Now He was also saying to the disciples, “There was a rich man who had a steward, and this steward was ¹reported to him as ^asquandering his possessions. 2 And he called for him and said to him, ‘What is this I hear about you? Give an accounting of your stewardship, for you can no longer be steward.’ 3 And the steward said to himself, ‘What shall I do, since my ¹master is taking the stewardship away from me? I am not strong enough to dig; I am ashamed to beg. 4 I know what I shall do, so that when I am removed from the stewardship people will ¹take me into their homes.’ 5 And he summoned each one of his ¹master’s debtors, and he began saying to the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’ 6 And he said, ‘One hundred ¹baths of oil.’ And he said to him, ‘Take your bill, and sit down quickly and write fifty.’ 7 Then he said to another, ‘And how much do you owe?’ And he said, ‘One hundred ¹kors of wheat.’ He *said to him, ‘Take your bill, and write eighty.’ 8 And his ¹master praised the unrighteous steward because he had acted shrewdly, for the sons of ^athis age are more shrewd in relation to their own ²kind than the ^bsons of light. 9 And I say to you, ^amake friends for yourselves from the ^1bwealth of unrighteousness, so that when it fails, ^cthey will ²take you into the eternal dwellings.

10 “^aHe 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. 11 Therefore if you have not been faithful in the use of unrighteous ^1awealth, who will entrust the true riches to you? 12 And if you have not been faithful in the use of that which is another’s, who will give you that which is your own? 13 ^aNo ¹servant can ²serve 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 ³serve God and ^4bwealth.”

14 Now the Pharisees, who were ^alovers of money, were listening to all these things and ^bwere scoffing at Him. 15 And He said to them, “You are those who ^ajustify yourselves ¹in the sight of men, but ^bGod knows your hearts, for that which is highly esteemed among men is detestable ²in the sight of God.

16 “^aThe Law and the Prophets were until John; ¹since that time ^bthe good news of the kingdom of God is proclaimed, and everyone is forcing his way into it. 17 ^aBut it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one ¹stroke of a letter of the Law to fail.

18 “^aEveryone who ¹divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery, and he who marries a woman who is ²divorced from a husband commits adultery.

19 “Now there was a rich man, and he habitually dressed in purple and fine linen, joyously living in splendor every day. 20 But a poor man named Lazarus ^awas laid at his gate, covered with sores, 21 and desiring 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. 22 Now it happened that the poor man died and was carried away by the angels to ^aAbraham’s bosom, and the rich man also died and was buried. 23 And in ^aHades he lifted up his eyes, being in torment, and *saw Abraham far away and Lazarus in his bosom. 24 And he cried out and said, ‘^aFather 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 ^bthis flame.’ 25 But Abraham said, ‘Child, remember that ^aduring your life you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus bad things. But now he is being comforted here, and you are in agony. 26 And ¹besides all this, between us and you there is a great chasm fixed, so that those who wish to come over from here to you are not able, and none may cross over from there to us.’ 27 And he said, ‘Then I am asking you, father, that you send him to my father’s house— 28 for I have five brothers—in order that he may ^awarn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.’ 29 But Abraham *said, ‘They have ^aMoses and the Prophets; let them hear them.’ 30 But he said, ‘No, ^afather Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent!’ 31 But 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.’”