New International Reader s Version - NIrV - 1996
Luke 15
2
But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law were whispering among themselves. They said, "This man welcomes sinners and eats with them."
Reference
Parallel theme
Acts 11:3
Galatians 2:12
Resurrection
Matthew 9:11
Luke 7:39
Luke 5:30
Sin
Luke 19:7
Luke 7:34
3
Then Jesus told them a story.
4
He said, "Suppose one of you has 100 sheep and loses one of them. Won't he leave the 99 in the open country? Won't he go and look for the one lost sheep until he finds it?
Reference
6
and go home. Then he will call his friends and neighbors together. He will say, 'Be joyful with me. I have found my lost sheep.'
Reference
7
"I tell you, it will be the same in heaven. There will be great joy when one sinner turns away from sin. Yes, there will be more joy than for 99 godly people who do not need to turn away from their sins.
Reference
Parallel theme
Luke 15:32
Matthew 18:13
Proverbs 30:12
Luke 15:29
Righteousness
Luke 5:32
Luke 16:15
Sin
Luke 15:10
Romans 7:9
8
"Or suppose a woman has ten silver coins and loses one. She will light a lamp and sweep the house. She will search carefully until she finds the coin.
Reference
9
And when she finds it, she will call her friends and neighbors together. She will say, 'Be joyful with me. I have found my lost coin.'
10
"I tell you, it is the same in heaven. There is joy in heaven over one sinner who turns away from sin."
Reference
Parallel theme
Matthew 18:14
Hebrews 1:14
References God
Ezekiel 33:11
Ezekiel 18:23
Ezekiel 18:32
Repentance
2 Corinthians 7:10
Luke 13:5
Acts 11:18
Sin
Luke 15:7
Luke 7:47
11
Jesus continued, "There was a man who had two sons.
12
The younger son spoke to his father. He said, 'Father, give me my share of the family property.' So the father divided his property between his two sons.
Reference
Parallel theme
Mark 12:44
13
"Not long after that, the younger son packed up all he had. Then he left for a country far away. There he wasted his money on wild living.
Reference
Parallel theme
Proverbs 21:17
Proverbs 29:3
Jeremiah 2:5
Proverbs 28:7
Luke 16:1
Luke 16:19
Luke 15:30
14
He spent everything he had. "Then the whole country ran low on food. So the son didn't have what he needed.
Reference
Parallel theme
2 Chronicles 33:11
15
He went to work for someone who lived in that country, who sent him to the fields to feed the pigs.
Reference
16
The son wanted to fill his stomach with the food the pigs were eating. But no one gave him anything.
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17
"Then he began to think clearly again. He said, 'How many of my father's hired workers have more than enough food! But here I am dying from hunger!
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18
I will get up and go back to my father. I will say to him, "Father, I have sinned against heaven. And I have sinned against you.
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20
So he got up and went to his father. "While the son was still a long way off, his father saw him. He was filled with tender love for his son. He ran to him. He threw his arms around him and kissed him.
Reference
21
"The son said to him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer fit to be called your son.'
Reference
22
"But the father said to his servants, 'Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet.
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24
This son of mine was dead. And now he is alive again. He was lost. And now he is found.' "So they began to celebrate.
Reference
25
"The older son was in the field. When he came near the house, he heard music and dancing.
Reference
Parallel theme
Psalm 150:4
26
So he called one of the servants. He asked him what was going on.
27
" 'Your brother has come home,' the servant replied. 'Your father has killed the fattest calf. He has done this because your brother is back safe and sound.'
28
"The older brother became angry. He refused to go in. So his father went out and begged him.
Reference
29
"But he answered his father, 'Look! All these years I've worked like a slave for you. I have always obeyed your orders. You never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends.
30
But this son of yours wasted your money with some prostitutes. Now he comes home. And for him you kill the fattest calf!'
Reference
Chapter Summary
Luke 15 is one of the clearest presentations in the Bible of God's willingness to seek, forgive, restore, and celebrate people who have become spiritually lost, using three connected stories—the lost sheep, the lost coin, and the lost son—to respond to criticism that Jesus welcomed sinners and ate with them.
The chapter begins with tax collectors and other people considered sinners gathering around Jesus, while Pharisees and religious teachers complain that He welcomes such people and eats with them, revealing a conflict between human religious boundaries and God's desire to restore those who have wandered away.
Jesus first describes a shepherd who leaves ninety-nine sheep to search for one that is lost, and when he finds it, he carries it home and celebrates with his neighbors, illustrating that one lost person has enormous value to God and that repentance should produce joy rather than resentment.
He then tells the story of a woman who loses one of her ten silver coins and searches carefully until she finds it, again emphasizing that something apparently small can be extremely valuable and that its recovery creates genuine celebration.
The third and longest story concerns a father and his two sons and provides the deepest exploration of lostness because both sons are separated from their father in different ways.
The younger son demands his inheritance before his father's death, leaves home, wastes his wealth in reckless living, and eventually finds himself impoverished during a famine, working among pigs and becoming so hungry that even the animals' food looks desirable.
