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Luke 16:1–7

The Parable of the Dishonest Manager

16 He also said to the disciples, There was a rich man who had ja manager, and charges were brought to him that this man was wasting his possessions. And he called him and said to him, ‘What is this that I hear about you? Turn in the account of your kmanagement, for you can no longer be manager.’ And the manager said to himself, ‘What shall I do, since my master is taking the management away from me? I am not strong enough to dig, and I am ashamed to beg. I have decided what to do, so that when I am removed from management, people may receive me into their houses.’ So, summoning his master’s debtors one by one, he said to the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’ He said, ‘A hundred measures1 of oil.’ He said to him, ‘Take your bill, and sit down quickly and write fifty.’ Then he said to another, ‘And how much do you owe?’ He said, ‘A hundred measures2 of wheat.’ He said to him, ‘Take your bill, and write eighty.’

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Luke 16:1–7 — The New International Version (NIV)

Jesus told his disciples: There was a rich man whose manager was accused of wasting his possessions. So he called him in and asked him, ‘What is this I hear about you? Give an account of your management, because you cannot be manager any longer.’

The manager said to himself, ‘What shall I do now? My master is taking away my job. I’m not strong enough to dig, and I’m ashamed to begI know what I’ll do so that, when I lose my job here, people will welcome me into their houses.’

So he called in each one of his master’s debtors. He asked the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’

“ ‘Nine hundred gallons of olive oil,’ he replied.

The manager told him, ‘Take your bill, sit down quickly, and make it four hundred and fifty.’

Then he asked the second, ‘And how much do you owe?’

“ ‘A thousand bushels of wheat,’ he replied.

He told him, ‘Take your bill and make it eight hundred.’

Luke 16:1–7 — King James Version (KJV 1900)

And he said also unto his disciples, There was a certain rich man, which had a steward; and the same was accused unto him that he had wasted his goods. And he called him, and said unto him, How is it that I hear this of thee? give an account of thy stewardship; for thou mayest be no longer steward. Then the steward said within himself, What shall I do? for my lord taketh away from me the stewardship: I cannot dig; to beg I am ashamed. I am resolved what to do, that, when I am put out of the stewardship, they may receive me into their houses. So he called every one of his lord’s debtors unto him, and said unto the first, How much owest thou unto my lord? And he said, An hundred measures of oil. And he said unto him, Take thy bill, and sit down quickly, and write fifty. Then said he to another, And how much owest thou? And he said, An hundred measures of wheat. And he said unto him, Take thy bill, and write fourscore.

Luke 16:1–7 — New Living Translation (NLT)

Jesus told this story to his disciples: There was a certain rich man who had a manager handling his affairs. One day a report came that the manager was wasting his employer’s money. So the employer called him in and said,What’s this I hear about you? Get your report in order, because you are going to be fired.’

The manager thought to himself, ‘Now what? My boss has fired me. I don’t have the strength to dig ditches, and I’m too proud to beg. Ah, I know how to ensure that I’ll have plenty of friends who will give me a home when I am fired.’

So he invited each person who owed money to his employer to come and discuss the situation. He asked the first one, ‘How much do you owe him?’ The man replied, ‘I owe him 800 gallons of olive oil.’ So the manager told him, ‘Take the bill and quickly change it to 400 gallons.

“ ‘And how much do you owe my employer? he asked the next man. ‘I owe him 1,000 bushels of wheat, was the reply. ‘Here,’ the manager said, ‘take the bill and change it to 800 bushels.

Luke 16:1–7 — The New King James Version (NKJV)

He also said to His disciples: There was a certain rich man who had a steward, and an accusation was brought to him that this man was wasting his goods. So he called him and said to him, ‘What is this I hear about you? Give an account of your stewardship, for you can no longer be steward.’

Then the steward said within himself, ‘What shall I do? For my master is taking the stewardship away from me. I cannot dig; I am ashamed to beg. I have resolved what to do, that when I am put out of the stewardship, they may receive me into their houses.’

