Luke 15:7

I tell you that in the same way there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous ones who do not need to repent.

Berean Standard Bible

Follow its threads on the canvas →

Study note

Setting — Jesus applies the parable of the lost sheep directly to his audience, bridging the narrative (v. 6) to the lost-coin parable (v. 8). The "I say to you" (legō humin) marks a shift from story to declaration.

The words — χαρὰ (chara) is the subject of the entire comparison; it names a specific emotional response in heaven rather than a general blessing or reward.

The thread — The same formula appears in Luke 15:10 over the recovered coin, and the broader theme of calling sinners to repentance runs through Luke 5:32 and the elder brother's rebuke in Luke 15:32.

Why it lands — The verse forces a reckoning: if you are the ninety-nine, you are the one who needs to hear this, not the one it is about. It asks the reader to stop treating repentance as a private matter and recognize it as an event that registers in heaven.

Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.

The Greek words

King James Version

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.

Cross-references

Luke 15:10 In the same way, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of God’s angels over one sinner who repents.”
Luke 5:32 I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.”
Luke 15:32 But it was fitting to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’”
Matthew 18:13 And if he finds it, truly I tell you, he rejoices more over that one sheep than over the ninety-nine that did not go astray.
Proverbs 30:12 There is a generation of those who are pure in their own eyes and yet unwashed of their filth.
Luke 18:9 To some who trusted in their own righteousness and viewed others with contempt, He also told this parable:
Philippians 3:6 as to zeal, persecuting the church; as to righteousness in the law, faultless.
Luke 16:15 So He said to them, “You are the ones who justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts. For what is prized among men is detestable before God.
Romans 7:9 Once I was alive apart from the law; but when the commandment came, sin sprang to life and I died.
Luke 15:29 But he answered his father, ‘Look, all these years I have served you and never disobeyed a commandment of yours. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends.