The Parable of the Dishonest Manager

1Now he said to the disciples, “There was a richa man who received an accusation that his managerb was squanderingc his possessions. 2So he called the manager in and asked, ‘What is this I hear about you? Give an account of your management,a because you can no longer be my manager.’

3“Then the manager said to himself, ‘What will I do since my master is taking the management away from me? I’m not strong enough to dig; I’m ashamed to beg. 4I know what I’ll do so that when I’m removed from management, people will welcome me into their homes.’

5“So he summoned each one of his master’s debtors. ‘How much do you owe my master? ’ he asked the first one.

6“ ‘A hundred measures of olive oil,’ he said.

“ ‘Take your invoice,’ he told him, ‘sit down quickly, and write fifty.’

7“Next he asked another, ‘How much do you owe? ’

“ ‘A hundred measures of wheat,’ he said.

“ ‘Take your invoice,’ he told him, ‘and write eighty.’

8“The master praised the unrighteous managera because he had acted shrewdly. For the children of this ageb are more shrewd than the children of lightc in dealing with their own people.A 9And I tell you, make friendsa for yourselves by means of worldly wealtha b so that when it fails,B they may welcome you into eternal dwellings. 10Whoever is faithfula in very littleb is also faithful in much, and whoever is unrighteous in very little is also unrighteous in much. 11So if you have not been faithful with worldly wealth, who will trust you with what is genuine? 12And if you have not been faithful with what belongs to someone else, who will give you what is your own? 13Noa servant can serve two masters, since either he will hateb one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.”

Kingdom Values

14The Pharisees, who were lovers of money,a were listening to all these things and scoffingb at him. 15And he told them, “You are the ones who justifya yourselves in the sight of others, but God knows your hearts.b For what is highly admired by people is revoltingc in God’s sight.

16“Thea Law and the Prophetsb were until John; since then, the good news of the kingdom of Godc has been proclaimed, and everyone is urgently invited to enter it.A 17But it is easiera for heaven and earth to pass away than for one stroke of a letter in the law to drop out.

18“Everyonea who divorcesb his wife and marries another woman commits adultery,c and everyone who marries a woman divorced from her husband commits adultery.

The Rich Man and Lazarus

19“There was a rich man who would dress in purple and fine linen,a feasting lavishly every day. 20But a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, was lying at his gate.a 21He longed to be filleda with what fell from the rich man’s table,b but instead the dogsc would come and lick his sores. 22One day the poor man died and was carried away by the angels to Abraham’s side.a a The rich man also died and was buried. 23And being in tormenta in Hades,b he looked up and saw Abraham a long way off, with Lazarus at his side. 24‘Father Abraham! ’a he called out, ‘Have mercy on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agonyb in this flame! ’

25“ ‘Son,’A Abraham said, ‘remember that during your life you received your good things,a just as Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here,b while you are in agony. 26Besides all this, a great chasm has been fixed between us and you, so that those who want to pass over from here to you cannot; neither can those from there cross over to us.’

27“ ‘Father,’ he said, ‘then I beg you to send him to my father’s house —  28because I have five brothers — to warna them, so that they won’t also come to this place of torment.’

29“But Abraham said, ‘They have Moses and the prophets;a they should listen to them.’

30“ ‘No, father Abraham,’ he said. ‘But if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.’

31“But he told him, ‘If they don’t listen to Moses and the prophets, they will not be persuaded if someone rises from the dead.’ ”a