Read the Modern Pastor’s Version

Here is the rewritten chapter:

The crowds of tax collectors and sinners were gathering around Jesus to hear him teach. The Pharisees and scribes grumbled among themselves, saying, "This man welcomes sinners and eats with them." But Jesus told a parable to respond to their criticism.

Imagine you have a hundred sheep, but one of them gets lost in the wilderness. Wouldn't you leave the other ninety-nine behind to search for the lost one until you find it? When you finally do find it, you'll throw your arms around it and rejoice at being reunited with your beloved sheep.

And when you come home, you'll call together your friends and neighbors, saying, "Come celebrate with me! I've found my lost sheep!" That's how there will be joy in heaven over one sinner who repents, more than over ninety-nine righteous people who don't need to repent.

It's the same with a woman who loses one of her ten coins. She won't rest until she lights a lamp and searches every corner of her house to find it. When she finally does, she'll invite all her friends and neighbors to join in her joy: "Come celebrate with me! I've found my lost coin!"

Jesus said that there's also joy among God's angels when one sinner repents. Now Jesus told a story about a man who had two sons. The younger son came to his father and said, "Father, give me the share of the property that's coming to me." The father divided his estate between them.

Not long after, the younger son packed his bags and set out for a distant land where he squandered his inheritance on reckless living. He spent everything and eventually found himself in a severe famine, with nothing left but to join a local farmer who sent him to feed pigs. But even that didn't fill his empty belly.

As he looked around at the pigs eating their food, something inside him snapped: "How many of my father's hired servants have enough bread to eat, while I'm perishing here?" He came to his senses and remembered how his father had always provided for him, how generous and loving he was. So the young man decided to go back home and say to his father, "Father, I've sinned against heaven and in your sight; I'm no longer worthy to be called your son—just let me work as one of your hired servants."

As soon as he started walking back home, his father spotted him from a distance. His heart filled with compassion, the father rushed out to greet his son, embracing him tightly and kissing him. The son fell at his feet and said, "Father, I've sinned against heaven and in your sight; I'm no longer worthy to be called your son."

The father was overjoyed and immediately ordered his servants to get the best robe and put it on his son, to put a ring on his hand and shoes on his feet. Then he gave orders to prepare the family's finest calf for a feast, saying, "Let's celebrate! My son was dead, but now he's alive again; he was lost, but now he's found!"

As they celebrated, the older brother heard the music and dancing and asked one of the servants what all the commotion was about. The servant replied, "Your brother has come home safe and sound, and your father is celebrating by killing the fattened calf."

But the older brother refused to join in the celebration, seething with anger and resentment. His father came out and pleaded with him, saying, "Son, you've been with me all along, and everything I have belongs to you. It was only right that we celebrate and rejoice because your brother was dead but now lives, lost but now found."