Luke 16:1-18

The Parable of the Dishonest Manager

1 He also said to the disciples, “There was a rich man who had ¹a manager, and charges were brought to him that this man was wasting his possessions.

2 And he called him and said to him, ‘What is this that I hear about you? Turn in the account of your ²management, for you can no longer be manager. ’

3 And 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, and I am ashamed to beg.

4 I have decided what to do, so that when I am removed from management, people may receive me into their houses. ’

5 So, summoning his master’s debtors one by one, he said to the first, ‘How much do you owe my master? ’

6 He said, ‘A hundred measures^[a] of oil. ’ 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? ’ He said, ‘A hundred measures^[b] of wheat. ’ He said to him, ‘Take your bill, and write eighty. ’

8 The master commended the dishonest manager for his ³shrewdness. For ⁴the sons of this world^[c] are ⁵more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than ⁶the sons of light.

9 And I tell you, ⁷make friends for yourselves by means of ⁸unrighteous wealth, ^[d] so that when it fails they may receive you into the eternal dwellings.

10 ⁹“One who is ¹⁰faithful in a very little is also faithful in much, and one who is dishonest in a very little is also dishonest in much.

11 If then you have not been faithful in the unrighteous wealth, who will entrust to you the true riches?

12 And if you have not been faithful in ¹¹that which is another’s, who will give you that which is your own?

13 ¹²No servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money. ”

The Law and the Kingdom of God

14 ¹³The Pharisees, who were ¹⁴lovers of money, heard all these things, and they ¹⁵ridiculed him.

15 And he said to them, “You are those who ¹⁶justify yourselves before men, but ¹⁷God knows your hearts. For what is exalted among men ¹⁸is an abomination in the sight of God.

16 ¹⁹“The Law and the Prophets were until John; since then ²⁰the good news of the kingdom of God is preached, and ²¹everyone forces his way into it. ^[e]

17 But ²²it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one dot of the Law to become void.

Divorce and Remarriage

18 ²³“Everyone who divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery, and he who marries a woman divorced from her husband commits adultery.

Cross References

• 1. 16:1 ch. 12:42
• 2. 16:2 See 1 Cor. 9:17
• 3. 16:8 See Matt. 25:2
• 4. 16:8 ch. 20:34; See ch. 10:6
• 5. 16:8 See Matt. 25:2
• 6. 16:8 John 12:36; 1 Thess. 5:5; [Eph. 5:8]
• 7. 16:9 [ch. 12:33; Matt. 6:20; 19:21; 1 Tim. 6:10, 17-19]
• 8. 16:9 ver. 11, 13; Matt. 6:24
• 9. 16:10 Matt. 25:21, 23
• 10. 16:10 ch. 19:17
• 11. 16:12 [1 Chr. 29:14, 16]
• 12. 16:13 [See ver. 9 above]
• 13. 16:14 [ch. 11:39; 20:47]
• 14. 16:14 2 Tim. 3:2; [1 Tim. 6:10]
• 15. 16:14 ch. 23:35
• 16. 16:15 ch. 10:29
• 17. 16:15 1 Sam. 16:7; 1 Chr. 28:9; Prov. 21:2
• 18. 16:15 Prov. 16:5
• 19. 16:16 Matt. 11:12, 13
• 20. 16:16 See ch. 4:43
• 21. 16:16 [ch. 15:1]
• 22. 16:17 Matt. 5:18
• 23. 16:18 See Matt. 5:32

Footnotes

• [a] 16:6 About 875 gallons or 3,200 liters
• [b] 16:7 Between 1,000 and 1,200 bushels or 37,000 to 45,000 liters
• [c] 16:8 Greek 'age'
• [d] 16:9 Greek 'mammon', a Semitic word for money or possessions; also verse 11; rendered 'money' in verse 13
• [e] 16:16 Or 'everyone is forcefully urged into it'