The Parable of the Dishonest Manager

16 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. 2 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.’ 3 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. 4 I know what I should do, so that when I am removed from the management they will welcome me into their homes!’ 5 And he summoned each one of his own master’s debtors and* said to the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’ 6 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.’ 7 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.’ 8 And the master praised the dishonest manager, because he had acted shrewdly. For the sons of this age are shrewder than the sons of light with regard to their own generation.a 9 And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of unrighteous wealth, so that when it runs out they will welcome you into the eternal dwellings.

10 “The one who is faithful in very little is also faithful in much, and the one who is dishonest in very little is also dishonest in much. 11 If then you have not been faithful with unrighteous wealth, who will entrust to you the true riches?* 12 And if you have not been faithful with what belongs to another, who will give you your own? 13 No domestic slave is able to serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and will despise the other. You are not able to serve God and money.”

Hypocrisy, Law, and the Kingdom of God

14 Now the Pharisees, who were lovers of money, heard all these things, and they ridiculed him. 15 And he said to them, “You are the ones who justify themselves in the sight of men, but God knows your hearts! For what is considered exalted among men is an abomination in the sight of God.

16 “The law and the prophets were until John; from that time on the kingdom of God has been proclaimed, and everyone is urgently pressedb into it. 17 But it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one stroke of a letter of the law to become invalid.