“Therefore, every person who acknowledges me in front of people [i.e., to be their Lord and Christ], I will acknowledge him [i.e., to be my disciple] in front of my Father in heaven.
Luke 15:10 - An Understandable Version (2005 edition) In the same way, there is joy in the presence of God’s angels [i.e., in heaven (?)] over one sinful person who repents.” More versionsKing James Version (Oxford) 1769 Likewise, I say unto you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth. Amplified Bible - Classic Edition Even so, I tell you, there is joy among and in the presence of the angels of God over one [especially] wicked person who repents (changes his mind for the better, heartily amending his ways, with abhorrence of his past sins). American Standard Version (1901) Even so, I say unto you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth. Common English Bible In the same way, I tell you, joy breaks out in the presence of God’s angels over one sinner who changes both heart and life.” Catholic Public Domain Version So I say to you, there will be joy before the Angels of God over even one sinner who is repentant." Douay-Rheims version of The Bible - 1752 version So I say to you, there shall be joy before the angels of God upon one sinner doing penance. |
“Therefore, every person who acknowledges me in front of people [i.e., to be their Lord and Christ], I will acknowledge him [i.e., to be my disciple] in front of my Father in heaven.
Make sure you do not look down on any one of these little ones [i.e., humble followers of Christ]. For I tell you, their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father in heaven.
In the same way, it is not the will of your Father in heaven that [a single] one of these little ones [i.e., humble followers of Christ] should be lost.
“And I tell you, every person who acknowledges me in front of people [i.e., to be his Lord and Christ], the Son of man will also acknowledge him in front of God’s angels.
But that person who disowns me in front of people [i.e., denies that I am the Christ, or that he is a disciple. See John 18:15-17, 25-27], will be disowned in front of God’s angels.
No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you [too] will all be destroyed just as they were.”
I tell you that, in the same way, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinful person who repents [i.e., changes his heart and life], than over ninety-nine persons who do not need to repent.
And when she finds it, she calls her friends and neighbors together, saying, ‘Rejoice with me, for I found the coin I had lost.’
For this reason, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven, for she has loved much. [Note: This suggests that her forgiveness was the result of her loving, but the point Jesus makes better fits the idea that her forgiveness produced love]. But the person who is forgiven of little [i.e., of only a few sins], loves [only] a little bit.”
So, when the apostles and the brothers from Judea heard these things, they stopped arguing [See verse 2] and gave honor to God, saying, “[This means] that God has permitted the Gentiles also [as well as the Jews] to repent [i.e., change their hearts and lives] so they, too, could have [the promise of never ending] life.”
But an angel from the Lord one night [miraculously] opened the jail doors and released them, saying,
For the sorrow that God desires produces repentance [i.e., a change of heart and life] that leads to salvation, and which brings no regrets. But the sorrow of the world [i.e., sorrow for wrongdoing for reasons unrelated to God or moral principles] produces [spiritual] death.
For possibly Onesimus left you for a short time so that you could have him [back] forever,
Are not all angels ministering spirits sent out [by God] to serve those people who will inherit salvation?