The Lost Son: An ESL Bible Study on Luke 15:11-32

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Luke 15:11-32 Printable Discussion Questions

Luke 15:11-32 Printable ERV Passage

Lesson Icebreaker Question

Have you ever lost something that was important to you? How did you feel when you found it?

Lesson Highlight

In this lesson, we will learn a story that Jesus told about a young man who made bad choices and left home. We will also see how the father welcomed him back with love. This story helps us understand God’s love and forgiveness.

Vocabulary Lists for the ERV Bible Translation

Key Vocabulary Words (10 words)

celebrate: (verb) To do something special for an important day.
divide: (verb) To separate something into parts.
famine: (noun) A time when there is no food in a land.
hire: (verb) To pay someone to do a job.
property: (noun) Things or land that belong to someone.
realize: (verb) To suddenly understand something.
sin: (verb) To do something wrong that God does not like.
slave: (noun) A person who is owned by another person and must work for free.
waste: (verb) To use something in a bad or careless way.
worthy: (adjective) Deserving of respect or a reward.

Important Words to Know (20 words)

alive: (adjective) Living and not dead.
beg: (verb) To ask for something very strongly or with deep feeling.
celebrate: (verb) To do something special for an important day.
divide: (verb) To separate something into parts.
famine: (noun) A time when there is no food in a land.
foolish: (adjective) Not showing good sense or wisdom.
hire: (verb) To pay someone to do a job.
hug: (verb) To put your arms around someone to show love.
kiss: (verb) To touch with the lips to show love or a greeting.
no longer: (phrase) Not anymore.
party: (noun) A gathering of people to have fun and celebrate.
plenty: (noun) A large amount or more than enough.
property: (noun) Things or land that belong to someone.
prostitute: (noun) A women who sells her body for money.
realize: (verb) To suddenly understand something.
sin: (verb) To do something wrong that God does not like.
slave: (noun) A person who is owned by another person and must work for free.
waste: (verb) To use something in a bad or careless way.
wealth: (noun) A large amount of money or things.
worthy: (adjective) Deserving of respect or a reward.

