Luke:15:1-16:31

wmth@Luke:15:1 @ Now the tax-gatherers and the notorious sinners were everywhere in the habit of coming close to Him to listen to Him;

wmth@Luke:15:2 @ and this led the Pharisees and the Scribes indignantly to complain, saying, »He gives a welcome to notorious sinners, and joins them at their meals!«

wmth@Luke:15:3 @ So in figurative language He asked them,

wmth@Luke:15:4 @ »Which of you men, if he has a hundred sheep and has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in their pasture and go in search of the lost one till he finds it?«

wmth@Luke:15:5 @ And when he has found it, he lifts it on his shoulder, glad at heart.

wmth@Luke:15:6 @ Then coming home he calls his friends and neighbours together, and says, `Congratulate me, for I have found my sheep–the one I had lost.'

wmth@Luke:15:7 @ I tell you that in the same way there will be rejoicing in Heaven over one repentant sinner–more rejoicing than over ninety-nine blameless persons who have no need of repentance.

wmth@Luke:15:8 @ »Or what woman who has ten silver coins, if she loses one of them, does not light a lamp and sweep the house and search carefully till she finds it?«

wmth@Luke:15:9 @ And when she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbours, and says, »`Congratulate me, for I have found the coin which I had lost.'

wmth@Luke:15:10 @ »I tell you that in the same way there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one repentant sinner.«

wmth@Luke:15:11 @ He went on to say, »There was a man who had two sons.

wmth@Luke:15:12 @ The younger of them said to his father, »`Father, give me the share of the property that comes to me.' «So he divided his wealth between them.

wmth@Luke:15:13 @ No long time afterwards the younger son got all together and travelled to a distant country, where he wasted his money in debauchery and excess.

wmth@Luke:15:14 @ At last, when he had spent everything, there came a terrible famine throughout that country, and he began to feel the pinch of want.

wmth@Luke:15:15 @ So he went and hired himself to one of the inhabitants of that country, who sent him on to his farm to tend swine;

wmth@Luke:15:16 @ and he longed to make a hearty meal of the pods the swine were eating, but no one gave him any.

wmth@Luke:15:17 @ »But on coming to himself he said,« `How many of my father's hired men have more bread than they want, while I here am dying of hunger!

wmth@Luke:15:18 @ I will rise and go to my father, and will say to him, Father, I have sinned against Heaven and before you:

wmth@Luke:15:19 @ I no longer deserve to be called a son of yours: treat me as one of your hired men.'

wmth@Luke:15:20 @ »So he rose and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and pitied him, and ran and threw his arms round his neck and kissed him tenderly.«

wmth@Luke:15:21 @ »`Father,' cried the son, `I have sinned against Heaven and before you: no longer do I deserve to be called a son of yours.'«

wmth@Luke:15:22 @ »But the father said to his servants,« `Fetch a good coat quickly –the best one– and put it on him; and bring a ring for his finger and shoes for his feet.

wmth@Luke:15:23 @ Fetch the fat calf and kill it, and let us feast and enjoy ourselves;

wmth@Luke:15:24 @ for my son here was dead and has come to life again: he was lost and has been found.' »And they began to be merry.

wmth@Luke:15:25 @ »Now his elder son was out on the farm; and when he returned and came near home, he heard music and dancing.«

wmth@Luke:15:26 @ Then he called one of the lads to him and asked what all this meant.

wmth@Luke:15:27 @ »`Your brother has come,' he replied; `and your father has had the fat calf killed, because he has got him home safe and sound.'«

wmth@Luke:15:28 @ »Then he was angry and would not go in. But his father came out and entreated him.«

wmth@Luke:15:29 @ »`All these years,' replied the son, `I have been slaving for you, and I have never at any time disobeyed any of your orders, and yet you have never given me so much as a kid, for me to enjoy myself with my friends;«

wmth@Luke:15:30 @ but now that this son of yours is come who has eaten up your property among his bad women, you have killed the fat calf for him.'

wmth@Luke:15:31 @ »`You my dear son,' said the father, `are always with me, and all that is mine is also yours.«

wmth@Luke:15:32 @ We are bound to make merry and rejoice, for this brother of yours was dead and has come back to life, he was lost and has been found.'«

wmth@Luke:16:1 @ He said also to His disciples: »There was a rich man who had a steward, about whom a report was brought to him, that he was wasting his property.

