1 Now all the tax collectors and the sinners were drawing near to hear him.
2 And both the Pharisees and the scribes were complaining, saying, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them!”
3 So he told them this parable, saying,
4 “What man of you, having a hundred sheep and losing one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the grassland and go after the one that was lost until he finds it?
5 And when he has found it, he places it on his shoulders, rejoicing.
6 And when he returns to his home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, because I have found my sheep that was lost!’
7 I tell you that in the same way, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous people who have no need of repentance.