Complete Lesson Word Bank

again: (adverb) One more time.
against: (preposition) In opposition to or in conflict with.
alive: (adjective) Living and not dead.
almost: (adverb) Only a little bit less than all.
always: (adverb) Every time or at all times.
angry: (adjective) Feeling very mad about something.
another: (adjective) A different one.
anything: (pronoun) Any thing or any part of something.
because: (conjunction) For the reason that.
beg: (verb) To ask for something very strongly or with deep feeling.
began: (verb) To have started something.
best: (adjective) Better than all the others.
between: (preposition) In the space that separates two things.
bring: (verb) To take someone or something to a place.
calf: (noun) A young cow.
celebrate: (verb) To do something special for an important day.
clothes: (noun) Things that people wear to cover their bodies.
come back: (phrase) To return to a place after being away.
complain: (verb) To say that you are not happy about something.
country: (noun) An area of land that has its own king or leaders.
dance: (verb) To move your body to music.
dead: (adjective) Not living anymore.
divide: (verb) To separate something into parts.
even: (adverb) Used to show that something is surprising.
everything: (pronoun) All things that exist.
famine: (noun) A time when there is no food in a land.
far away: (phrase) At a great distance from a person or a place.
feed: (verb) To give food to a person or animal.
feet: (noun) The parts of the body at the end of the legs that a person stands on.
felt: (verb) To have had a sensation in your body or an emotion in your heart.
few: (adjective) A small number of people or things.
field: (noun) An open area of land.
finger: (noun) One of the five parts at the end of your hand.
fool: (noun) A person who does not act with wisdom or honor God.
foolish: (adjective) Not showing good sense or wisdom.
found: (verb) To have seen something you were looking for.
friend: (noun) A person you know and like.
gathered up: (phrase) To collect many things or people together in one place.
go back: (phrase) To return to a place where you were before.
goat: (noun) An animal with horns that is related to the sheep.
God: (noun) The creator and ruler of everything.
heard: (verb) To have received sound with your ears.
hire: (verb) To pay someone to do a job.
hug: (verb) To put your arms around someone to show love.
hungry: (adjective) Needing or wanting food.
hurry: (verb) To move or do something very fast.
Jesus: (noun) The Son of God and the Savior of the world!
job: (noun) The work that a person does to earn money.
kill: (verb) To end the life of a person or an animal.
kiss: (verb) To touch with the lips to show love or a greeting.
later: (adverb) At a time in the future.
leave: (verb) To go away from a place.
left: (verb) To go away from a place.
left behind: (phrase) To stay in a place after other people have gone away.
let: (verb) To allow something to happen.
long way off: (phrase) A place that is very far from where you are.
lost: (adjective) Not knowing where you are or being unable to be found.
mean: (verb) To have a specific idea or sense.
music: (noun) Sounds made by voices or instruments that are pleasant to hear.
near: (adjective) Close to a place.
need: (verb) To require something because it is important.
never: (adverb) Not at any time.
no longer: (phrase) Not anymore.
older: (adjective) Having lived for more time.
part: (noun) A piece of something.
party: (noun) A gathering of people to have fun and celebrate.
people: (noun) More than one person.
pig: (noun) A fat farm animal with a flat nose and a short tail.
plenty: (noun) A large amount or more than enough.
property: (noun) Things or land that belong to someone.
prostitute: (noun) A women who sells her body for money.
put on: (phrase) To place clothes or other things on your body.
ran: (verb) To have moved fast on your feet.
realize: (verb) To suddenly understand something.
receive: (verb) To get something that is given to you.
return: (verb) To come back to a place.
ring: (noun) A piece of jewelry worn on a finger.
safe and sound: (phrase) To be completely safe and not hurt after a dangerous time.
sandal: (noun) An open shoe with straps.
sent: (verb) To have caused someone to go to a place.
servant: (noun) A person who works for another person.
sin: (verb) To do something wrong that God does not like.
slave: (noun) A person who is owned by another person and must work for free.
someday: (adverb) At some time in the future.
sorry: (adjective) Feeling sad about something that happened.
spent: (verb) To have used something up, like money, time, or energy.
still: (adverb) Continuing until now.
suppose: (verb) To think that something is true.
terrible: (adjective) Very bad or scary.
throughout: (preposition) In every part of a place.
travel: (verb) To go from one place to another.
waste: (verb) To use something in a bad or careless way.
wealth: (noun) A large amount of money or things.
went: (verb) To have moved to another place.
work: (verb) To do a job or use effort to finish a task.
worker: (noun) A person who works.
worthy: (adjective) Deserving of respect or a reward.
wrong: (adjective) Not right or not true.
younger: (adjective) Having lived for less time.

Summary of the Passage

This passage tells a story Jesus shared to teach about God’s love. It is often called the story of the Lost Son or the Prodigal Son. In the story, a younger son asks his father for his share of the family property. Property is the land or money that belongs to someone. In those days, a son usually received this money only after his father died. By asking for it early, the son was being very foolish and disrespectful. It was like he told his father, “I wish you were already dead!”

The father divided his wealth and gave the son the money. The son left home and wasted all of it in a faraway country.

After he spent everything, a terrible famine happened. A famine is a time when there is no food in a land. The son became very poor and hungry. He took a job feeding pigs. For the people in the story, this was a very low and dirty job. Finally, he realized he was being foolish. He decided to go back home. He planned to beg his father to let him work as a hired servant. Because he had been so disrespectful, he felt he was no longer worthy to be a son.

As the son is walking home, the father sees him from a long way off. He feels so much love that he runs to him. The father hugs him and kisses him. He welcomes him back, not as a slave, but as a son. He gives him the best clothes, a ring, and a party to celebrate his return. The father is full of joy because his son was like someone who was dead, but is now alive again.

