Luke 16

The Parable of the Dishonest Manager

16He also said to the disciples: “There was a rich ^tman who received an accusation that his manager ^uwas squandering ^vhis possessions. ²So he called the manager in and asked, ‘What is this I hear about you? Give an account of your management, ^wbecause you can no longer be my manager.’

³“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. ⁴I know what I’ll do so that when I’m removed from management, people will welcome me into their homes.’

⁵“So he summoned each one of his master’s debtors. ‘How much do you owe my master?’ he asked the first one.

⁶“ ‘A hundred measures of olive oil,’ he said.

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

⁷“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.’

⁸“The master praised the unrighteous manager ^xbecause he had acted astutely. For the sons of this age ^yare more astute than the sons of light ^zin dealing with their own people. ^a9And I tell you, make friends ^bfor yourselves by means of the unrighteous money ^cso that when it fails, ^dthey may welcome you into eternal dwellings. ¹⁰Whoever is faithful ^ein very little ^fis also faithful in much, and whoever is unrighteous in very little is also unrighteous in much. ¹¹So if you have not been faithful with the unrighteous money, who will trust you with what is genuine? ¹²And if you have not been faithful with what belongs to someone else, who will give you what is your own? ¹³No ^ghousehold slave can be the ^•slave of two masters, since either he will hate ^hone and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You can’t be slaves to both God and money.”

Kingdom Values

¹⁴The Pharisees, who were lovers of money, ⁱwere listening to all these things and scoffing ^jat Him. ¹⁵And He told them: “You are the ones who justify ^kyourselves in the sight of others, but God knows your hearts. ^lFor what is highly admired by people is revolting ^min God’s sight.

¹⁶“The ⁿLaw and the Prophets ^owere ^puntil John; since then, the good news of the kingdom of God ^qhas been proclaimed, and everyone is strongly urged to enter it. ^r17But it is easier ^sfor heaven and earth to pass away than for one stroke of a letter in the law to drop out.

¹⁸“Everyone ^twho divorces ^uhis wife and marries another woman commits adultery, ^vand everyone who marries a woman divorced from her husband commits adultery.

The Rich Man and Lazarus

¹⁹“There was a rich man who would dress in purple and fine linen, ^wfeasting lavishly every day. ²⁰But a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, was left at his gate. ^x21He longed to be filled ^ywith what fell from the rich man’s table, ^zbut instead the dogs ^awould come and lick his sores. ²²One day the poor man died and was carried away by the angels to Abraham’s side. ^bcThe rich man also died and was buried. ²³And being in torment ^din ^•Hades, ^ehe looked up and saw Abraham a long way off, with Lazarus at his side. ²⁴‘Father Abraham!’ ^fhe called out, ‘Have mercy on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony ^gin this flame!’

²⁵“ ‘Son,’ ^hAbraham said, ‘remember that during your life you received your good things, ⁱjust as Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here, ^jwhile you are in agony. ²⁶Besides all this, a great chasm has been fixed between us and you, so that those who want to pass over from here to you cannot; neither can those from there cross over to us.’

²⁷“ ‘Father,’ he said, ‘then I beg you to send him to my father’s house— ²⁸because I have five brothers—to warn ^kthem, so they won’t also come to this place of torment.’

²⁹“But Abraham said, ‘They have Moses and the prophets; ^lthey should listen to them.’

³⁰“ ‘No, father Abraham,’ he said. ‘But if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.’

³¹“But he told him, ‘If they don’t listen to Moses and the prophets, they will not be persuaded if someone rises from the dead.’ ” ^m