So he called every one of his master’s debtors to him, and said to the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’ And he said, ‘A hundred measures of oil.’ So he said to him, ‘Take your bill, and sit down quickly and write fifty.’ Then he said to another, ‘And how much do you owe?’ So he said, ‘A hundred measures of wheat.’ And he said to him, ‘Take your bill, and write eighty.’

Luke 16:1–7 — New Century Version (NCV)

Jesus also said to his followers, Once there was a rich man who had a manager to take care of his business. This manager was accused of cheating him. So he called the manager in and said to him, ‘What is this I hear about you? Give me a report of what you have done with my money, because you can’t be my manager any longer.’ The manager thought to himself, ‘What will I do since my master is taking my job away from me? I am not strong enough to dig ditches, and I am ashamed to beg. I know what I’ll do so that when I lose my job people will welcome me into their homes.’

So the manager called in everyone who owed the master any money. He asked the first one, ‘How much do you owe?’ He answered, ‘Eight hundred gallons of olive oil.’ The manager said to him, ‘Take your bill, sit down quickly, and write four hundred gallons.’ Then the manager asked another one, ‘How much do you owe?’ He answered, ‘One thousand bushels of wheat.’ Then the manager said to him, ‘Take your bill and write eight hundred bushels.’

Luke 16:1–7 — American Standard Version (ASV)

And he said also unto the disciples, There was a certain rich man, who had a steward; and the same was accused unto him that he was wasting his goods. And he called him, and said unto him, What is this that I hear of thee? render the account of thy stewardship; for thou canst be no longer steward. And the steward said within himself, What shall I do, seeing that my lord taketh away the stewardship from me? I have not strength to dig; to beg I am ashamed. I am resolved what to do, that, when I am put out of the stewardship, they may receive me into their houses. And calling to him each one of his lord’s debtors, he said to the first, How much owest thou unto my lord? And he said, A hundred measures of oil. And he said unto him, Take thy bond, and sit down quickly and write fifty. Then said he to another, And how much owest thou? And he said, A hundred measures of wheat. He saith unto him, Take thy bond, and write fourscore.

Luke 16:1–7 — 1890 Darby Bible (DARBY)

And he said also to his disciples, There was a certain rich man who had a steward, and he was accused to him as wasting his goods. And having called him, he said to him, What is this that I hear of thee? give the reckoning of thy stewardship, for thou canst be no longer steward. And the steward said within himself, What shall I do; for my lord is taking the stewardship from me? I am not able to dig; I am ashamed to beg. I know what I will do, that when I shall have been removed from the stewardship I may be received into their houses. And having called to him each one of the debtors of his own lord, he said to the first, How much owest thou to my lord? And he said, A hundred baths of oil. And he said to him, Take thy writing and sit down quickly and write fifty. Then he said to another, And thou, how much dost thou owe? And he said, A hundred cors of wheat. And he says to him, Take thy writing and write eighty.

Luke 16:1–7 — GOD’S WORD Translation (GW)

Then Jesus said to his disciples, “A rich man had a business manager. The manager was accused of wasting the rich man’s property. So the rich man called for his manager and said to him, ‘What’s this I hear about you? Let me examine your books. It’s obvious that you can’t manage my property any longer.’ 

“The manager thought, ‘What should I do? My master is taking my job away from me. I’m not strong enough to dig, and I’m ashamed to beg. I know what I’ll do so that people will welcome me into their homes when I’ve lost my job.’ 

“So the manager called for each one of his master’s debtors. He said to the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’ 

“The debtor replied, ‘Eight hundred gallons of olive oil.’ 

“The manager told him, ‘Take my master’s ledger. Quick! Sit down, and write “four hundred!” ’ 

“Then he asked another debtor, ‘How much do you owe?’ 

“The debtor replied, ‘A thousand bushels of wheat.’ 

“The manager told him, ‘Take the ledger, and write “eight hundred!” ’ 

Luke 16:1–7 — The Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)

He also said to the disciples: There was a rich man who received an accusation that his manager was squandering his possessions. So he called the manager in and asked,What is this I hear about you? Give an account of your management, because you can no longer be my manager.’

