Luke 1:17

1:17 And he will go as forerunner before the Lord ¹  in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers back to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, ²  to make ready for the Lord a people prepared for him.”

Luke 15:29

15:29 but he answered ³  his father, ‘Look! These many years I have worked like a slave ⁴  for you, and I never disobeyed your commands. Yet ⁵  you never gave me even a goat ⁶  so that I could celebrate with my friends!

¹ tn Grk “before him”; the referent (the Lord) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

² sn These two lines cover all relationships: Turn the hearts of the fathers back to their children points to horizontal relationships, while (turn) the disobedient to the wisdom of the just shows what God gives from above in a vertical manner.

³ tn Grk “but answering, he said.” This is somewhat redundant in contemporary English and has been simplified to “but he answered.”

⁴ tn Or simply, “have served,” but in the emotional context of the older son’s outburst the translation given is closer to the point.

⁵ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “yet” to bring out the contrast indicated by the context.

⁶ sn You never gave me even a goat. The older son’s complaint was that the generous treatment of the younger son was not fair: “I can’t get even a little celebration with a basic food staple like a goat!”