Luke

Parable of the Dishonest Steward

At another time, Jesus told his disciples:

“There was a rich man, whose steward was reported to him because of fraudulent service. 

He summoned the steward and asked him: 

‘What is this I hear about you? I want you to give an account of your service, for it is about to be terminated.’

The steward thought to himself, ‘What am I supposed to do now? My master will definitely fire me. I am not strong enough to do hard labor, and I am ashamed to beg.

I know what I will do: I must ensure that when I am dismissed, there will be people who will welcome me into their homes.’

So he called his master’s debtors, one by one. He asked the first debtor: 

‘How much do you owe my master?’ 

The reply was: 

‘A hundred jars of oil.’ 

The steward said: 

‘Here is your bill. Sit down quickly and write fifty.’ 

To the second debtor, he asked the same question: 

‘How much do you owe?’ 

The answer was: 

‘A hundred measures of wheat.’ 

Then the steward said: 

‘Take your bill and write eighty.’

The master praised the dishonest steward for his sharpness, because the people of this world are often more clever at handling their own generation than are the people of light.

And so I tell you: use filthy money to make friends for yourselves, so that, when it fails, these people may welcome you into the eternal homes.

Whoever can be trusted with small things can also be trusted with big ones; whoever is dishonest about minor matters will also be dishonest about greater ones. 

So, if you have been dishonest in handling dirty money, who would trust you with real wealth? 

And if you have been dishonest with things that are not really yours, who will give you that wealth which is truly yours?

No servant can serve two masters. Either he does not favor one and prefers the other, or he respects one highly and looks down on the other. You cannot devote yourself to both God and Money.”

The Pharisees, who loved money, heard all this and sneered at Jesus. 

He said to them: 

“You do your best to be considered righteous by people. But God knows the heart, and what is highly esteemed by human beings is loathed by God.

The era of the law and the prophets ended with John. Now, the kingdom of God is being announced, and everyone is striving to enter it by force.

It is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for a single letter of Scripture to remain unfulfilled.

Anyone who divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery, and anyone who marries a woman divorced by her husband also commits adultery.

Once there was a wealthy man who wore purple and fine linen and feasted daily.

Lazarus, a poor man covered with sores, lay at his gate,

 longing to eat the scraps that fell from the rich man’s table. Even dogs used to come and lick his sores. 

The poor man died, and the angels took him to be with Abraham. The rich man also died and was buried. 

From the torment of the netherworld, he looked up and saw Abraham far off, with Lazarus resting beside him.

He called out: 

‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me and send Lazarus, with the tip of his finger dipped in water, to cool my tongue, for I am suffering greatly in this fire!’

Abraham replied: 

‘My son, remember that in your lifetime you were prosperous, while Lazarus’s situation was unfortunate. Now he is comforted, and you are suffering. 

But that’s not all. Between your place and ours, a great chasm has been fixed, so that no one can cross from here to there or from there to here.’

The rich man pleaded again: 

‘Then I beg you, Father Abraham, send Lazarus to my father’s house 

where my five brothers live. Let him warn them so they won’t end up in this place of torment.’ 

Abraham replied: 

‘They have Moses and the prophets. Let them listen to them.’ 

But the rich man said: 

‘No, Father Abraham; if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.’

Abraham said: 

‘If they will not listen to Moses and the prophets, they will not be convinced, even if someone rises from the dead.’”