¹And all the tax-gatherers and the sinners were coming nigh to him, to hear him, ²and the Pharisees and the scribes were murmuring, saying—This one doth receive sinners, and doth eat with them.’ ³And he spake unto them this simile, saying, ⁴‘What man of you having a hundred sheep, and having lost one out of them, doth not leave behind the ninety-nine in the wilderness, and go on after the lost one, till he may find it? ⁵and having found, he doth lay it on his shoulders rejoicing, ⁶and having come to the house, he doth call together the friends and the neighbours, saying to them, Rejoice with me, because I found my sheep—the lost one. ⁷‘I say to you, that so joy shall be in the heaven over one sinner reforming, rather than over ninety-nine righteous men, who have no need of reformation.

⁸‘Or what woman having ten drachms, if she may lose one drachm, doth not light a lamp, and sweep the house, and seek carefully till that she may find? ⁹and having found, she doth call together the female friends and the neighbours, saying, Rejoice with me, for I found the drachm that I lost.

¹⁰‘So I say to you, joy doth come before the messengers of God over one sinner reforming.’

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Luke 15:7: Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.

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