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Luke 15:15-19

He went and joined himself to one of the citizens of that country, and he sent him into his fields to feed pigs. He wanted to fill his belly with the husks that the pigs ate, but no one gave him any. But when he came to himself he said, ‘How many hired servants of my father’s have bread enough to spare, and I’m dying with hunger! I will get up and go to my father, and will tell him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in your sight. I am no more worthy to be called your son. Make me as one of your hired servants.” ’

World English Bible · Public Domain
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Luke 15:15-19 sits inside this longer paragraph.

He said, “A certain man had two sons. The younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me my share of your property.’ He divided his livelihood between them. Not many days after, the younger son gathered all of this together and traveled into a far country. There he wasted his property with riotous living. When he had spent all of it, there arose a severe famine in that country, and he began to be in need. He went and joined himself to one of the citizens of that country, and he sent him into his fields to feed pigs. He wanted to fill his belly with the husks that the pigs ate, but no one gave him any. But when he came to himself he said, ‘How many hired servants of my father’s have bread enough to spare, and I’m dying with hunger! I will get up and go to my father, and will tell him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in your sight. I am no more worthy to be called your son. Make me as one of your hired servants.” ’

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Parallel Translations

  • WEB World English Bible

    He went and joined himself to one of the citizens of that country, and he sent him into his fields to feed pigs.

    He wanted to fill his belly with the husks that the pigs ate, but no one gave him any.

    But when he came to himself he said, ‘How many hired servants of my father’s have bread enough to spare, and I’m dying with hunger!

    I will get up and go to my father, and will tell him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in your sight.

    I am no more worthy to be called your son. Make me as one of your hired servants.” ’

  • TYNDALE Tyndale New Testament (1534)

    And he went and clave to a citesyn of that same countre which sent him to his felde to kepe his swyne.

    And he wold fayne have filled his bely with the coddes that the swyne ate: and noo man gave him.

    Then he came to him selfe and sayde: how many hyred servauntes at my fathers have breed ynough and I dye for honger.

    I will aryse and goo to my father and will saye vnto him: father I have synned agaynst heven and before the

    and am no moare worthy to be called thy sonne make me as one of thy hyred servauntes.

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  • GNV Geneva Bible (1599)

    Then hee went and claue to a citizen of that conntrey, and hee sent him to his farme, to feede swine.

    And hee would faine haue filled his bellie with the huskes, that the swine ate: but no man gaue them him.

    Then he came to him selfe, and said, Howe many hired seruaunts at my fathers haue bread ynough, and I die for hunger?

    I wil rise and goe to my father, and say vnto him, Father, I haue sinned against heaue, and before thee,

    And am no more worthy to be called thy sonne: make me as one of thy hired seruants.

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Cross-references (92)

