Luke 15

₄‘If one of you has 100 sheep and one sheep gets lost, what will he do? He will leave the other 99 sheep in the field and he will go and look for the lost sheep until he finds it. ₅And when the man finds the sheep that was lost, he will be very happy and he will carry the sheep on his shoulders. ₆When he comes home, he will call his friends and the people who live next to him and tell them: “You must be happy with me, because I have found my sheep that was lost.”

‘And if a woman has 10 silver_coins and she loses one of the coins, what will she do? She will light a lamp and sweep and clean the floor and look in her house until she finds the coin that was lost. ₉When she finds the coin she will call her friends and the people who live next to her and say to them: “You must be happy with me because I have found my coin that was lost.”

‘A man had 2 sons. ₁₂The youngest son said to his father: “Father, please give me my part of your money and the things that I will inherit when you die.” So the father gave his sons their part of everything he had.

₁₃Not long after that, the youngest son sold everything that he had and he went far away to another land. There he lived a sinful life and he wasted all his money. ₁₄And when he had no more money, there was a famine in that land. There was no food and the son started to suffer.

₁₅He went to work for a man where he had to look after pigs. ₁₆The son wanted to eat the food that the pigs ate because he was hungry, but no one gave him any food.

₁₇Then he started to think about his life and he said to himself: “My father has many people who work for him and they all have enough food. But I have nothing. Here I will get so hungry that I will die. ₁₈I will get up and go back to my father and I will say to him: “‘Father, I have sinned_against God and I have sinned against you. ₁₉I am not good enough to be your son. Can I work for you? Please accept me as one of your servants.”’ ”

₂₀The son got up and he went back to his father. When he was still far away, his father saw him and his father felt sorry for him. His father ran to his son and hugged and kissed him. ₂₁Then the son said to his father: “Father, I have sinned_against God and I have sinned against you. I am not good enough to be your son.”

₂₂But his father told his slaves: “Bring the best clothes and put them on him quickly. Put a ring on his finger and put sandals on his feet. ₂₃Bring the best calf and prepare it so that we can eat and be happy. ₂₄Because my son was dead but he has come back to me. He lives again. He was lost, but we have found him again.” They then started to celebrate.

₂₅The oldest son was in the field. When he came near the house, he heard people making music and dancing. ₂₆He called one of the servants and asked him what was happening at home.

₂₇The servant said: “Your brother has come back home and your father is very happy that he got home safely. He killed the best calf and prepared it so that they could eat.”

₂₈The oldest son was very angry and he did not want to go into the house. His father came out and he begged his oldest son to come home. ₂₉But the oldest son said to his father: “Father, I have worked for you for many years and I have always listened to you and obeyed you, but you never gave me a little goat so that I could eat it with my friends. ₃₀This son of yours has wasted your money on prostitutes, but when he came home, you killed the best calf and gave a feast for him.”

₃₁The father said to the oldest son: “My son, you are always with me and everything that I have is yours. ₃₂We must be happy and have a feast because your brother was dead, but he lives again. He was lost, but we have found him again.” ’