Luke 16
The Parable of the Shrewd Manager
He also said to his
disciples, "There was a certain rich man who had a
manager. An accusation was made to him that this man was wasting his
possessions. He called
him, and said to him, 'What is this that I hear about you? Give an
accounting of your management, for you can no longer be manager.'
"The manager said within
himself, 'What will I do, seeing that my lord is taking away the
management position from me? I don't have strength to dig. I am ashamed to
beg. I know what I will
do, so that when I am removed from management, they may receive me into
their houses.' Calling
each one of his lord's debtors to him, he said to the first, 'How much do
you owe to my lord?' He
said, 'A hundred batos of oil.' He said to him, 'Take
your bill, and sit down quickly and write fifty.' Then said he to another, 'How
much do you owe?' He said, 'A hundred cors of wheat.'
He said to him, 'Take your bill, and write eighty.'
"His lord commended the
dishonest manager because he had done wisely, for the children of this
world are, in their own generation, wiser than the children of the light.
I tell you, make for
yourselves friends by means of unrighteous mammon, so that when you fail,
they may receive you into the eternal tents. He who is faithful in a very
little is faithful also in much. He who is dishonest in a very little is
also dishonest in much. If therefore you have not been
faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true
riches? If you have not
been faithful in that which is another's, who will give you that which is
your own? No servant can
serve two masters, for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or
else he will hold to one, and despise the other. You aren't able to serve
God and mammon."
The Pharisees, who
were lovers of money, also heard all these things, and they scoffed at
him. He said to them,
"You are those who justify yourselves in the sight of
men, but God knows your hearts. For that which is exalted among men is an
abomination in the sight of God.
Additional Teachings
"The law and the prophets were
until John. From that time the Good News of the Kingdom of God is
preached, and everyone is forcing his way into it. But it is easier for heaven and
earth to pass away, than for one tiny stroke of a pen in the law to fall.
Everyone who divorces
his wife, and marries another, commits adultery. He who marries one who is
divorced from a husband commits adultery."
The Rich Man and Lazarus
"Now there was a certain
rich man, and he was clothed in purple and fine linen, living in luxury
every day. A certain
beggar, named Lazarus, was laid at his gate, full of sores, and desiring to be fed with the
crumbs that fell from the rich man's table. Yes, even the dogs came and
licked his sores. It
happened that the beggar died, and that he was carried away by the angels
to Abraham's bosom. The rich man also died, and was buried. In Hades, he
lifted up his eyes, being in torment, and saw Abraham far off, and Lazarus
at his bosom. He cried
and said, 'Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may
dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue! For I am in
anguish in this flame.'
"But Abraham said, 'Son,
remember that you, in your lifetime, received your good things, and
Lazarus, in like manner, bad things. But now here he is comforted and you
are in anguish. Besides
all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed, that those who
want to pass from here to you are not able, and that none may cross over
from there to us.'
"He said, 'I ask you
therefore, father, that you would send him to my father's house; for I have five brothers, that
he may testify to them, so they won't also come into this place of
torment.'
"But Abraham said to him,
'They have Moses and the prophets. Let them listen to them.'
"He said, 'No, father
Abraham, but if one goes to them from the dead, they will repent.'
"He said to him, 'If they
don't listen to Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded if
one rises from the dead.'"
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