“If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them gets lost,
what will he do?
Won’t he leave the ninety-nine others in the wilderness
and go to search for the one that is lost
until he finds it?
And when he has found it,
he will joyfully carry it home on his shoulders.
When he arrives,
he will call together his friends and neighbors,
saying,
‘Rejoice with me because I have found my lost sheep.’
In the same way,
there is more joy in heaven over one lost sinner
who repents and returns to God
than over ninety-nine others who are righteous
and haven’t strayed away!”