wmth@Luke:16:2 @ He called him and said, »`What is this I hear about you? Render an account of your stewardship, for I cannot let you hold it any longer.'

wmth@Luke:16:3 @ »Then the steward said within himself,« `What am I to do? For my master is taking away the stewardship from me. I am not strong enough for field labour: to beg, I should be ashamed.

wmth@Luke:16:4 @ I see what to do, in order that when I am discharged from the stewardship they may give me a home in their own houses.'

wmth@Luke:16:5 @ »So he called all his master's debtors, one by one, and asked the first, `How much are you in debt to my master?'«

wmth@Luke:16:6 @ »`A hundred firkins of oil,' he replied.« `Here is your account,' said the steward: `sit down quickly and change it into fifty firkins.'

wmth@Luke:16:7 @ »To a second he said,« `And how much do you owe?' »`A hundred quarters of wheat,' was the answer.« »`Here is your account,' said he: `change it into eighty quarters.'«

wmth@Luke:16:8 @ »And the master praised the dishonest steward for his shrewdness; for, in relation to their own contemporaries, the men of this age are shrewder than the sons of Light.«

wmth@Luke:16:9 @ »But I charge you, so to use the wealth which is ever tempting to dishonesty as to win friends who, when it fails, shall welcome you to the tents that never perish.«

wmth@Luke:16:10 @ The man who is honest in a very small matter is honest in a great one also; and he who is dishonest in a very small matter is dishonest in a great one also.

wmth@Luke:16:11 @ If therefore you have not proved yourselves faithful in dealing with the wealth that is tainted with fraud, who will entrust to you the true good?

wmth@Luke:16:12 @ And if you have not been faithful in dealing with that which is not your own, who will give you that which is your own?

wmth@Luke:16:13 @ »No servant can be in bondage to two masters. For either he will hate one and love the other, or else he will cling fast to one and scorn the other. You cannot be bondservants both of God and of gold.«

wmth@Luke:16:14 @ To all this the Pharisees listened, bitterly jeering at Him; for they were lovers of money.

wmth@Luke:16:15 @ »You are they,« He said to them, »who boast of their own goodness before men, but God sees your hearts; for that which holds a proud position among men is detestable in God's sight.

wmth@Luke:16:16 @ The Law and the Prophets continued until John came: from that time the Good News of the Kingdom of God has been spreading, and all classes have been forcing their way into it.

wmth@Luke:16:17 @ But it is easier for earth and sky to pass away than for one smallest detail of the Law to fall to the ground.

wmth@Luke:16:18 @ Every man who divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery; and he who marries her when so divorced from her husband commits adultery.

wmth@Luke:16:19 @ »There was once a rich man who habitually arrayed himself in purple and fine linen, and enjoyed a splendid banquet every day,

wmth@Luke:16:20 @ while at his outer door there lay a beggar, Lazarus by name,

wmth@Luke:16:21 @ covered with sores and longing to make a full meal off the scraps flung on the floor from the rich man's table. Nay, the dogs, too, used to come and lick his sores.«

wmth@Luke:16:22 @ »But in course of time the beggar died; and he was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom. The rich man also died, and had a funeral.«

wmth@Luke:16:23 @ And in Hades, being in torment, he looked and saw Abraham in the far distance, and Lazarus resting in his arms.

wmth@Luke:16:24 @ So he cried aloud, and said, »`Father Abraham, take pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am in agony in this flame.'

wmth@Luke:16:25 @ »`Remember, my child,' said Abraham, `that you had all your good things during your lifetime, and that Lazarus in like manner had his bad things. But, now and here, he is receiving consolation and you are in agony.«

wmth@Luke:16:26 @ And, besides all this, a vast chasm is immovably fixed between us and you, put there in order that those who desire to cross from this side to you may not be able, nor any be able to cross over from your side to us.'

wmth@Luke:16:27 @ »`I entreat you then, father,' said he, `to send him to my father's house.«

wmth@Luke:16:28 @ For I have five brothers. Let him earnestly warn them, lest they also come to this place of torment.'

wmth@Luke:16:29 @ »`They have Moses and the Prophets,' replied Abraham; `let them hear them.'«

wmth@Luke:16:30 @ »`No, father Abraham,' he pleaded; `but if some one goes to them from the dead, they will repent.'«

wmth@Luke:16:31 @ »`If they are deaf to Moses and the Prophets,' replied Abraham, `they would not be led to believe even if some one should rise from the dead.'«

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