All the tax collectors and sinners kept coming near to listen to him.[1] 2 And the Pharisees and the scribes grumbled. “This man welcomes sinners,” they said, “and eats with them.”
3 So he told them this parable:
4 “Which one of you, if you had a hundred sheep and lost one of them, wouldn’t leave the ninety-nine out in the open country and go after the lost one until you find it? 5 And when you find it, you lay it across your shoulders, happy. 6 You come home and call your friends and neighbors together and say, ‘Celebrate with me — I found my lost sheep!’ 7 I’m telling you, that’s the kind of joy there will be in heaven over one sinner who changes their heart back — more than over ninety-nine people who already do right who don’t need to turn back.
8 “Or take a woman who has ten silver coins. If she loses one, doesn’t she light a lamp and sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it?[2] 9 And when she finds it, she calls her friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Celebrate with me — I found the coin I lost!’ 10 That’s how it is, I’m telling you: there is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who changes their heart back.”
11 Then he said: “A man had two sons. 12 The younger one said to his father, ‘Father, give me my share of the estate.’ So the father divided his property between them.[3]
13 “Not many days later, the younger son pulled everything together and traveled to a faraway country. There he squandered his wealth with wild living. 14 After he had spent everything, a severe famine swept through that country, and he began to be in need. 15 He went and attached himself to a citizen of that country, who sent him into his fields to feed pigs. 16 He longed to fill his stomach with the pods the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything.[4]
17 “When he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired workers have more than enough bread, and here I am dying of hunger! 18 I’ll get up and go to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. 19 I’m no longer worthy to be called your son. Make me like one of your hired workers.’ 20 So he got up and went to his father.
“But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him. His heart went out to him. He ran and threw his arms around his neck and kissed him. 21 The son said, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I’m no longer worthy to be called your son.’
22 “But the father said to his slaves, ‘Quick! Bring out the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet.[5] 23 Bring the fattened calf and slaughter it. Let’s eat and celebrate, 24 because this son of mine was dead and is alive again. He was lost and is found.’ And they began to celebrate.
25 “Now the older son was out in the field. As he came near the house, he heard music and dancing. 26 He called one of the servants over and asked what was going on. 27 The servant said, ‘Your brother has come home, and your father slaughtered the fattened calf because he got him back safe and sound.’
28 “The older brother was furious and refused to go in. So his father came out and pleaded with him. 29 But he answered his father, ‘Look, all these years I’ve slaved for you. I never disobeyed a single command of yours, and you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. 30 But when this son of yours shows up — the one who devoured your property with prostitutes — you slaughter the fattened calf for him!’
31 “The father said, ‘Child, you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. 32 But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again. He was lost and is found.’”
Notes
Note 1. A τελώνης collected customs, tolls, and duties on behalf of Rome — on goods, ports, and even the fishing trade. Because they worked for the occupying power and were assumed to skim off extra for themselves, many Jews lumped them with “sinners” as collaborators and cheats. ↩
Note 2. A drachma was a Greek silver coin worth roughly a day’s wage for an ordinary laborer. ↩
Note 3. Under Jewish custom a father could divide his property among his sons during his lifetime, with the firstborn entitled to a double portion. ↩
Note 4. The “pods” (κεράτια) are almost certainly carob pods — sweet but tough, a fodder for animals and a last-resort food for the very poor, sometimes called the “poor man’s bread.” ↩
Note 5. The finest robe marks honor, the ring signals family membership and authority, and sandals distinguish a free son from a barefoot servant or slave. ↩