Now He was also saying to the disciples, “There was a rich man who had a manager, and this manager was ¹reported to him as ^asquandering his possessions. 2 And he summoned him and said to him, ‘What is this I hear about you? Give an accounting of your management, for you can no longer be manager.’ 3 And the manager said to himself, ‘What am I to do, since my ¹master is taking the management away from me? I am not strong enough to ²dig; I am ashamed to beg. 4 I know what I will do, so that when I am removed from the management people will welcome 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, ‘A hundred ¹jugs 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, ‘A hundred ¹kors of wheat.’ He *said to him, ‘Take your bill, and write eighty.’ 8 And his ¹master complimented the unrighteous manager 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 by means of the ^1bwealth of unrighteousness, so that when it ²is all gone, ^cthey will receive you into the eternal dwellings.

10 “^aThe one who is faithful in a very little thing is also faithful in much; and the one who is unrighteous in a very little thing is also unrighteous in much. 11 Therefore if you have not ¹been faithful in the use of unrighteous ^2awealth, who will entrust the true wealth to you? 12 And if you have not ¹been faithful in the use of that which is another’s, who will give you that which is your own? 13 ^aNo ¹servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and ^2bwealth.”

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

16 “^aThe Law and the Prophets were proclaimed until John came; since that time ^bthe gospel of the kingdom of God ¹has been preached, 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 one who is ²divorced from a husband commits adultery.

19 “Now there was a rich man, and he habitually dressed in purple and fine linen, enjoying himself in splendor every day. 20 And a poor man named Lazarus ^awas laid at his gate, covered with sores, 21 and longing to be fed from the scraps which fell from the rich man’s table; not only that, the dogs also were coming and licking his sores. 22 Now it happened that the poor man died and was carried away by the angels to ^1aAbraham’s arms; and the rich man also died and was buried. 23 And in ^aHades he raised his eyes, being in torment, and *saw Abraham far away and Lazarus in his ¹arms. 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 a great chasm has been set, so that those who want to go over from here to you will not be able, nor will any people cross over from there to us.’ 27 And he said, ‘Then I request of 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 come to this place of torment as well.’ 29 But Abraham *said, ‘They have ^1aMoses 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.’”

Now He was also saying to the disciples, “There was a rich man who had a manager, and this manager was ¹reported to him as ^asquandering his possessions. 2 And he called him and said to him, ‘What is this I hear about you? Give an accounting of your management, for you can no longer be manager.’ 3 The manager said to himself, ‘What shall I do, since my ¹master is taking the management 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 management people will welcome 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, ‘A hundred ¹measures 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, ‘A hundred ¹measures of wheat.’ He *said to him, ‘Take your bill, and write eighty.’ 8 And his ¹master praised the unrighteous manager 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 by means of the ^1bwealth of unrighteousness, so that when it fails, ^cthey will receive 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 serve 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 serve God and ^2bwealth.”

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 proclaimed until John; since that time ^bthe gospel of the kingdom of God ¹has been preached, 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 one 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 And a poor man named Lazarus ^awas laid at his gate, covered with sores, 21 and longing 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 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 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 will not be able, and that none may cross over from there to us.’ 27 And he said, ‘Then I beg 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.’”

Now Jesus was also saying to the disciples, “There was a certain rich man who had a manager of his estate, and accusations against this man were brought to him, that this man was ^asquandering his master’s possessions. 2 So he called him and said to him, ‘What is this I hear about you? Give an accounting of your management of my affairs, for you can no longer be my manager.’ 3 The manager of the estate said to himself, ‘What will I do, since my master is taking the management away from me? I am not strong enough to dig for a living, and I am ashamed to beg. 4 I know what I will do, so that when I am removed from the management, people who are my master’s debtors will welcome me into their homes.’ 5 So he summoned his master’s debtors one by one, and he said to the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’ 6 He said, ‘A hundred ¹measures of olive oil.’ And he said to him, ‘Take your bill, and sit down quickly and write ²fifty.’ 7 Then he said to another, ‘And how much do you owe?’ He said, ‘A hundred ¹measures of wheat.’ He said to him, ‘Take your bill, and write eighty.’ 8 And his master commended the unjust manager not for his misdeeds, but because he had acted shrewdly by preparing for his future unemployment; for the sons of ^athis age the non-believers are shrewder in relation to their own kind that is, to the ways of the secular world than are the ^bsons of light the believers. 9 And I tell you learn from this, ^amake friends for yourselves for eternity by means of the ^1bwealth of unrighteousness that is, use material resources as a way to further the work of God, so that when it runs out, ^cthey will welcome you into the eternal dwellings.

10 “^aHe who is faithful in a very little thing is also faithful in much; and he who is dishonest in a very little thing is also dishonest in much. 11 Therefore if you have not been faithful in the use of earthly ^awealth, who will entrust the true riches to you? 12 And if you have not been faithful in the use of that earthly wealth which belongs to another whether God or man, and of which you are a trustee, who will give you that which is your own? 13 ^aNo servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will stand devotedly by the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and ^bmammon that is, your earthly possessions or anything else you trust in and rely on instead of God.”

14 Now the Pharisees, who were ^alovers of money, were listening to all these things and ^bwere sneering and ridiculing Him. 15 So He said to them, “You are the ones who ^adeclare yourselves just and upright in the sight of men, but ^bGod knows your hearts your thoughts, your desires, your secrets; for that which is highly esteemed among men is detestable in the sight of God. 1+@Sam 16:7; Prov 21:2

16 “^aThe Law and the writings of the Prophets were proclaimed until John; since then ^bthe gospel of the kingdom of God has been and continues to be preached, and everyone tries forcefully to go into it. 17 ^aYet it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for a single stroke of a letter of the Law to fail and become void.

18 “^aWhoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery, and he who marries one who is divorced from her husband commits adultery. Matt 5:31, 32

19 “Now there was a certain rich man who was habitually dressed in expensive purple and fine linen, and celebrated and lived joyously in splendor every day. 20 And ^aa poor man named Lazarus, was laid at his gate, covered with sores. 21 He eagerly longed to eat the crumbs which fell 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 his spirit was carried away by the angels to ^aAbraham’s ¹bosom (paradise) ; and the rich man also died and was buried. 23 In ^aHades (the realm of the dead) , being in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away and Lazarus in his bosom (paradise) . 24 And he cried out, ‘^aFather Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus so that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in severe agony in ^bthis flame.’ 25 But Abraham said, ‘Son, remember that ^ain your lifetime you received your good things all the comforts and delights, and Lazarus likewise bad things all the discomforts and distresses; but now he is comforted here in paradise, while you are in severe agony. 26 And besides all this, between us and you people a great chasm has been fixed, so that those who want to come over from here to you will not be able, and none may cross over from there to us.’ 27 So the rich man said, ‘Then, father Abraham, I beg you to send Lazarus to my father’s house— 28 for I have five brothers—in order that he may solemnly ^awarn them and witness to them, so that they too will not come to this place of torment.’ 29 But Abraham said, ‘They have the Scriptures given by ^aMoses and the writings of the Prophets; let them listen to them.’ 30 He replied, ‘No, ^afather Abraham, but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent they will change their old way of thinking and seek God and His righteousness.’ 31 And he said to him, ‘If they do not listen to the messages of Moses and the Prophets, they will not be persuaded even if someone rises from the dead.’”