The Parable about a Dishonest Manager

1Now Jesusa was saying to the disciples, “A rich man had a servant manager who was accused of wasting his assets. 2So he called for him and asked him, ‘What’s this I hear about you? You can’t be my manager any longer. Now give me a report about your management!’

3“Then the servant manager told himself, ‘What should I do? My master is taking my position away from me. I’m not strong enough to plow, and I’m ashamed to beg. 4I know what I’ll do so that peopleb will welcome me into their homes when I’m dismissed from my job.’

5“So he called for each of his master’s debtors. He asked the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’ 6The man replied, ‘A hundred jars of olive oil.’ The managerc told him, ‘Get your bill. Sit down quickly and write “50.”’ 7Then he asked another debtor,d ‘How much do you owe?’ The man replied, ‘A hundred containers of wheat.’ The managere told him, ‘Get your bill and write “80.”’ 8The master praised the dishonest servant manager for being so clever, because worldly peoplef are more clever than enlightened peopleg in dealing with their own.h

9“I’m telling you, make friends for yourselves by means of unrighteous wealth, so that when it fails, they will welcome you into eternal homes.i 10Whoever is faithful with very little is also faithful with a lot, and whoever is dishonest with very little is also dishonest with a lot. 11So if you haven’t been faithful with unrighteous wealth, who will trust you with true wealth? 12And if you haven’t been faithful with what belongs to foreigners, who will give you what is your own?

13“No servant can serve two masters, because either he will hate one and love the other, or be loyal to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and wealth!”

The Law and the Kingdom of God

(Matthew 11:12-13)

14Now the Pharisees, who love money, had been listening to all this and began to ridicule Jesus.j 15So he told them, “You try to justify yourselves in front of people, but God knows your hearts, because what is highly valued by people is detestable to God.

16“The Law and the Prophets remainedk until John. Since then, the good news about the kingdom of God has been proclaimed, and everyone entering it is under attack. 17However, it is easier for heaven and earth to disappear than for one stroke of a letter in the Law to be dropped. 18Any man who divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery, and the man who marries a woman divorced from her husband commits adultery.”

The Rich Man and Lazarus

19“Once there was a rich man who used to dress in purple and fine linen and live in great luxury every day. 20A beggar named Lazarus, who was covered with sores, was brought to his gate. 21He was always trying to satisfy his hunger with what felll from the rich man’s table. Even the dogs used to come and lick his sores.

22“One day, the beggar died and was carried away by the angels to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried. 23In the afterlife,m where he was in constant torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away and Lazarus by his side. 24So he shouted, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me! Send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water to cool off my tongue, because I am suffering in this fire.’

25“But Abraham said, ‘My child, remember that during your lifetime you received blessings,n while Lazarus received hardships.o But now he is being comforted here, while you suffer. 26Besides all this, a wide chasm has been fixed between us, so that those who want to cross from this side to you cannot do so, nor can they cross from your side to us.’

27“The rich manp said, ‘Then I beg you, father, send Lazarusq to my father’s house— 28because I have five brothers—to warn them, so that they won’t end up in this place of torture, too.’

29“Abraham said, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets. They should listen to them!’

30“But the rich manr replied, ‘No, father Abraham! But if someone from the dead went to them, they would repent.’

31“Then Abrahams told him, ‘If your brotherst do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be persuaded, even if someone were to rise from the dead.’”