Parable of a stupid steward

1Then He said further to His disciples: “There was a certain rich man who had a manager, who was accused to him of wasting his goods.

2So he called him in and said to him: ‘What is this I hear about you? Render an account of your stewardship, because you can no longer be manager.’

3Then the manager said within himself: ‘What shall I do? My master is taking the management away from me. I do not have strength to dig; I am ashamed to beg

4—I know what I will do, so that whenever I am removed from the management they may receive me into their houses.’ ³⁵⁷

5Summoning each one of his master's debtors, he said to the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’

6And he said, ‘A hundred baths of olive oil.’ So 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 measures of wheat.’ So he said to him, ‘Take your bill and write eighty.’

8The master even ‘commended’ the dishonest manager, because he had acted shrewdly. The sons of this age are shrewder in their own generation than the sons of the Light. ³⁵⁸

A bit of irony

9“I even say to you, make friends for yourselves by means of unrighteous mammon, so that whenever you fail, they may receive you into the eternal dwellings! ³⁵⁹

10He who is faithful in a very little is faithful also in much, and he who is dishonest in a very little is dishonest also in much.

11If therefore you have not been faithful with the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the genuine? ³⁶⁰

12And if you have not been faithful in what belongs to another, who will give you what is your own?

13No servant can serve two masters; either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon!” ³⁶¹

The Law will not fail

14Now the Pharisees, who were lovers of money, were also listening to all these things, and they were ridiculing Him.

15So He said to them: “You are those who justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts. That which is exalted among men is an abomination before God. ³⁶²

16The Law and the Prophets were until John; since then the Kingdom of God is being proclaimed, and every one is trying to force his way into it. ³⁶³

17But it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away, than for one tittle of the Law to fail.

18“Whoever divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery, and whoever marries her who is divorced from her husband commits adultery. ³⁶⁴

A rich man and beggar Lazarus16:19 The Text does not state that this is a parable, so most probably it is not.

19“Now there was a certain rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen, living in luxury every day.

20And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, covered with sores, who had been placed at his gate,

21just wanting to be fed with the crumbs that fell from the rich man's table—why even the dogs would come and lick his sores! ³⁶⁵

22In due time the beggar died and was carried away to Abraham's bosom by the angels. “The rich man also died and was buried. ³⁶⁶

23And in Hades he looked up and saw Abraham at a distance, and Lazarus very close to him. And being in torment,

24he called out, saying, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue; because I am tormented by this flame!’

25But Abraham said: ‘Child, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus had bad things; but now he ³⁶⁷is being comforted, and you tormented.

26And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, so that those who want to pass from here to you cannot, nor can anyone from there cross over to us.’ ³⁶⁸

27Then he said, ‘I beg you therefore, father, that you would send him to my father's house,

28because I have five brothers, so that he may testify to them, lest they also come to this place of torment.’ ³⁶⁹

29Abraham said to him, ‘They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.’

30So he said to him, ‘Oh no, father Abraham—if someone from the dead should go to them, they will repent!’

31He said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the prophets, they will not be persuaded even if someone should rise from the dead.’ ” ³⁷⁰