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For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found. And they began to be merry.
Luke 15:24 · King James Version
Parallel translations
  • WEB for this, my son, was dead, and is alive again. He was lost, and is found.’ They began to celebrate.
  • BSB For this son of mine was dead and is alive again! He was lost and is found!’ So they began to celebrate.
  • NKJV for this my son was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ And they began to be merry.
  • NASB for this son of mine was dead and has come to life again; he was lost and has been found.’ And they began to celebrate.
  • NLT 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.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Quick answer

The father declares his son was dead and is alive, lost and now found, and the feast begins.

Overview

Sin is pictured as death and lostness; repentance and restoration as resurrection and recovery. This language ties the parable to the chapter's theme of the lost being found. It foreshadows the new life God grants in Christ, who makes the dead alive.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 30

  • Eph 2:5Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)
  • Ezek 34:16I will seek that which was lost, and bring again that which was driven away, and will bind up that which was broken, and will strengthen that which was sick: but I will destroy the fat and the strong; I will feed them with judgment.
  • Luke 19:10For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.
  • Col 2:13And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses;
  • Luke 15:4What man of you, having an hundred sheep, if he lose one of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and go after that which is lost, until he find it?
  • Eph 2:1And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins;
  • Luke 15:32It was meet that we should make merry, and be glad: for this thy brother was dead, and is alive again; and was lost, and is found.
  • Rom 6:11Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.
  • Luke 15:7–9I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance.
  • Isa 35:10And the ransomed of the LORD shall return, and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads: they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.
  • 2 Cor 5:14–15For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead:
  • John 11:25Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live:
  • Rom 8:2For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.
  • John 5:24–25Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.
  • Rom 12:15Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep.
  • 1 Cor 12:26And whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with it; or one member be honoured, all the members rejoice with it.
  • Eph 5:14Wherefore he saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light.
  • Matt 18:10–13Take heed that ye despise not one of these little ones; for I say unto you, That in heaven their angels do always behold the face of my Father which is in heaven.
  • Rev 3:1And unto the angel of the church in Sardis write; These things saith he that hath the seven Spirits of God, and the seven stars; I know thy works, that thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead.
  • Rom 6:13Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God.
  • John 5:21For as the Father raiseth up the dead, and quickeneth them; even so the Son quickeneth whom he will.
  • Jer 31:12–17Therefore they shall come and sing in the height of Zion, and shall flow together to the goodness of the LORD, for wheat, and for wine, and for oil, and for the young of the flock and of the herd: and their soul shall be as a watered garden; and they shall not sorrow any more at all.
  • Rom 11:15For if the casting away of them be the reconciling of the world, what shall the receiving of them be, but life from the dead?
  • Mark 8:22And he cometh to Bethsaida; and they bring a blind man unto him, and besought him to touch him.
  • Ezek 34:4The diseased have ye not strengthened, neither have ye healed that which was sick, neither have ye bound up that which was broken, neither have ye brought again that which was driven away, neither have ye sought that which was lost; but with force and with cruelty have ye ruled them.
  • 1 Tim 5:6But she that liveth in pleasure is dead while she liveth.
  • Luke 10:19Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you.
  • Jude 1:12These are spots in your feasts of charity, when they feast with you, feeding themselves without fear: clouds they are without water, carried about of winds; trees whose fruit withereth, without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots;
  • Gen 45:28And Israel said, It is enough; Joseph my son is yet alive: I will go and see him before I die.
  • Isa 66:11That ye may suck, and be satisfied with the breasts of her consolations; that ye may milk out, and be delighted with the abundance of her glory.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (5)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Luke videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Luke 15:24YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on LukeMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

Christ at the center

Luke shows Jesus the Savior for all — outsiders, the poor, the nations — the one who, on the Emmaus road, opened all the Scriptures to show they were about himself.

How Luke 15:24 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.

Original language

Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.