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The Epistle of the Prodigal Son
Jesus' Parable of the Prodigal Son and Paul's Epistle to the Romans
A Reading by Lee Magness

Jesus  There was a man who had two sons.
Paul          For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.  

Jesus  And the younger of them said to his father,
Son     “Father, give me the share of property that is coming to me.”
Paul          For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible    

     attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the   
     world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. For although they knew God, they did not 
     honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were 
     darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images 
     resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.

Jesus  And he divided his property between them.
Paul          Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among 

     themselves, because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather 
     than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen. For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions.

Jesus  Not many days later, the younger son gathered all he had and took a journey into a far country, and   

          there he squandered his property in reckless living.
Paul          And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought 

     not to be done. They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of 
     envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, 
     inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. Though they know God's righteous 
     decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who 
     practice them.

Jesus  And when he had spent everything, a severe famine arose in that country, and he began to be in need.
Paul          Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or 

     nakedness, or danger, or sword? No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.  
     For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 
     nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ 
     Jesus our Lord.

Jesus  So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, who sent him into his fields to 

          feed pigs. And he was longing to be fed with the pods that the pigs ate, and no one gave him anything.
Paul          And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait 

     eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen 
     is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.   
     Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit 
     himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.

Jesus  But when he came to himself, he said,
Son     “How many of my father's hired servants have more than enough bread, but I perish here with hunger! I 

          will arise and go to my father,
Paul          What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who 

     died to sin still live in it? Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into   
     his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the  
     dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.

Son     and I will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be 

          called your son. Treat me as one of your hired servants.”
Paul          For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of    

     adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are 
     children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, 

Jesus  And he arose and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and
felt 
          compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him. 

Paul          There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

Jesus  And the son said to him,
Son     “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.”
Jesus  But the father said to his servants, “Bring quickly the best robe, and put it on him, and put a ring on his 

          hand, and shoes on his feet. 
Paul          What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his 
     own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?


Jesus  And bring the fattened calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate.
Paul          God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we have 

     now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. For if while we were 
     enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be 
     saved by his life. More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now 
     received reconciliation.

Jesus  For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.”
Paul          But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. If 

     the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also 
     give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.
                For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a 
resurrection 
     like his. We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, 
     so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. For one who has died has been set free from sin. Now if we have 
     died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will 
     never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the 
     life he lives he lives to God.

Jesus  And they began to celebrate.
Paul          Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!

Jesus  Now his older son was in the field, and as he came and drew near to the house, he heard music and 

          dancing. And he called one of the servants and asked what these things meant. And he said to him, 
          “Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fattened calf, because he has received him back 
          safe and sound.” But he was angry and refused to go in. His father came out and entreated him, but he 
          answered his father,
Elder   “Look, these many years I have served you, and I never disobeyed your command, yet you never gave 

          me a young goat, that I might celebrate with my friends. But when this son of yours came, who has 
          devoured your property with prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him!”
Paul          But if you call yourself a Jew and rely on the law and boast in God and know his will and approve what is 

     excellent, because you are instructed from the law; and if you are sure that you yourself are a guide to the blind, a 
     light to those who are in darkness, an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of children, having in the law the 
     embodiment of knowledge and truth— you then who teach others, do you not teach yourself? While you preach 
     against stealing, do you steal? You who say that one must not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who 
     abhor idols, do you rob temples? You who boast in the law dishonor God by breaking the law.

Jesus  And he said to him, “Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours.
Paul          What shall we say then? Is there injustice on God's part? By no means! For he says to Moses, “I will have 

     mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.”
                 But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the 

     Prophets bear witness to it— the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is 
     no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through 
     the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. 
     This was to show God's righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. It was to 
     show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in 
     Jesus. Then what becomes of our boasting? It is excluded. 

Jesus  It was fitting to celebrate and be glad, for this your brother was dead, and is alive; he was lost, and is 

          found.”
Paul          So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. Let not sin therefore 

     reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions. Do not present your members to sin as instruments for 
     unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your 
     members to God as instruments for righteousness. For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under 
     law but under grace.

Jesus  There was a man who had two sons.
Paul          For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.” For there is no distinction 

     between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. For “everyone 
     who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

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