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