  • Ezekiel 18:28 (v17) Because he considers, and turns away from all his transgressions that he has committed, he shall surely live. He shall not die.
  • Ephesians 2:4-5 (v17) But God, being rich in mercy, for his great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive…
  • Lamentations 3:40 (v18) Let us search and try our ways, and turn again to Yahweh.
  • 1 John 1:8-10 (v18) If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to…
  • Luke 15:21 (v18) The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’
Show all 92 cross-references
  • Luke 15:18-19 (v17) I will get up and go to my father, and will tell him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in your sight. I am no more worthy to be…
  • Ephesians 5:14 (v17) Therefore he says, “Awake, you who sleep, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.”
  • Acts 16:29-30 (v17) He called for lights, sprang in, fell down trembling before Paul and Silas, brought them out, and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”
  • Psalms 51:3-5 (v18) For I know my transgressions. My sin is constantly before me. Against you, and you only, I have sinned, and done that which is evil in your…
  • Jeremiah 50:4-5 (v18) “In those days, and in that time,” says Yahweh, “the children of Israel will come, they and the children of Judah together; they will go on…
  • Luke 18:13 (v18) But the tax collector, standing far away, wouldn’t even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a…
  • Job 42:6 (v19) Therefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes.”
  • Matthew 6:14 (v18) “For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.
  • Psalms 84:10 (v19) For a day in your courts is better than a thousand. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God, than to dwell in the tents of…
  • Acts 26:11-19 (v17) Punishing them often in all the synagogues, I tried to make them blaspheme. Being exceedingly enraged against them, I persecuted them even…
  • Psalms 32:3-5 (v18) When I kept silence, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and night your hand was heavy on me. My strength was…
  • Jeremiah 31:19 (v17) Surely after that I was turned. I repented. After that I was instructed. I struck my thigh. I was ashamed, yes, even confounded, because I…
  • Hosea 2:6-7 (v18) Therefore behold, I will hedge up your way with thorns, and I will build a wall against her, that she can’t find her way. She will follow…
  • Luke 8:35 (v17) People went out to see what had happened. They came to Jesus and found the man from whom the demons had gone out, sitting at Jesus’ feet,…
  • Acts 2:37 (v17) Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?”
  • Psalms 25:11 (v18) For your name’s sake, Yahweh, pardon my iniquity, for it is great.
  • Psalms 73:20 (v17) As a dream when one wakes up, so, Lord, when you awake, you will despise their fantasies.
  • Jeremiah 3:19 (v18) “But I said, ‘How I desire to put you among the children, and give you a pleasant land, a goodly heritage of the armies of the nations!’…
  • Lamentations 1:7 (v17) Jerusalem remembers in the days of her affliction and of her miseries all her pleasant things that were from the days of old; when her…
  • Titus 3:3 (v15) For we were also once foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving various lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, and hating…
  • Titus 3:4-6 (v17) But when the kindness of God our Savior and his love toward mankind appeared, not by works of righteousness which we did ourselves, but…
  • James 1:16-18 (v17) Don’t be deceived, my beloved brothers. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with…
  • James 4:8-10 (v19) Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners. Purify your hearts, you double-minded. Lament, mourn, and…
  • 1 Peter 5:6 (v19) Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time,
  • Genesis 32:10 (v19) I am not worthy of the least of all the loving kindnesses, and of all the truth, which you have shown to your servant; for with just my…
  • Joshua 9:24-25 (v19) They answered Joshua, and said, “Because your servants were certainly told how Yahweh your God commanded his servant Moses to give you all…
  • 2 Chronicles 33:12-13 (v18) When he was in distress, he begged Yahweh his God, and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers. He prayed to him; and he was…
  • 2 Chronicles 33:19 (v18) His prayer also, and how God was entreated of him, and all his sin and his trespass, and the places in which he built high places, and set…
  • Job 33:27-28 (v18) He sings before men, and says, ‘I have sinned, and perverted that which was right, and it didn’t profit me. He has redeemed my soul from…
  • Proverbs 23:13 (v18) Don’t withhold correction from a child. If you punish him with the rod, he will not die.
  • Ecclesiastes 9:3 (v17) This is an evil in all that is done under the sun, that there is one event to all: yes also, the heart of the sons of men is full of evil,…
  • Isaiah 63:16 (v18) For you are our Father, though Abraham doesn’t know us, and Israel does not acknowledge us. You, Yahweh, are our Father. Our Redeemer from…
