Luke 16:1-9

The Unrighteous Steward

1 Now He was also saying to the disciples, "There was a rich man who had a manager, and this manager was reported to him as 1squandering 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 master 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 master's debtors, and he began saying to the first, 'How much do you owe my master?'
6 "And he said, 'A hundred measures 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 measures of wheat.' He said to him, 'Take your bill, and write eighty.'
8 "And his master praised the unrighteous manager because he had acted shrewdly; for the sons of 2this age are more shrewd in relation to their own kind than the 3sons of light.
9 "And I say to you, 4make friends for yourselves by means of the 5wealth of unrighteousness, so that when it fails, 6they will receive you into the eternal dwellings.

Cross References 6

  • 1. Luke 15:13
  • 2. Matthew 12:32; Luke 20:34
  • 3. John 12:36; Ephesians 5:8; 1 Thessalonians 5:5
  • 4. Matthew 19:21; Luke 11:41; Luke 12:33
  • 5. Matthew 6:24; Luke 16:11, 13
  • 6. Luke 16:4

Footnotes 8

  • [a]. Or "accused"
  • [b]. Or "lord"
  • [c]. Or "lord's"
  • [d]. Gr "baths," a Heb unit of measure equaling about 7 1/2 gal.
  • [e]. Gr "kors," one kor equals between 10 and 12 bu
  • [f]. Or "lord"
  • [g]. Lit "generation"
  • [h]. Gr "mamonas," for Aram "mamon" (mammon); i.e. wealth, etc., personified as an object of worship
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