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145  I call with my whole heart; ♦︎
   answer me, O Lord, that I may keep your statutes.
146  To you I call, O save me! ♦︎
   And I shall keep your testimonies.
147  Early in the morning I cry to you, ♦︎
   for in your word is my trust.
148  My eyes are open before the night watches, ♦︎
   that I may meditate on your word.
149  Hear my voice, O Lord, according to your faithful love; ♦︎
   according to your judgement, give me life.
150  They draw near that in malice persecute me, ♦︎
   who are far from your law.
151  You, O Lord, are near at hand, ♦︎
   and all your commandments are true.
152  Long have I known of your testimonies, ♦︎
   that you have founded them for ever.
153  O consider my affliction and deliver me, ♦︎
   for I do not forget your law.
154  Plead my cause and redeem me; ♦︎
   according to your promise, give me life.
155  Salvation is far from the wicked, ♦︎
   for they do not seek your statutes.
156  Great is your compassion, O Lord; ♦︎
   give me life, according to your judgements.
157  Many there are that persecute and oppress me, ♦︎
   yet do I not swerve from your testimonies.
158  It grieves me when I see the treacherous, ♦︎
   for they do not keep your word.
159  Consider, O Lord, how I love your commandments; ♦︎
   give me life according to your loving-kindness.
160  The sum of your word is truth, ♦︎
   and all your righteous judgements endure for evermore.

25 When you have had children and children’s children, and become complacent in the land, if you act corruptly by making an idol in the form of anything, thus doing what is evil in the sight of the Lord your God, and provoking him to anger, ²⁶I call heaven and earth to witness against you today that you will soon utterly perish from the land that you are crossing the Jordan to occupy; you will not live long on it, but will be utterly destroyed. ²⁷The Lord will scatter you among the peoples; only a few of you will be left among the nations where the Lord will lead you. ²⁸There you will serve other gods made by human hands, objects of wood and stone that neither see, nor hear, nor eat, nor smell. ²⁹From there you will seek the Lord your God, and you will find him if you search after him with all your heart and soul. ³⁰In your distress, when all these things have happened to you in time to come, you will return to the Lord your God and heed him. ³¹Because the Lord your God is a merciful God, he will neither abandon you nor destroy you; he will not forget the covenant with your ancestors that he swore to them.

The Parable of the Lost Sheep

15Now all the tax-collectors and sinners were coming near to listen to him. ²And the Pharisees and the scribes were grumbling and saying, ‘This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them.’

The Parable of the Prodigal and His Brother

11 Then Jesus^* said, ‘There was a man who had two sons. ¹²The younger of them said to his father, “Father, give me the share of the property that will belong to me.” So he divided his property between them. ¹³A few days later the younger son gathered all he had and travelled to a distant country, and there he squandered his property in dissolute living. ¹⁴When he had spent everything, a severe famine took place throughout that country, and he began to be in need. ¹⁵So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed the pigs. ¹⁶He would gladly have filled himself with^* the pods that the pigs were eating; and no one gave him anything. ¹⁷But when he came to himself he said, “How many of my father’s hired hands have bread enough and to spare, but here I am dying of hunger! ¹⁸I will get up and go to my father, and I will say to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; ¹⁹I am no longer worthy to be called your son; treat me like one of your hired hands.’ ” ²⁰So he set off and went to his father. But while he was still far off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion; he ran and put his arms around him and kissed him. ²¹Then the son said to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.”^{* 22}But the father said to his slaves, “Quickly, bring out a robe—the best one—and put it on him; put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. ²³And get the fatted calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate; ²⁴for this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found!” And they began to celebrate.

25 ‘Now his elder son was in the field; and when he came and approached the house, he heard music and dancing. ²⁶He called one of the slaves and asked what was going on. ²⁷He replied, “Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fatted calf, because he has got him back safe and sound.” ²⁸Then he became angry and refused to go in. His father came out and began to plead with him. ²⁹But he answered his father, “Listen! For all these years I have been working like a slave for you, and I have never disobeyed your command; yet you have never given me even a young goat so that I might celebrate with my friends. ³⁰But when this son of yours came back, who has devoured your property with prostitutes, you killed the fatted calf for him!” ³¹Then the father^* said to him, “Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. ³²But we had to celebrate and rejoice, because this brother of yours was dead and has come to life; he was lost and has been found.” ’