Luke 16

The Unrighteous Steward

1Now He was also saying to the disciples, “There was a rich man who had a manager, and this manager was 1reported to him as 2squandering his possessions. 2And 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.’ 3The manager said to himself, ‘What shall I do, since my 3master is taking the management away from me? I am not strong enough to dig; I am ashamed to beg. 4I know what I shall do, so that when I am removed from the management people will welcome me into their homes.’ 5And he summoned each one of his 4master’s debtors, and he began saying to the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’ 6And he said, ‘A hundred 5measures of oil.’ And he said to him, ‘Take your bill, and sit down quickly and write fifty.’ 7Then he said to another, ‘And how much do you owe?’ And he said, ‘A hundred 6measures of wheat.’ He said to him, ‘Take your bill, and write eighty.’ 8And his 7master praised the unrighteous manager because he had acted shrewdly; for the sons of 8this age are more shrewd in relation to their own 9kind than the 10sons of light. 9And I say to you, 11make friends for yourselves by means of the 1213wealth of unrighteousness, so that when it fails, 14they will receive you into the eternal dwellings.

10“15He 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. 11Therefore if you have not been faithful in the use of unrighteous 1617wealth, who will entrust the true riches to you? 12And if you have not been faithful in the use of that which is another’s, who will give you that which is your own? 1318No 19servant 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 2021wealth.”

14Now the Pharisees, who were 22lovers of money, were listening to all these things and 23were scoffing at Him. 15And He said to them, “You are those who 24justify yourselves 25in the sight of men, but 26God knows your hearts; for that which is highly esteemed among men is detestable 27in the sight of God.

16“28The Law and the Prophets were proclaimed until John; since that time 29the gospel of the kingdom of God 30has been preached, and everyone is forcing his way into it. 1731But it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one 32stroke of a letter of the Law to fail.

18“33Everyone who 34divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery, and he who marries one who is 35divorced 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. 20And a poor man named Lazarus 36was laid at his gate, covered with sores, 21and 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. 22Now the poor man died and was carried away by the angels to 37Abraham’s bosom; and the rich man also died and was buried. 23In 38Hades he lifted up his eyes, being in torment, and saw Abraham far away and Lazarus in his bosom. 24And he cried out and said, ‘39Father 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 40this flame.’ 25But Abraham said, ‘Child, remember that 41during your life you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus bad things; but now he is being comforted here, and you are in agony. 26And 42besides 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.’ 27And he said, ‘Then I beg you, father, that you send him to my father’s house-- 28for I have five brothers--in order that he may 43warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.’ 29But Abraham said, ‘They have 44Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them.’ 30But he said, ‘No, 45father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent!’ 31But 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.’”