Chapter 16

The Unrighteous Steward

1 Now He was also saying to the disciples, “There was a rich man who had a manager, and this manager was 1reported to him as asquandering his possessions.

2 “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.’

3 “The manager said to himself, ‘What shall I do, since my 1master is taking the management away from me? I am not strong enough to dig; I am ashamed to beg.

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

5 “And he summoned each one of his 1master’s debtors, and he began saying to the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’

6 “And he said, ‘A hundred 1measures of oil.’ And he said to him, ‘Take your bill, and sit down quickly and write fifty.’

7 “Then he said to another, ‘And how much do you owe?’ And he said, ‘A hundred 1measures of wheat.’ He * said to him, ‘Take your bill, and write eighty.’

8 “And his 1master praised the unrighteous manager because he had acted shrewdly; for the sons of athis age are more shrewd in relation to their own 2kind than the bsons of light.

9 “And I say to you, amake friends for yourselves by means of the 1bwealth of unrighteousness, so that when it fails, cthey will receive you into the eternal dwellings.

10 “aHe who is faithful in a very little thing is faithful also in much; and he who is unrighteous in a very little thing is unrighteous also in much.

11 “Therefore if you have not been faithful in the use of unrighteous 1awealth, who will entrust the true riches to you?

12 “And if you have not been faithful in the use of that which is another’s, who will give you that which is your own?

13 “aNo 1servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and 2bwealth.”

14 Now the Pharisees, who were alovers of money, were listening to all these things and bwere scoffing at Him.

15 And He said to them, “You are those who ajustify yourselves 1in the sight of men, but bGod knows your hearts; for that which is highly esteemed among men is detestable 1in the sight of God.

16 “aThe Law and the Prophets were proclaimed until John; since that time bthe gospel of the kingdom of God 1has been preached, and everyone is forcing his way into it.

17 “aBut it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one 1stroke of a letter of the Law to fail.

18 “aEveryone who 1divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery, and he who marries one who is 2divorced from a husband commits adultery.

The Rich Man and Lazarus

19 “Now there was a rich man, and he habitually dressed in purple and fine linen, joyously living in splendor every day.

20 “And a poor man named Lazarus awas laid at his gate, covered with sores,

21 and longing to be fed with the crumbs which were falling from the rich man’s table; besides, even the dogs were coming and licking his sores.

22 “Now the poor man died and was carried away by the angels to aAbraham’s bosom; and the rich man also died and was buried.

23 “In aHades he lifted up his eyes, being in torment, and * saw Abraham far away and Lazarus in his bosom.

24 “And he cried out and said, ‘aFather Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus so that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool off my tongue, for I am in agony in bthis flame.’

25 “But Abraham said, ‘Child, remember that aduring your life you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus bad things; but now he is being comforted here, and you are in agony.

26 ‘And 1besides all this, between us and you there is a great chasm fixed, so that those who wish to come over from here to you will not be able, and that none may cross over from there to us.’

27 “And he said, ‘Then I beg you, father, that you send him to my father’s house—

28 for I have five brothers—in order that he may awarn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.’

29 “But Abraham * said, ‘They have aMoses and the Prophets; let them hear them.’

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

31 “But he said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be persuaded even if someone rises from the dead.’ ”