Luke 15:11-32 He went on to say, "There was a man who had two sons.

WNT⁽ⁱ⁾ ¹¹ He went on to say, "There was a man who had two sons. 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. 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. 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. 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; ¹⁶ and he longed to make a hearty meal of the pods the swine were eating, but no one gave him any. 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! ¹⁸ I will rise and go to my father, and will say to him, Father, I have sinned against Heaven and before you: ¹⁹ I no longer deserve to be called a son of yours: treat me as one of your hired men.' 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. 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.' 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. ²³ Fetch the fat calf and kill it, and let us feast and enjoy ourselves; 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. ²⁵ "Now his elder son was out on the farm; and when he returned and came near home, he heard music and dancing. ²⁶ Then he called one of the lads to him and asked what all this meant. 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.' ²⁸ "Then he was angry and would not go in. But his father came out and entreated him. 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; 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.' ³¹ "'You my dear son,' said the father, 'are always with me, and all that is mine is also yours. 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.'"