However, the older brother does not feel happy. He stayed home and worked hard like a slave. He complains because his brother made bad choices but still gets a party. The father tells him that they must celebrate. He explains that everything he has belongs to the older son, but they must be glad because the lost son has been found.

This passage shows us how much God loves people who turn back to him. Even when we sin and make mistakes, God is happy to forgive us and welcome us home.

Read The Passage

Most English learners should use the Easy-to-Read Version (ERV), the New International Reader’s Version (NIRV), or the Good News Translation (GNT). If you want to try something harder, you can read one of the other Bible versions.

Story About Two Sons
11 Then Jesus said,
“There was a man who had two sons.
12 The younger son said to his father,
‘Give me now the part of your property that I am supposed to receive someday.’
So the father divided his wealth between his two sons.
13 “A few days later the younger son gathered up all that he had and left.
He traveled far away to another country, and there he wasted his money living like a fool.
14 After he spent everything he had, there was a terrible famine throughout the country.
He was hungry and needed money.
15 So he went and got a job with one of the people who lived there.
The man sent him into the fields to feed pigs.
16 He was so hungry that he wanted to eat the food the pigs were eating.
But no one gave him anything.
17 “The son realized that he had been very foolish.
He thought,
‘All my father’s hired workers have plenty of food.
But here I am, almost dead because I have nothing to eat.
18 I will leave and go to my father.
I will say to him:
Father, I have sinned against God and have done wrong to you.
19 I am no longer worthy to be called your son.
But let me be like one of your hired workers.’
20 So he left and went to his father.
The Younger Son Returns
“While the son was still a long way off, his father saw him coming and felt sorry for him.
So he ran to him and hugged and kissed him.
21 The son said,
‘Father, I have sinned against God and have done wrong to you.
I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’
22 “But the father said to his servants,
‘Hurry!
Bring the best clothes and put them on him.
Also, put a ring on his finger and good sandals on his feet.
23 And bring our best calf and kill it so that we can celebrate with plenty to eat.
24 My son was dead, but now he is alive again!
He was lost, but now he is found!’
So they began to have a party.
The Older Son Complains
25 “The older son had been out in the field.
When he came near the house, he heard the sound of music and dancing.
26 So he called to one of the servant boys and asked,
‘What does all this mean?’
27 The boy said,
Your brother has come back, and your father killed the best calf to eat.
He is happy because he has his son back safe and sound.’
28 “The older son was angry and would not go in to the party.
So his father went out and begged him to come in.
29 But he said to his father,
‘Look, for all these years I have worked like a slave for you.
I have always done what you told me to do, and you never gave me even a young goat for a party with my friends.
30 But then this son of yours comes home after wasting your money on prostitutes, and you kill the best calf for him!’
31 “His father said to him,
‘Oh, my son, you are always with me, and everything I have is yours.
32 But this was a day to be happy and celebrate.
Your brother was dead, but now he is alive.
He was lost, but now he is found.’”
Luke 15:11-32 (ERV)

Very Easy: Easy-to-Read Version: Luke 15:11-32 (ERV)
Very Easy: New International Reader’s Version: Luke 15:11-32 (NIRV)
Easy: Good News Translation: Luke 15:11-32 (GNT)
Medium: New Living Translation: Luke 15:11-32 (NLT)
Hard: New International Version: Luke 15:11-32 (NIV)
Very Hard: English Standard Version: Luke 15:11-32 (ESV)

Luke 15:11-32 Printable ERV Passage

Comprehension Questions

What did the younger son ask his father for?
What did the younger son do with his money?
What happened to the younger son when he had no money left?
What job did the younger son do when he was very poor?
What did the younger son decide to do after he became hungry?
How did the father react when he saw his son coming home?
What did the father give the son to show his love?
Why was the older brother angry?
What did the father say to the older brother?
Why did the father want to celebrate?

Application Questions

Have you ever made a bad choice but were still loved?
How does it feel to be forgiven?
Do you ever feel like the older brother? Why is it so hard to forgive someone who was bad?
What does this story teach you about God’s love?
How can we welcome others like the father welcomed his son?