Luke 15:24

Plain English Version

You see, my son got himself lost, but now I have found him. I thought he was gone for ever, like he was dead, but now he came back to me, and it is like he came alive again.’ So those workers did what he told them to do, and they had a big party.

Cross References

Genesis 45:28

He said, “Now I know that those things that you said, they are true. My son Joseph really is alive. I have to go and see him before I die.”

Matthew 8:22

Jesus said to him, “No. You come and follow me now. You see, some people are spiritually dead, so they can bury the dead bodies of their own people. But you come and follow me.” (We have not yet translated 8:23—9:26. You can read those stories in Mark 2:1-22; 4:35-41; 5:1-43.)

Mark 8:22

Jesus and his followers got to a place called Bethsayida, on the west side of Lake Galilee, and they got out of the boat. Some people brought a blind man to him, and they asked Jesus to touch him and make him better.

Luke 15:23

And get a fat young cow, and kill it, and cook the meat, so we can all have a big party.

Luke 15:25

While all that was happening, the oldest son was working out in the garden, and he didn’t know what was going on. Then later, he knocked off work, and he started walking home. He got near to the house, and then he heard a lot of music, and he heard people dancing and having a good time.

Luke 15:32

But your brother got himself lost, and now I have found him. I thought he was gone for ever, like he was dead, but he came back to me, and now it is like he came alive again. So we have to have a party and be happy together.’ ”

Luke 15:4

“Suppose there is a man that has 100 sheep, but one of them wanders away and gets lost. What do you think that man will do? He will leave all the other sheep and go out into the bush and look for the one that got lost. He will keep on looking for it until he finds it.

Luke 19:10

I am God’s special man from heaven, and I came to earth to look for people that went wrong and got lost, so that I can save them.”

Luke 9:60

Jesus said to him, “Some people don’t want me. It is like they are dead to me. So those people can bury the dead bodies of their own people. But you have to go and tell people that God wants them in his family.”

John 11:25

Jesus said, “Martha, I am the one that makes dead people come alive again, and I am the one that gives people real life. If people believe in me, I will make them come alive again after they die, then they will live for ever and never die again. Do you believe that?”

John 5:21

You see, my father can make dead people alive again. And I am like my father, I can give life to anyone I want to.

Romans 12:15

If somebody is happy, you be happy with them too. If somebody is sad, you be sad with them too.

Romans 6:11

Well, we have to think about ourselves in that same way. We joined up with Jesus Christ, so now, if we start to think that we want to do something bad, we have to remember this, that bad part of us died, just like Jesus died, so we can’t do anything bad. We have to think about living God’s way, so we live and work for him, just like Jesus Christ does.

Romans 8:2

His spirit is in us, and he gives us new life, and he makes us strong so that we can say no to that bad part of us that tries to make us go wrong. That is the new way that we live, because we belong to Jesus, and it makes us free from the old way of doing bad things and ending up dead.

1 Corinthians 12:26

If one part of a body hurts, every other part hurts with it. Or if one part of a body is feeling good, every other part is happy with it.

Ephesians 2:1

You know, in the past you mob did lots of bad things. You couldn’t be friends with God. It was like your spirits were dead.

Ephesians 5:14

The light shows us what something really is. So some people say this, “Stop doing bad things. It’s like you are asleep, so wake up now. It’s like you are dead, so come alive again now. Then Jesus will show you the right way to live, it’s like he will shine light on you.”

Colossians 2:13

You did bad things before. Your spirits still had that bad part that made you go wrong. It is like your spirits were dead. I will use picture talk to show you what I mean. Whenever you did bad things, it is like somebody wrote it down on paper so they could blame you later. But God let them blame Jesus instead of you, and then God chucked that paper away. It is like he nailed that paper to the cross when he let people nail Jesus there. And then God made your spirits alive again, just like he made Jesus alive again. Now he doesn’t blame you for the bad things you did.

1 Timothy 5:6

But other widows don’t think about God. They only want to have fun. They might think they are alive, but really, their spirits are dead.

Jude 1:12

You Christians love God, and you love each other, so you sometimes have dinner together. Those lying teachers come to those dinners. But they only come to eat and drink. They don’t respect God, and they don’t care about people. They only think about themselves. They are really dangerous. You know about rocks in the sea. You know that boats have to keep away from them, or they will wreck the boats. That mob are like those rocks to you. Keep away from them, or they will wreck you. They are useless. They are like clouds that don’t have any rain. Those clouds are useless, and the wind just moves them along. Those lying teachers never do anything good. They are like trees that don’t have fruit, even when it is the right time for fruit. Those trees are properly useless, so people pull them out of the ground.