Luke 16:1–15

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.