  • Jeremiah 31:20 (v18) Is Ephraim my dear son? Is he a darling child? For as often as I speak against him, I still earnestly remember him. therefore my heart…
  • Matthew 3:6 (v18) They were baptized by him in the Jordan, confessing their sins.
  • Matthew 6:9 (v18) Pray like this: ‘Our Father in heaven, may your name be kept holy.
  • Luke 5:8 (v19) But Simon Peter, when he saw it, fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, Lord.”
  • Romans 6:19-21 (v16) I speak in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh, for as you presented your members as servants to uncleanness and to…
  • 2 Timothy 2:25-26 (v15) in gentleness correcting those who oppose him: perhaps God may give them repentance leading to a full knowledge of the truth, and they may…
  • Leviticus 26:40-41 (v18) “ ‘If they confess their iniquity and the iniquity of their fathers, in their trespass which they trespassed against me; and also that…
  • 1 Kings 8:47-48 (v18) yet if they repent in the land where they are carried captive, and turn again, and make supplication to you in the land of those who…
  • 1 Kings 20:30-31 (v18) But the rest fled to Aphek, into the city; and the wall fell on twenty-seven thousand men who were left. Ben Hadad fled, and came into the…
  • 2 Kings 7:3-4 (v18) Now there were four leprous men at the entrance of the gate. They said to one another, “Why do we sit here until we die? If we say, ‘We…
  • Job 36:8-10 (v18) If they are bound in fetters, and are taken in the cords of afflictions, then he shows them their work, and their transgressions, that they…
  • Psalms 116:3-7 (v18) The cords of death surrounded me, the pains of Sheol got a hold of me. I found trouble and sorrow. Then I called on Yahweh’s name: “Yahweh,…
  • Isaiah 1:5 (v15) Why should you be beaten more, that you revolt more and more? The whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint.
  • Jeremiah 31:6-9 (v18) For there will be a day that the watchmen on the hills of Ephraim cry, ‘Arise! Let’s go up to Zion to Yahweh our God.’ ” For Yahweh says,…
  • Hosea 12:1 (v16) Ephraim feeds on wind, and chases the east wind. He continually multiplies lies and desolation. They make a covenant with Assyria, and oil…
  • Hosea 14:1-3 (v18) Israel, return to Yahweh your God; for you have fallen because of your sin. Take words with you, and return to Yahweh. Tell him, “Forgive…
  • Jonah 3:9 (v18) Who knows whether God will not turn and relent, and turn away from his fierce anger, so that we might not perish?”
  • Matthew 7:11 (v18) If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to…
  • Luke 7:6-7 (v19) Jesus went with them. When he was now not far from the house, the centurion sent friends to him, saying to him, “Lord, don’t trouble…
  • Luke 16:23 (v17) In Hades, he lifted up his eyes, being in torment, and saw Abraham far off, and Lazarus at his bosom.
  • 1 Corinthians 15:9 (v19) For I am the least of the apostles, who is not worthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the assembly of God.
  • 2 Chronicles 28:22 (v15) In the time of his distress, he trespassed yet more against Yahweh, this same king Ahaz.
  • Psalms 73:22 (v16) I was so senseless and ignorant. I was a brute beast before you.
  • Psalms 142:4 (v16) Look on my right, and see; for there is no one who is concerned for me. Refuge has fled from me. No one cares for my soul.
  • Isaiah 44:20 (v16) He feeds on ashes. A deceived heart has turned him aside; and he can’t deliver his soul, nor say, “Isn’t there a lie in my right hand?”
  • Isaiah 55:2 (v16) Why do you spend money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which doesn’t satisfy? Listen diligently to me, and eat that…
  • Isaiah 57:3 (v16) “But draw near here, you sons of a sorceress, you offspring of adulterers and prostitutes.
  • Isaiah 57:17 (v15) I was angry because of the iniquity of his covetousness and struck him. I hid myself and was angry; and he went on backsliding in the way…
  • Jeremiah 5:3 (v15) O Yahweh, don’t your eyes look on truth? You have stricken them, but they were not grieved. You have consumed them, but they have refused…
  • Jeremiah 31:18-19 (v15) “I have surely heard Ephraim grieving thus, ‘You have chastised me, and I was chastised, as an untrained calf. Turn me, and I will be…
  • Lamentations 3:18-22 (v18) I said, “My strength has perished, along with my expectation from Yahweh.” Remember my affliction and my misery, the wormwood and the…
  • Lamentations 3:29 (v18) Let him put his mouth in the dust, if it is so that there may be hope.
  • Lamentations 4:5 (v16) Those who ate delicacies are desolate in the streets. Those who were brought up in purple embrace dunghills.
  • Daniel 4:26 (v18) Whereas they commanded to leave the stump of the roots of the tree; your kingdom shall be sure to you, after that you will have known that…
  • Jonah 2:2-8 (v16) He said, “I called because of my affliction to Yahweh. He answered me. Out of the belly of Sheol I cried. You heard my voice. For you threw…
  • Jonah 2:4 (v18) I said, ‘I have been banished from your sight; yet I will look again toward your holy temple.’
