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The Unjust Steward (Manager)

¹ Now Jesus was also saying to the disciples, "There was a certain rich man who had a manager of his estate, and accusations against this man were brought to him, that this man was ^(C1)squandering his master's possessions.² "So he called him and said to him, 'What is this I hear about you? Give an accounting of your management of my affairs, for you can no longer be my manager.'³ "The manager of the estate said to himself, 'What will I do, since my master is taking the management away from me? I am not strong enough to dig for a living, and I am ashamed to beg.⁴ 'I know what I will do, so that when I am removed from the management, people who are my master's debtors will welcome me into their homes.'⁵ "So he summoned his master's debtors one by one, and he said to the first, 'How much do you owe my master?'⁶ "He said, 'A hundred ^(F1)measures of olive oil.' And he said to him, 'Take your bill, and sit down quickly and write ^(F2)fifty.'⁷ "Then he said to another, 'And how much do you owe?' He said, 'A hundred ^(F1)measures of wheat.' He said to him, 'Take your bill, and write eighty.'⁸ "And his master commended the unjust manager not for his misdeeds, but because he had acted shrewdly by preparing for his future unemployment; for the sons of ^(C1)this age the non-believers are shrewder in relation to their own kind that is, to the ways of the secular world than are the ^(C2)sons of light the believers.⁹ "And I tell you learn from this, ^(C1)make friends for yourselves for eternity by means of the ^(F1)(C2)wealth of unrighteousness that is, use material resources as a way to further the work of God, so that when it runs out, ^(C3)they will welcome you into the eternal dwellings.

¹⁰ "^(C1)He who is faithful in a very little thing is also faithful in much; and he who is dishonest in a very little thing is also dishonest in much.¹¹ "Therefore if you have not been faithful in the use of earthly ^(C1)wealth, who will entrust the true riches to you?¹² "And if you have not been faithful in the use of that earthly wealth which belongs to another whether God or man, and of which you are a trustee, who will give you that which is your own?¹³ "^(C1)No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will stand devotedly by the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and ^(C2)mammon that is, your earthly possessions or anything else you trust in and rely on instead of God."

¹⁴ Now the Pharisees, who were ^(C1)lovers of money, were listening to all these things and ^(C2)were sneering and ridiculing Him.¹⁵ So He said to them, "You are the ones who ^(C1)declare yourselves just and upright in the sight of men, but ^(C2)God knows your hearts your thoughts, your desires, your secrets; for that which is highly esteemed among men is detestable in the sight of God. ^(VR1)

¹⁶ "^(C1)The Law and the writings of the Prophets were proclaimed until John; since then ^(C2)the gospel of the kingdom of God has been and continues to be preached, and everyone tries forcefully to go into it.¹⁷ "^(C1)Yet it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for a single stroke of a letter of the Law to fail and become void.

¹⁸ "^(C1)Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery, and he who marries one who is divorced from her husband commits adultery. ^(VR1)

The Rich Man and Lazarus

¹⁹ "Now there was a certain rich man who was habitually dressed in expensive purple and fine linen, and celebrated and lived joyously in splendor every day.²⁰ "And ^(C1)a poor man named Lazarus, was laid at his gate, covered with sores.²¹ "He eagerly longed to eat the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table. Besides, even the dogs were coming and licking his sores.²² "Now it happened that the poor man died and his spirit was carried away by the angels to ^(C1)Abraham's ^(F1)bosom (paradise); and the rich man also died and was buried.²³ "In ^(C1)Hades (the realm of the dead), being in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away and Lazarus in his bosom (paradise).²⁴ "And he cried out, '^(C1)Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus so that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in severe agony in ^(C2)this flame.'²⁵ "But Abraham said, 'Son, remember that ^(C1)in your lifetime you received your good things all the comforts and delights, and Lazarus likewise bad things all the discomforts and distresses; but now he is comforted here in paradise, while you are in severe agony.²⁶ 'And besides all this, between us and you people a great chasm has been fixed, so that those who want to come over from here to you will not be able, and none may cross over from there to us.'²⁷ "So the rich man said, 'Then, father Abraham, I beg you to send Lazarus to my father's house—²⁸ for I have five brothers—in order that he may solemnly ^(C1)warn them and witness to them, so that they too will not come to this place of torment.'²⁹ "But Abraham said, 'They have the Scriptures given by ^(C1)Moses and the writings of the Prophets; let them listen to them.'³⁰ "He replied, 'No, ^(C1)father Abraham, but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent they will change their old way of thinking and seek God and His righteousness.'³¹ "And he said to him, 'If they do not listen to the messages of Moses and the Prophets, they will not be persuaded even if someone rises from the dead.'"