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The Parable of the Unrighteous Steward

¹ Now He was also saying to the disciples, "There was a rich man who had a steward, and this steward was ^(F1)reported to him as ^(C1)squandering his possessions.² "And he called for him and said to him, 'What is this I hear about you? Give an accounting of your stewardship, for you can no longer be steward.'³ "And the steward said to himself, 'What shall I do, since my ^(F1)master is taking the stewardship 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 stewardship people will ^(F1)take me into their homes.'⁵ "And he summoned each one of his ^(F1)master's debtors, and he began saying to the first, 'How much do you owe my master?'⁶ "And he said, 'One hundred ^(F1)baths 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, 'One hundred ^(F1)kors of wheat.' He ^(*)said to him, 'Take your bill, and write eighty.'⁸ "And his ^(F1)master praised the unrighteous steward because he had acted shrewdly, for the sons of ^(C1)this age are more shrewd in relation to their own ^(F2)kind than the ^(C2)sons of light.⁹ "And I say to you, ^(C1)make friends for yourselves from the ^(F1)(C2)wealth of unrighteousness, so that when it fails, ^(C3)they will ^(F2)take you into the eternal dwellings.

¹⁰ "^(C1)He 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 ^(F1)(C1)wealth, 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 "^(C1)No ^(F1)servant can ^(F2)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 ^(F2)serve God and ^(F3)(C2)wealth."

¹⁴ Now the Pharisees, who were ^(C1)lovers of money, were listening to all these things and ^(C2)were scoffing at Him.¹⁵ And He said to them, "You are those who ^(C1)justify yourselves ^(F1)in the sight of men, but ^(C2)God knows your hearts, for that which is highly esteemed among men is detestable ^(F1)in the sight of God.

¹⁶ "^(C1)The Law and the Prophets were until John; ^(F1)since that time ^(C2)the good news of the kingdom of God is proclaimed, and everyone is forcing his way into it.¹⁷ "^(C1)But it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one ^(F1)stroke of a letter of the Law to fail.

¹⁸ "^(C1)Everyone who ^(F1)divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery, and he who marries a woman who is ^(F2)divorced 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 "But a poor man named Lazarus ^(C1)was laid at his gate, covered with sores,²¹ and desiring 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 it happened that the poor man died and was carried away by the angels to ^(C1)Abraham's bosom, and the rich man also died and was buried.²³ "And in ^(C1)Hades 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, '^(C1)Father 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 ^(C2)this flame.'²⁵ "But Abraham said, 'Child, remember that ^(C1)during 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 ^(F1)besides all this, between us and you there is a great chasm fixed, so that those who wish to come over from here to you are not able, and none may cross over from there to us.'²⁷ "And he said, 'Then I am asking you, father, that you send him to my father's house—²⁸ for I have five brothers—in order that he may ^(C1)warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.'²⁹ "But Abraham ^(*)said, 'They have ^(C1)Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them.'³⁰ "But he said, 'No, ^(C1)father 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.'"