  • Nahum 3:6 (v15) I will throw abominable filth on you, and make you vile, and will set you a spectacle.
  • Matthew 15:26-27 (v19) But he answered, “It is not appropriate to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.” But she said, “Yes, Lord, but even the dogs…
  • Luke 11:2 (v18) He said to them, “When you pray, say, ‘Our Father in heaven, may your name be kept holy. May your Kingdom come. May your will be done on…
  • Ephesians 2:2-3 (v15) in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works…
  • 1 Timothy 1:13-16 (v19) although I used to be a blasphemer, a persecutor, and insolent. However, I obtained mercy, because I did it ignorantly in unbelief. The…
  • Exodus 10:3 (v15) Moses and Aaron went in to Pharaoh, and said to him, “This is what Yahweh, the God of the Hebrews, says: ‘How long will you refuse to…
  • Isaiah 1:9-13 (v15) Unless Yahweh of Armies had left to us a very small remnant, we would have been as Sodom. We would have been like Gomorrah. Hear Yahweh’s…
  • Jeremiah 8:4-6 (v15) “Moreover you shall tell them, ‘Yahweh says: “ ‘Do men fall, and not rise up again? Does one turn away, and not return? Why then have the…
  • Ezekiel 16:52 (v15) You also bear your own shame yourself, in that you have given judgment for your sisters; through your sins that you have committed more…
  • Ezekiel 16:63 (v15) that you may remember, and be confounded, and never open your mouth any more, because of your shame, when I have forgiven you all that you…
  • Malachi 2:9 (v15) “Therefore I have also made you contemptible and wicked before all the people, according to the way you have not kept my ways, but have had…
  • Luke 8:32-34 (v15) Now there was there a herd of many pigs feeding on the mountain, and they begged him that he would allow them to enter into those. Then he…
  • Luke 15:13 (v15) Not many days after, the younger son gathered all of this together and traveled into a far country. There he wasted his property with…
  • Romans 1:24-26 (v15) Therefore God also gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to uncleanness, that their bodies should be dishonored among themselves; who…
  • Romans 6:22 (v15) But now, being made free from sin and having become servants of God, you have your fruit of sanctification and the result of eternal life.
  • 1 Corinthians 6:9-11 (v15) Or don’t you know that the unrighteous will not inherit God’s Kingdom? Don’t be deceived. Neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor…
  • Ephesians 4:17-19 (v15) This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that you no longer walk as the rest of the Gentiles also walk, in the futility of their…
  • Colossians 3:5-7 (v15) Put to death therefore your members which are on the earth: sexual immorality, uncleanness, depraved passion, evil desire, and…
  • Revelation 2:21-22 (v15) I gave her time to repent, but she refuses to repent of her sexual immorality. Behold, I will throw her into a bed, and those who commit…

Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)

Explain this passage (17 sources)

Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.

Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv17–18 The beginning of repentance is the acknowledging of the…

The beginning of repentance is the acknowledging of the mercy of God, which stirreth us to hope well.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.

John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv15–19 15 And he went and joined himself to a…
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv17–18 Every sinner is beside himself; his reason lackeys to…
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv15–19 And he went and joined himself to a citizen…
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv15–18 And he joined himself to a citizen of that…
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv15–18 Verse 15. To feed swine.] The basest and vilest…
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On v17 Luk 15:17-18. And when he came to himself —…
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv15–19 Joined himself - Entered the service of that citizen.…
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On vv16, 18 Husks. This expresses the extreme misery of his condition.…
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv15–18 joined himself, &c.--his pride not yet humbled, unable to…
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv15–18 15. Joined himself—As yet he prefers the hireling’s lot…
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv15–18 15. joined himself to a citizen of that country]…
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv15–18 (15) Joined himself.—Literally clave to, or, attached himself to.…
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv15–18 And he went and joined himself to a citizen…
C. I. Scofield 1917 · Public Domain On v18 Sin. (See Scofield "Rom 3:23").
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv15, 17 He went
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On v15 15:15 Pigs were unclean animals (Lev 11:7; Deut 14:8),…
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