Luke 15:7 (YLT)

Passage

`I say to you, that so joy shall be in the heaven over one sinner reforming, rather than over ninety-nine righteous men, who have no need of reformation.

Nearby Context

Luke 15:5 and having found, he doth lay <FI>it<Fi> on his shoulders rejoicing,

Luke 15:6 and having come to the house, he doth call together the friends and the neighbours, saying to them, Rejoice with me, because I found my sheep--the lost one.

Luke 15:7 `I say to you, that so joy shall be in the heaven over one sinner reforming, rather than over ninety-nine righteous men, who have no need of reformation.

Luke 15:8 `Or what woman having ten drachms, if she may lose one drachm, doth not light a lamp, and sweep the house, and seek carefully till that she may find?

Luke 15:9 and having found, she doth call together the female friends and the neighbours, saying, Rejoice with me, for I found the drachm that I lost.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "shall", "heaven", "over", "sinner", "reforming", "rather", and "than". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "shall" and "heaven", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 6's "and having come to the house he..." into verse 8's "Or what woman having ten drachms if...", so "shall" and "heaven" belong inside that flow. In Luke context, the local focus is Christ, faith, and discipleship.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "shall" and "heaven" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.