1. One day when many tax collectors and other outcasts came to listen to Jesus,
2. the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law started grumbling, “This man welcomes outcasts and even eats with them!”
3. So Jesus told them this parable:
4. “Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them — what do you do? You leave the other 99 sheep in the pasture and go looking for the one that got lost until you find it.
5. When you find it, you are so happy that you put it on your shoulders
6. and carry it back home. Then you call your friends and neighbours together and say to them, ‘I am so happy I found my lost sheep. Let us celebrate!’
7. In the same way, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over 99 respectable people who do not need to repent.
8. “Or suppose a woman who has ten silver coins loses one of them — what does she do? She lights a lamp, sweeps her house, and looks carefully everywhere until she finds it.
9. When she finds it, she calls her friends and neighbours together, and says to them, ‘I am so happy I found the coin I lost. Let us celebrate!’