New Living Translation NLT
New International Version NIV
1 Tax collectors and other notorious sinners often came to listen to Jesus teach.
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Now the tax collectors and sinners were all gathering around to hear Jesus.
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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But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.”
3 So Jesus told them this story:
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Then Jesus told them this parable:
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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“Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Doesn’t he leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it?
5 And when he has found it, he will joyfully carry it home on his shoulders.
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And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders
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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and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.’
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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I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.
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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“Or suppose a woman has ten silver coinsand loses one. Doesn’t she light a lamp, sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it?
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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And when she finds it, she calls her friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost coin.’
10 In the same way, there is joy in the presence of God’s angels when even one sinner repents.”
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In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”
11 To illustrate the point further, Jesus told them this story: “A man had two sons.
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Jesus continued: “There was a man who had two sons.
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Scripture quoted by permission. Quotations designated (NIV) are from THE HOLY BIBLE: NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica. All rights reserved worldwide.