Luke 15:7
I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance.
KJV
λέγω ὑμῖν ὅτι οὕτως χαρὰ ἐν τῷ οὐρανῷ ἔσται ἐπὶ ἑνὶ ἁμαρτωλῷ μετανοοῦντι ἢ ἐπὶ ἐνενήκοντα ἐννέα δικαίοις οἵτινες οὐ χρείαν ἔχουσιν μετανοίας.
Greek NT
Dico vobis quod ita gaudium erit in cælo super uno peccatore pœnitentiam agente, quam super nonaginta novem justis, qui non indigent pœnitentia.
Vulgate
I say unto you, that even so there shall be joy in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine righteous persons, who need no repentance.
ASV
I say to you that even so there shall be joy in heaven upon one sinner that doth penance, more than upon ninety-nine just who need not penance.
Douay-Rheims
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In the original Greek
22 distinct Greek words appear in this verse.
δίκαιος
dikaios
adjective · 79×
εἰμί
eimi
verb · 2461×
εἷς
eis
adjective · 336×
λέγω
lego
verb · 2256×
μετάνοια
metanoia
noun · 22×
μετανοέω
metanoeo
verb · 34×
οὐ
ou
particle · 1626×
οὐρανός
ouranos
noun · 274×
οὕτω
outo
adverb · 208×
χαρά
chara
noun · 59×
χρεία
chreia
noun · 49×
ἁμαρτωλός
amartolos
adjective · 47×
ἐν
en
preposition · 2743×
ἐννέα
ennea
adjective · 5×
ἐννενηκονταεννέα
ennenekontaennea
adjective · 4×
ἐπί
epi
preposition · 888×
ἔχω
echo
verb · 707×
ἤ
e
particle · 346×
ὁ
o
article · 19778×
ὅστις
ostis
relative_pronoun · 146×
ὅτι
oti
conjunction · 1299×
ὑμεῖς
umeis
pronoun · 1828×
Textual variants
1 variant unit attested by manuscript witnesses and modern critical editions.
minor
SBLGNT: ἐν τῷ οὐρανῷ ἔσται | WH/NIV: ἐν τῷ οὐρανῷ ἔσται | Treg/RP: ἔσται ἐν τῷ οὐρανῷ
- ἐν τῷ οὐρανῷ ἔσται — SBLGNT
- ἐν τῷ οὐρανῷ ἔσται — Westcott-Hort, Reader's GNT (NA27)
- ἔσται ἐν τῷ οὐρανῷ — Tregelles, Robinson-Pierpont
source: sblgnt-apparatus
Parable
Historic Christian voices
6 passages from patristic writers, Reformers, and church catechisms citing this verse.
§545Jesus invites sinners to the table of the kingdom: "I came not to call the righteous, but sinners."258 He invites them to that conversion without which one cannot enter the kingdom, but shows them in word and deed his Father's boundless mercy for them and the vast "joy in heaven over one sinner who repents".259 The supreme proof of his love will be the sacrifice of his own life…
2. But when we say these things, they make other objections again, asking, And why did God make him such? God did not make him such, far from it, since then neither would He have punished him. For if we in those matters in which we are the cause, do not find fault with our servant, much more will not the God of all. But whence did this come to pass? one may say. Of himself and …
True repentance has two parts: contrition (terrified conscience recognizing sin under God's Law) and faith (which trusts the promise of forgiveness for Christ's sake). Melanchthon rejects the Roman teaching that repentance consists of contrition, confession, and satisfaction, arguing that satisfaction by human works obscures the sufficiency of Christ's atonement. The fruits of …
Cross-references
- 2Cor 7:9 — Now I rejoice, not that ye were made sorry, but that ye sorrowed to repentance: for ye were made sorry after a godly manner, that ye might receive damage by us in nothing.
- Acts 26:20 — But shewed first unto them of Damascus, and at Jerusalem, and throughout all the coasts of Judaea, and then to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, and do works meet for repentance.
- John 8:11 — She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more.
- Luke 5:32 — I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.
- Luke 5:32 — I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.
- Luke 15:6 — And when he cometh home, he calleth together his friends and neighbours, saying unto them, Rejoice with me; for I have found my sheep which was lost.
- Luke 15:10 — Likewise, I say unto you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth.
- Luke 15:10 — Likewise, I say unto you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth.
- Luke 15:24 — For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found. And they began to be merry.
- Luke 15:29 — And he answering said to his father, Lo, these many years do I serve thee, neither transgressed I at any time thy commandment: and yet thou never gavest me a kid, that I might make merry with my frien
- Luke 15:32 — It was meet that we should make merry, and be glad: for this thy brother was dead, and is alive again; and was lost, and is found.
- Luke 16:15 — And he said unto them, Ye are they which justify yourselves before men; but God knoweth your hearts: for that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God.
- Luke 18:9 — And he spake this parable unto certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others:
- Mark 2:17 — When Jesus heard it, he saith unto them, They that are whole have no need of the physician, but they that are sick: I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.
- Mark 6:12 — And they went out, and preached that men should repent.
- Matt 3:2 — And saying, Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
- Matt 4:17 — From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
- Matt 18:13 — And if so be that he find it, verily I say unto you, he rejoiceth more of that sheep, than of the ninety and nine which went not astray.
- Matt 20:16 — So the last shall be first, and the first last: for many be called, but few chosen.
- Phil 3:6 — Concerning zeal, persecuting the church; touching the righteousness which is in the law, blameless.
- Prov 30:12 — There is a generation that are pure in their own eyes, and yet is not washed from their filthiness.
- Rom 7:9 — For I was alive without the law once: but when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died.