more worthy to be
called thy son: make me as one of thy hired servants. And he arose, and
came to his father. But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw
him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him.
And the son said unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in
thy sight, and am no more worthy to be called thy son. But the father
said to his servants, Bring forth the best robe, and put it on him; and
put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet: And bring hither the
fatted calf, and kill it; and let us eat, and be merry: For this my son
was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found. And they began
to be merry. Now his elder son was in the field: and as he came and drew
nigh to the house, he heard musick and dancing. And he called one of the
servants, and asked what these things meant. And he said unto him, Thy
brother is come; and thy father hath killed the fatted calf, because he
hath received him safe and sound. And he was angry, and would not go in:
therefore came his father out, and intreated him. And he answering said
to his father, Lo, these many years do I serve thee, neither
transgressed I at any time thy commandment: and yet thou never gavest me
a kid, that I might make merry with my friends: But as soon as this thy
son was come, which hath devoured thy living with harlots, thou hast
killed for him the fatted calf. And he said unto him, Son, thou art ever
with me, and all that I have is thine. It was meet that we should make
merry, and be glad: for this thy brother was dead, and is alive again;
and was lost, and is found."

The demand of the younger son for a portion of the patrimony even during
his father's lifetime, is an instance of deliberate and unfilial
desertion; the duties of family cooperation had grown distasteful to
him, and the wholesome discipline of the home had become irksome. He was
determined to break away from all home ties, forgetful of what home had
done for him and the debt of gratitude and duty by which he was morally
bound. He went into a far country, and, as he thought, beyond the reach
of the father's directing influence. He had his season of riotous
living, of unrestrained indulgence and evil pleasure, through it all
wasting his strength of body and mind, and squandering his father's
substance; for what he had received had been given as a concession and
not as the granting of any legal or just demand. Adversity came upon
him, and p