Luke 16:3-13

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 1this age are more shrewd in relation to their own kind than the 2sons of light.
9 "And I say to you, 3make friends for yourselves by means of the 4wealth of unrighteousness, so that when it fails, 5they will receive you into the eternal dwellings.
10 "6He 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 7wealth, 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 "8No servant 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 9wealth."

Cross References 9

  • 1. Matthew 12:32; Luke 20:34
  • 2. John 12:36; Ephesians 5:8; 1 Thessalonians 5:5
  • 3. Matthew 19:21; Luke 11:41; Luke 12:33
  • 4. Matthew 6:24; Luke 16:11, 13
  • 5. Luke 16:4
  • 6. Matthew 25:21, 23
  • 7. Luke 16:9
  • 8. Matthew 6:24
  • 9. Luke 16:9

Footnotes 10

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