54 lines
4.0 KiB
Markdown
54 lines
4.0 KiB
Markdown
Parable of the Lost Sheep
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# Chapter 15
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1. Tax collectors and other notorious sinners often came to listen to Jesus teach.
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2. This made the Pharisees and teachers of religious law complain that he was associating with such sinful people--even eating with them!
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3. So Jesus told them this story:
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4. *"If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them gets lost, what will he do? Won't he leave the ninety-nine others in the wilderness and go to search for the one that is lost until he finds it?*
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5. *And when he has found it, he will joyfully carry it home on his shoulders.*
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6. *When he arrives, he will call together his friends and neighbors, saying, 'Rejoice with me because I have found my lost sheep.'*
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7. *In the same way, there is more joy in heaven over one lost sinner who repents and returns to God than over ninety-nine others who are righteous and haven't strayed away!*
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Parable of the Lost Coin
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8. *"Or suppose a woman has ten silver coins and loses one. Won't she light a lamp and sweep the entire house and search carefully until she finds it?*
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9. *And when she finds it, she will call in her friends and neighbors and say, 'Rejoice with me because I have found my lost coin.'*
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10. *In the same way, there is joy in the presence of God's angels when even one sinner repents."*
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Parable of the Lost Son
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11. To illustrate the point further, Jesus told them this story: *"A man had two sons.*
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12. *The younger son told his father, 'I want my share of your estate now before you die.' So his father agreed to divide his wealth between his sons.*
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13. *"A few days later this younger son packed all his belongings and moved to a distant land, and there he wasted all his money in wild living.*
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14. *
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About the time his money ran out, a great famine swept over the land, and he began to starve.*
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15. *He persuaded a local farmer to hire him, and the man sent him into his fields to feed the pigs.*
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16. *The young man became so hungry that even the pods he was feeding the pigs looked good to him. But no one gave him anything.*
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17. *"When he finally came to his senses, he said to himself, 'At home even the hired servants have food enough to spare, and here I am dying of hunger!*
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18. *I will go home to my father and say, "Father, I have sinned against both heaven and you,*
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19. *and I am no longer worthy of being called your son. Please take me on as a hired servant."'*
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20. *"So he returned home to his father. And while he was still a long way off, his father saw him coming. Filled with love and compassion, he ran to his son, embraced him, and kissed him.*
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21. *His son said to him, 'Father, I have sinned against both heaven and you, and I am no longer worthy of being called your son.'*
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22. *"But his father said to the servants, 'Quick! Bring the finest robe in the house and put it on him. Get a ring for his finger and sandals for his feet.*
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23. *And kill the calf we have been fattening. We must celebrate with a feast,*
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24. *for this son of mine was dead and has now returned to life. He was lost, but now he is found.' So the party began.*
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25. *"Meanwhile, the older son was in the fields working. When he returned home, he heard music and dancing in the house,*
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26. *and he asked one of the servants what was going on.*
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27. *'Your brother is back,' he was told, 'and your father has killed the fattened calf. We are celebrating because of his safe return.'*
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28. *"The older brother was angry and wouldn't go in. His father came out and begged him,*
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29. *but he replied, 'All these years I've slaved for you and never once refused to do a single thing you told me to. And in all that time you never gave me even one young goat for a feast with my friends.*
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30. *Yet when this son of yours comes back after squandering your money on prostitutes, you celebrate by killing the fattened calf!'*
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31. *"His father said to him, 'Look, dear son, you have always stayed by me, and everything I have is yours.*
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32. *We had to celebrate this happy day. For your brother was dead and has come back to life! He was lost, but now he is found!'"*
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