father said to his slaves, ‘Quickly bring out ^athe best robe and put it on him, and ^bput a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet,

²³and bring the fattened calf, slaughter it, and let us eat and celebrate,

²⁴for this son of mine was ^adead 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 summoning one of the servants, he began inquiring what these things could be.

²⁷“And he said to him, ‘Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has received him back safe and sound.’

²⁸“But he became angry and was not wanting 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 never have I ¹neglected a command of yours. And yet never have you given me a young goat, so that I might celebrate with my friends.

³⁰‘But when this son of yours came, who has devoured your ^1awealth with prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him.’

³¹“And he said to him, ‘Child, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours.

³²‘But we had to celebrate and rejoice, for this brother of yours was ^adead and is alive, and was lost and has been found.’”

CHAPTER 16

The Parable of the Unrighteous Steward

¹Now He was also saying to the disciples, “There was a rich man who had a steward, and this steward was ¹reported to him as ^asquandering his possessions.

²“And he called for him and said to him, ‘What is this I hear about you? Give an accounting of your stewardship, for you can no longer be steward.’

³“And the steward said to himself, ‘What shall I do, since my ¹master is taking the stewardship away from me? I am not strong enough to dig; I am ashamed to beg.

⁴‘I know what I shall do, so that when I am removed from the stewardship people will ¹take me into their homes.’

⁵“And he summoned each one of his ¹master’s debtors, and he began saying to the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’

⁶“And he said, ‘One hundred ¹baths 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, ‘One hundred ¹kors of wheat.’ He ^*said to him, ‘Take your bill, and write eighty.’

⁸“And his ¹master praised the unrighteous steward because he had acted shrewdly, for the sons of ^athis age are more shrewd in relation to their own ²kind than the ^bsons of light.

⁹“And I say to you, ^amake friends for yourselves from the ^1bwealth of unrighteousness, so that when it fails, ^cthey will ²take you into the eternal dwellings.

¹⁰“^aHe who is faithful in a very little thing is faithful also in much, and he who is unrighteous in a very little thing is unrighteous also in much.

¹¹“Therefore if you have not been faithful in the use of unrighteous ^1awealth, who will entrust the true riches to you?

¹²“And if you have not been faithful in the use of that which is another’s, who will give you that which is your own?

¹³“^aNo ¹servant can ²serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot ³serve God and ^4bwealth.”

¹⁴Now the Pharisees, who were ^alovers of money, were listening to all these things and ^bwere scoffing at Him.

¹⁵And He said to them, “You are those who ^ajustify yourselves ¹in the sight of men, but ^bGod knows your hearts, for that which is highly esteemed among men is detestable ²in the sight of God.

¹⁶“^aThe Law and the Prophets were until John; ¹since that time ^bthe good news of the kingdom of God is proclaimed, and everyone is forcing his way into it.

¹⁷“^aBut it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one ¹stroke of a letter of the Law to fail.

¹⁸“^aEveryone who ¹divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery, and he who marries a woman who is ²divorced 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, joyously living in splendor every day.

²⁰“But a poor man named Lazarus ^awas laid at his gate, covered with sores,

²¹and desiring to be fed with the crumbs which were falling from the rich man’s table; besides, even the dogs were coming and licking his sores.

²²“Now it happened that the poor man died and was carried away by the angels to ^aAbraham’s bosom, and the rich man also died and was buried.

²³“And in ^aHades he lifted up his eyes, being in torment, and ^*saw Abraham far away and Lazarus in his bosom.

²⁴“And he cried out and said, ‘^aFather 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 ^bthis flame.’

²⁵“But Abraham said, ‘Child, remember that ^aduring 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 ¹besides all this, between us and you there is a great chasm fixed, so that those who wish to come over from here to you are not able, and none may cross over from there to us.’

²⁷“And he said, ‘Then I am asking you, father, that you send him to my father’s house—

²⁸for I have five brothers—in order that he may ^awarn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.’

²⁹“But Abraham ^*said, ‘They have ^aMoses and the Prophets; let them hear them.’

³⁰“But he said, ‘No, ^afather 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.’”