Luke 15

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¹Then all the tax collectors and the sinners drew near to Him to hear Him. ✦ ²And the Pharisees and scribes complained, saying, “This Man receives sinners and eats with them.” ✦ ³So He spoke this parable to them, saying: ⁴“What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he loses one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness, and go after the one which is lost until he finds it? ✦ ⁵And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. ✦ ⁶And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!’ ✦ ⁷I say to you that likewise there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine just persons who need no repentance. ✦ ⁸“Or what woman, having ten silver coins, if she loses one coin, does not light a lamp, sweep the house, and search carefully until she finds it? ✦ ⁹And when she has found it, she calls her friends and neighbors together, saying, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found the piece which I lost!’ ✦ ¹⁰Likewise, I say to you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.” ✦ ¹¹Then He said: “A certain man had two sons. ✦ ¹²And the younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the portion of goods that falls to me. ’ So he divided to them his livelihood. ✦ ¹³And not many days after, the younger son gathered all together, journeyed to a far country, and there wasted his possessions with prodigal living. ✦ ¹⁴But when he had spent all, there arose a severe famine in that land, and he began to be in want. ✦ ¹⁵Then he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country, and he sent him into his fields to feed swine. ✦ ¹⁶And he would gladly have filled his stomach with the pods that the swine ate, and no one gave him anything. ✦ ¹⁷“But when he came to himself, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger! ✦ ¹⁸I will arise and go to my father, and will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you, ✦ ¹⁹and I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Make me like one of your hired servants.” ’ ✦ ²⁰“And he arose and came to his father. But when he was still a great way off, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him. ✦ ²¹And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight, and am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ ✦ ²²“But the father said to his servants, ‘Bring out the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet. ✦ ²³And bring the fatted calf here and kill it, and let us eat and be merry; ✦ ²⁴for this my son was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ And they began to be merry. ✦ ²⁵“Now his older son was in the field. And as he came and drew near to the house, he heard music and dancing. ✦ ²⁶So he called one of the servants and asked what these things meant. ²⁷And he said to him, ‘Your brother has come, and because he has received him safe and sound, your father has killed the fatted calf.’ ✦ ²⁸“But he was angry and would not go in. Therefore his father came out and pleaded with him. ✦ ²⁹So he answered and said to his father, ‘Lo, these many years I have been serving you; I never transgressed your commandment at any time; and yet you never gave me a young goat, that I might make merry with my friends. ✦ ³⁰But as soon as this son of yours came, who has devoured your livelihood with harlots, you killed the fatted calf for him.’ ✦ ³¹“And he said to him, ‘Son, you are always with me, and all that I have is yours. ✦ ³²It was right that we should make merry and be glad, for your brother was dead and is alive again, and was lost and is found.’ ” ✦

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Where this chapter connects

Luke 15 ·29 Eph 2 ·12 Luke 7 ·8 Luke 19 ·7 Jer 31 ·7 Ezek 34 ·7 Luke 18 ·6 Ezek 16 ·6

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 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.

Resources, by level

Lay

★ Start hereDocumentaryFollowing the MessiahAppian Media · Free · evangelical
A free, beautifully shot 10-part series walking the lands of Jesus' life — Bethlehem, Galilee, Jerusalem, and more.
★ Start hereAudioThrough the WordThrough the Word · ~10 min/chapter · Free · evangelical
A clear ~10-minute audio teaching for every one of the Bible's 1,189 chapters — the most systematic free way to study chapter by chapter.

Pastoral

SermonChuck Smith — C2000 SeriesChuck Smith · Free · evangelical
Free verse-by-verse audio through the entire Bible from the founder of Calvary Chapel.

Commentaries & study tools

VideoBibleProject — Luke videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
VideoWatch teaching on Luke 15YouTube · Lay · Free
Sermons and chapter teaching from across YouTube.
CommentaryEnduring Word — Luke 15David Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical
Readable, verse-by-verse exposition of the whole chapter.
CommentaryMatthew Henry on LukeMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
ReferenceBlue Letter Bible — Luke 15Blue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free
Interlinear, lexicon, and study tools across the chapter.

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