At his lowest point, he comes to his senses, recognizes his wrongdoing, and decides to return home, expecting nothing more than a position among his father's hired workers.
Instead, while the son is still far away, the father sees him, runs to him, embraces him, and restores him publicly with a robe, ring, sandals, and a great feast, demonstrating that God's response to genuine repentance is not merely reluctant acceptance but joyful restoration and renewed relationship.
The father's declaration that his son was “dead” and is now alive and was “lost” and has now been found summarizes the central theme of the entire chapter: God celebrates when people who have become spiritually separated from Him return.
However, Jesus does not end the story there because the older brother represents another kind of lostness.
The older brother has remained physically close to the father and has apparently obeyed his commands, but when he sees the father celebrating his brother's return, he becomes angry and refuses to enter the celebration.
His complaint reveals that he has begun to see his relationship with his father as a transaction in which obedience should earn rewards, while his brother's restoration appears unfair.
The father responds by going outside to him as well, showing that both sons need the father's grace: the younger son is lost through rebellion and reckless living, while the older son is lost through resentment, self-righteousness, and an inability to rejoice over mercy.
The story ends without revealing whether the older brother enters the celebration, leaving Jesus' listeners—and especially the Pharisees who criticized Him—with an important question: Will they join God's celebration when sinners repent, or will their sense of religious superiority prevent them from sharing the Father's joy?
Historically, the chapter belongs to the 1st century AD, during Jesus' ministry around AD 28–30. Tax collectors operated within the Roman taxation system, shepherding and agriculture were common occupations, silver coins represented meaningful household wealth, and family inheritance was deeply connected to identity, security, and social status.
The reference to the younger son caring for pigs would have been particularly powerful to a Jewish audience because pigs were considered unclean animals under Jewish law, making the son's humiliation even more severe.
Luke 15 ultimately teaches that no person is too lost to be sought by God, genuine repentance is met with extraordinary mercy, heaven rejoices when sinners return, and religious people must be careful not to become so focused on their own righteousness that they lose the ability to celebrate God's grace toward others.
The chapter begins with tax collectors and other people considered sinners gathering around Jesus, while Pharisees and religious teachers complain that He welcomes such people and eats with them, revealing a conflict between human religious boundaries and God's desire to restore those who have wandered away.
Jesus first describes a shepherd who leaves ninety-nine sheep to search for one that is lost, and when he finds it, he carries it home and celebrates with his neighbors, illustrating that one lost person has enormous value to God and that repentance should produce joy rather than resentment.
He then tells the story of a woman who loses one of her ten silver coins and searches carefully until she finds it, again emphasizing that something apparently small can be extremely valuable and that its recovery creates genuine celebration.
The third and longest story concerns a father and his two sons and provides the deepest exploration of lostness because both sons are separated from their father in different ways.
The younger son demands his inheritance before his father's death, leaves home, wastes his wealth in reckless living, and eventually finds himself impoverished during a famine, working among pigs and becoming so hungry that even the animals' food looks desirable.
At his lowest point, he comes to his senses, recognizes his wrongdoing, and decides to return home, expecting nothing more than a position among his father's hired workers.
Instead, while the son is still far away, the father sees him, runs to him, embraces him, and restores him publicly with a robe, ring, sandals, and a great feast, demonstrating that God's response to genuine repentance is not merely reluctant acceptance but joyful restoration and renewed relationship.
The father's declaration that his son was “dead” and is now alive and was “lost” and has now been found summarizes the central theme of the entire chapter: God celebrates when people who have become spiritually separated from Him return.
However, Jesus does not end the story there because the older brother represents another kind of lostness.
The older brother has remained physically close to the father and has apparently obeyed his commands, but when he sees the father celebrating his brother's return, he becomes angry and refuses to enter the celebration.
His complaint reveals that he has begun to see his relationship with his father as a transaction in which obedience should earn rewards, while his brother's restoration appears unfair.
The father responds by going outside to him as well, showing that both sons need the father's grace: the younger son is lost through rebellion and reckless living, while the older son is lost through resentment, self-righteousness, and an inability to rejoice over mercy.
The story ends without revealing whether the older brother enters the celebration, leaving Jesus' listeners—and especially the Pharisees who criticized Him—with an important question: Will they join God's celebration when sinners repent, or will their sense of religious superiority prevent them from sharing the Father's joy?
Historically, the chapter belongs to the 1st century AD, during Jesus' ministry around AD 28–30. Tax collectors operated within the Roman taxation system, shepherding and agriculture were common occupations, silver coins represented meaningful household wealth, and family inheritance was deeply connected to identity, security, and social status.
The reference to the younger son caring for pigs would have been particularly powerful to a Jewish audience because pigs were considered unclean animals under Jewish law, making the son's humiliation even more severe.
Luke 15 ultimately teaches that no person is too lost to be sought by God, genuine repentance is met with extraordinary mercy, heaven rejoices when sinners return, and religious people must be careful not to become so focused on their own righteousness that they lose the ability to celebrate God's grace toward others.