The Bible in Basic English BBE
Good News Translation GNT
1 And another time he said to the disciples, There was a certain man of great wealth who had a servant; and it was said to him that this servant was wasting his goods.
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Jesus said to his disciples, "There was once a rich man who had a servant who managed his property. The rich man was told that the manager was wasting his master's money,
2 And he sent for him and said, What is this which is said about you? give me an account of all you have done, for you will no longer be the manager of my property.
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so he called him in and said, "What is this I hear about you? Turn in a complete account of your handling of my property, because you cannot be my manager any longer.'
3 And the servant said to himself, What am I to do now that my lord takes away my position? I have not enough strength for working in the fields, and I would be shamed if I made requests for money from people in the streets.
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The servant said to himself, "My master is going to dismiss me from my job. What shall I do? I am not strong enough to dig ditches, and I am ashamed to beg.
4 I have come to a decision what to do, so that when I am put out of my position they will take me into their houses.
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Now I know what I will do! Then when my job is gone, I shall have friends who will welcome me in their homes.'
5 And sending for every one who was in debt to his lord he said to the first, What is the amount of your debt to my lord?
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So he called in all the people who were in debt to his master. He asked the first one, "How much do you owe my master?'
6 And he said, A hundred measures of oil. And he said, Take your account straight away and put down fifty.
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"One hundred barrels of olive oil,' he answered. "Here is your account,' the manager told him; "sit down and write fifty.'
7 Then he said to another, What is the amount of your debt? And he said, A hundred measures of grain. And he said to him, Take your account and put down eighty.
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Then he asked another one, "And you - how much do you owe?' "A thousand bushels of wheat,' he answered. "Here is your account,' the manager told him; "write eight hundred.'
8 And his lord was pleased with the false servant, because he had been wise; for the sons of this world are wiser in relation to their generation than the sons of light.
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As a result the master of this dishonest manager praised him for doing such a shrewd thing; because the people of this world are much more shrewd in handling their affairs than the people who belong to the light."
9 And I say to you, Make friends for yourselves through the wealth of this life, so that when it comes to an end, you may be taken into the eternal resting-places.
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And Jesus went on to say, "And so I tell you: make friends for yourselves with worldly wealth, so that when it gives out, you will be welcomed in the eternal home.
10 He who is true in a little, is true in much; he who is false in small things, is false in great.
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Whoever is faithful in small matters will be faithful in large ones; whoever is dishonest in small matters will be dishonest in large ones.
11 If, then, you have not been true in your use of the wealth of this life, who will give into your care the true wealth?
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If, then, you have not been faithful in handling worldly wealth, how can you be trusted with true wealth?
12 And if you have not been true in your care of the property of other people, who will give you that which is yours?
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And if you have not been faithful with what belongs to someone else, who will give you what belongs to you?
13 No man may be a servant to two masters: for he will have hate for the one and love for the other; or he will keep to the one and have no respect for the other. You may not be servants of God and of wealth.
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"No servant can be the slave of two masters; such a slave will hate one and love the other or will be loyal to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money."
14 And the Pharisees, who had a great love of money, hearing these things, were making sport of him.
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When the Pharisees heard all this, they made fun of Jesus, because they loved money.
15 And he said, You take care to seem right in the eyes of men, but God sees your hearts: and those things which are important in the opinion of men, are evil in the eyes of God.
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Jesus said to them, "You are the ones who make yourselves look right in other people's sight, but God knows your hearts. For the things that are considered of great value by people are worth nothing in God's sight.
16 The law and the prophets were till John: but then came the preaching of the kingdom of God, and everyone makes his way into it by force.
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"The Law of Moses and the writings of the prophets were in effect up to the time of John the Baptist; since then the Good News about the Kingdom of God is being told, and everyone forces their way in.
17 But heaven and earth will come to an end before the smallest letter of the law may be dropped out.
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But it is easier for heaven and earth to disappear than for the smallest detail of the Law to be done away with.
18 Everyone who puts away his wife and takes another, is a false husband: and he who is married to a woman whose husband has put her away, is no true husband to her.
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"Any man who divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery; and the man who marries a divorced woman commits adultery.
19 Now there was a certain man of great wealth, who was dressed in fair clothing of purple and delicate linen, and was shining and glad every day.
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"There was once a rich man who dressed in the most expensive clothes and lived in great luxury every day.
20 And a certain poor man, named Lazarus, was stretched out at his door, full of wounds,
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There was also a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, who used to be brought to the rich man's door,
21 Desiring the broken bits of food which came from the table of the man of wealth; and even the dogs came and put their tongues on his wounds.
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hoping to eat the bits of food that fell from the rich man's table. Even the dogs would come and lick his sores.
22 And in time the poor man came to his end, and angels took him to Abraham's breast. And the man of wealth came to his end, and was put in the earth.
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The poor man died and was carried by the angels to sit beside Abraham at the feast in heaven. The rich man died and was buried,
23 And in hell, being in great pain, lifting up his eyes he saw Abraham, far away, and Lazarus on his breast.
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and in Hades, where he was in great pain, he looked up and saw Abraham, far away, with Lazarus at his side.
24 And he gave a cry and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me and send Lazarus, so that he may put the end of his finger in water and put it on my tongue, for I am cruelly burning in this flame.
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So he called out, "Father Abraham! Take pity on me, and send Lazarus to dip his finger in some water and cool off my tongue, because I am in great pain in this fire!'
25 But Abraham said, Keep in mind, my son, that when you were living, you had your good things, while Lazarus had evil things: but now, he is comforted and you are in pain.
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But Abraham said, "Remember, my son, that in your lifetime you were given all the good things, while Lazarus got all the bad things. But now he is enjoying himself here, while you are in pain.
26 And in addition, there is a deep division fixed between us and you, so that those who might go from here to you are not able to do so, and no one may come from you to us.
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Besides all that, there is a deep pit lying between us, so that those who want to cross over from here to you cannot do so, nor can anyone cross over to us from where you are.'
27 And he said, Father, it is my request that you will send him to my father's house;
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The rich man said, "Then I beg you, father Abraham, send Lazarus to my father's house,
28 For I have five brothers; and let him give them an account of these things, so that they may not come to this place of pain.
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where I have five brothers. Let him go and warn them so that they, at least, will not come to this place of pain.'
29 But Abraham said, They have Moses and the prophets; let them give ear to what they say.
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Abraham said, "Your brothers have Moses and the prophets to warn them; your brothers should listen to what they say.'
30 And he said, No, father Abraham, but if someone went to them from the dead, their hearts would be changed.
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The rich man answered, "That is not enough, father Abraham! But if someone were to rise from death and go to them, then they would turn from their sins.'
31 And he said to him, If they will not give attention to Moses and the prophets, they will not be moved even if someone comes back from the dead.
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But Abraham said, "If they will not listen to Moses and the prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone were to rise from death.' "
The Bible in Basic English is in the public domain.
Scripture taken from the Good News Translation - Second Edition, Copyright 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by Permission.