Then the manager said to himself, ‘What should I do, since my master is taking the management away from me? I’m not strong enough to dig; I’m ashamed to beg. I know what I’ll do so that when I’m removed from management, people will welcome me into their homes.’

So he summoned each one of his master’s debtors. ‘How much do you owe my master?’ he asked the first one.

“ ‘A hundred measures of olive oil,’ he said.

“ ‘Take your invoice,’ he told him, ‘sit down quickly, and write 50.’

Next he asked another, ‘How much do you owe?’

“ ‘A hundred measures of wheat,’ he said.

“ ‘Take your invoice,’ he told him, ‘and write 80.’

Luke 16:1–7 — The New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

Then Jesus said to the disciples, There was a rich man who had a manager, and charges were brought to him that this man was squandering his property. So he summoned him and said to him, ‘What is this that I hear about you? Give me an accounting of your management, because you cannot be my manager any longer.’ Then the manager said to himself, ‘What will I do, now that my master is taking the position away from me? I am not strong enough to dig, and I am ashamed to beg. I have decided what to do so that, when I am dismissed as manager, people may welcome me into their homes.’ So, summoning his master’s debtors one by one, he asked the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’ He answered, ‘A hundred jugs of olive oil.’ He said to him, ‘Take your bill, sit down quickly, and make it fifty.’ Then he asked another, ‘And how much do you owe?’ He replied, ‘A hundred containers of wheat.’ He said to him, ‘Take your bill and make it eighty.’

Luke 16:1–7 — The Lexham English Bible (LEB)

And he also said to the disciples, “A certain man was rich, who had a manager. And charges were brought to him that this person was squandering his possessions. And he summoned him and said to him, ‘What is this I hear about you? Give the account of your management, because you can no longer manage.’ And the manager said to himself, ‘What should I do, because my master is taking away the management from me? I am not strong enough to dig; I am ashamed to beg. I know what I should do, so that when I am removed from the management they will welcome me into their homes!’ And he summoned each one of his own master’s debtors and said to the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’ And he said, ‘A hundred measures of olive oil.’ So he said to him, ‘Take your promissory note and sit down quickly and write fifty.’ Then he said to another, ‘And how much do you owe?’ And he said, ‘A hundred measures of wheat.’ He said to him, ‘Take your promissory note and write eighty.’

Luke 16:1–7 — New International Reader’s Version (1998) (NIrV)

Jesus told his disciples another story. He said, “There was a rich man who had a manager. Some said that the manager was wasting what the rich man owned. So the rich man told him to come in. He asked him, ‘What is this I hear about you? Tell me exactly how you have handled what I own. You can’t be my manager any longer.’

“The manager said to himself, ‘What will I do now? My master is taking away my job. I’m not strong enough to dig. And I’m too ashamed to beg. I know what I’m going to do. I’ll do something so that when I lose my job here, people will welcome me into their houses.’

“So he called in each person who owed his master something. He asked the first one, ‘How much do you owe my master?’

“ ‘I owe 800 gallons of olive oil,’ he replied.

“The manager told him, ‘Take your bill. Sit down quickly and change it to 400 gallons.’

“Then he asked the second one, ‘And how much do you owe?’

“ ‘I owe 1,000 bushels of wheat,’ he replied.

“The manager told him, ‘Take your bill and change it to 800 bushels.’

Luke 16:1–7 — New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update (NASB95)

Now He was also saying to the disciples, There was a rich man who had a manager, and this manager was reported to him as squandering his possessions.

And he called him and said to him, ‘What is this I hear about you? Give an accounting of your management, for you can no longer be manager.’

The manager said to himself, ‘What shall I do, since my master is taking the management away from me? I am not strong enough to dig; I am ashamed to beg.

I know what I shall do, so that when I am removed from the management people will welcome me into their homes.’

And he summoned each one of his master’s debtors, and he began saying to the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’

And he said, ‘A hundred measures of oil.’ And he said to him, ‘Take your bill, and sit down quickly and write fifty.’

Then he said to another, ‘And how much do you owe?’ And he said, ‘A hundred measures of wheat.’ He said to him, ‘Take your bill, and write eighty.’


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