Luke 16
New American Standard Bible
The Unrighteous Manager
16 Now He was also saying to the disciples, “There was a rich man who had a manager, and this manager was [a]reported to him as (A)squandering his possessions. 2 And he summoned 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 And the manager said to himself, ‘What am I to do, since my [b]master is taking the management away from me? I am not strong enough to [c]dig; I am ashamed to beg. 4 I know what I will 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 [d]master’s debtors, and he began saying to the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’ 6 And he said, ‘A hundred [e]jugs 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 [f]kors of wheat.’ He *said to him, ‘Take your bill, and write eighty.’ 8 And his [g]master complimented the unrighteous manager because he had acted shrewdly; for the sons of (B)this age are more shrewd in relation to their own [h]kind than the (C)sons of light. 9 And I say to you, (D)make friends for yourselves by means of the [i](E)wealth of unrighteousness, so that when it [j]is all gone, (F)they will receive you into the eternal dwellings.
10 “(G)The one who is faithful in a very little thing is also faithful in much; and the one who is unrighteous in a very little thing is also unrighteous in much. 11 Therefore if you have not [k]been faithful in the use of unrighteous [l](H)wealth, who will entrust the true wealth to you? 12 And if you have not [m]been faithful in the use of that which is another’s, who will give you that which is your own? 13 (I)No [n]servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and [o](J)wealth.”
14 Now the Pharisees, who were (K)lovers of money, were listening to all these things and (L)were [p]ridiculing Him. 15 And He said to them, “You are the ones who (M)justify yourselves in the sight of people, but (N)God knows your hearts; because that which is highly esteemed among people is detestable in the sight of God.
16 “(O)The Law and the Prophets were proclaimed until John came; since that time (P)the gospel of the kingdom of God [q]has been preached, and everyone is forcing his way into it. 17 (Q)But it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one [r]stroke of a letter of the Law to fail.
18 “(R)Everyone who [s]divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery, and he who marries one who is [t]divorced from a husband commits adultery.
The Rich Man and Lazarus
19 “Now there was a rich man, and he habitually dressed in purple and fine linen, enjoying himself in splendor every day. 20 And a poor man named Lazarus (S)was laid at his gate, covered with sores, 21 and longing to be fed from the scraps which fell from the rich man’s table; not only that, the dogs also were coming and licking his sores. 22 Now it happened that the poor man died and was carried away by the angels to [u](T)Abraham’s arms; and the rich man also died and was buried. 23 And in (U)Hades he raised his eyes, being in torment, and *saw Abraham far away and Lazarus in his [v]arms. 24 And he cried out and said, ‘(V)Father Abraham, have mercy on me and send Lazarus, so that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool off my tongue, for I am in agony in (W)this flame.’ 25 But Abraham said, ‘Child, remember that (X)during your life you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus bad things; but now he is being comforted here, and you are in agony. 26 And [w]besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been set, so that those who want to go over from here to you will not be able, nor will any people cross over from there to us.’ 27 And he said, ‘Then I request of you, father, that you send him to my father’s house— 28 for I have five brothers—in order that he may (Y)warn them, so that they will not come to this place of torment as well.’ 29 But Abraham *said, ‘They have [x](Z)Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them.’ 30 But he said, ‘No, (AA)father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent!’ 31 But he said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be persuaded even if someone rises from the dead.’”
Footnotes
- Luke 16:1 Or accused
- Luke 16:3 Or lord
- Luke 16:3 I.e., do manual labor
- Luke 16:5 Or lord’s
- Luke 16:6 Lit baths, a Heb unit of measure equaling about 9 gallons or 34 liters
- Luke 16:7 One kor is about 7.7 cubic feet or 0.22 cubic meters
- Luke 16:8 Or lord
- Luke 16:8 Lit generation
- Luke 16:9 Gr mamonas, for Aramaic mamon (mammon); i.e., wealth, or money
- Luke 16:9 Or fails
- Luke 16:11 Or proved
- Luke 16:11 See note 1 v 9
- Luke 16:12 Or proved
- Luke 16:13 Or house servant
- Luke 16:13 See note 1 v 9
- Luke 16:14 Or sneering at
- Luke 16:16 Lit is preached
- Luke 16:17 I.e., projection of a letter (serif)
- Luke 16:18 Or sends away, the Heb term for divorce
- Luke 16:18 Or sent away
- Luke 16:22 Lit Abraham’s bosom; or lap; ancient Jewish terminology for the place of the righteous dead
- Luke 16:23 See note v 22
- Luke 16:26 Lit in all these things
- Luke 16:29 I.e., the books of Moses and the prophets, read aloud in the synagogues
Luke 16
Young's Literal Translation
16 And he said also unto his disciples, `A certain man was rich, who had a steward, and he was accused to him as scattering his goods;
2 and having called him, he said to him, What [is] this I hear about thee? render the account of thy stewardship, for thou mayest not any longer be steward.
3 `And the steward said in himself, What shall I do, because my lord doth take away the stewardship from me? to dig I am not able, to beg I am ashamed: --
4 I have known what I shall do, that, when I may be removed from the stewardship, they may receive me to their houses.
5 `And having called near each one of his lord's debtors, he said to the first, How much dost thou owe to my lord?
6 and he said, A hundred baths of oil; and he said to him, Take thy bill, and having sat down write fifty.
7 `Afterward to another he said, And thou, how much dost thou owe? and he said, A hundred cors of wheat; and he saith to him, Take thy bill, and write eighty.
8 `And the lord commended the unrighteous steward that he did prudently, because the sons of this age are more prudent than the sons of the light, in respect to their generation.
9 and I say to you, Make to yourselves friends out of the mammon of unrighteousness, that when ye may fail, they may receive you to the age-during tabernacles.
10 `He who is faithful in the least, [is] also faithful in much; and he who in the least [is] unrighteous, is also unrighteous in much;
11 if, then, in the unrighteous mammon ye became not faithful -- the true who will entrust to you?
12 and if in the other's ye became not faithful -- your own, who shall give to you?
13 `No domestic is able to serve two lords, for either the one he will hate, and the other he will love; or one he will hold to, and of the other he will be heedless; ye are not able to serve God and mammon.'
14 And also the Pharisees, being lovers of money, were hearing all these things, and were deriding him,
15 and he said to them, `Ye are those declaring yourselves righteous before men, but God doth know your hearts; because that which among men is high, [is] abomination before God;
16 the law and the prophets [are] till John; since then the reign of God is proclaimed good news, and every one doth press into it;
17 and it is easier to the heaven and the earth to pass away, than of the law one tittle to fall.
18 `Every one who is sending away his wife, and marrying another, doth commit adultery; and every one who is marrying her sent away from a husband doth commit adultery.
19 `And -- a certain man was rich, and was clothed in purple and fine linen, making merry sumptuously every day,
20 and there was a certain poor man, by name Lazarus, who was laid at his porch, full of sores,
21 and desiring to be filled from the crumbs that are falling from the table of the rich man; yea, also the dogs, coming, were licking his sores.
22 `And it came to pass, that the poor man died, and that he was carried away by the messengers to the bosom of Abraham -- and the rich man also died, and was buried;
23 and in the hades having lifted up his eyes, being in torments, he doth see Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom,
24 and having cried, he said, Father Abraham, deal kindly with me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and may cool my tongue, because I am distressed in this flame.
25 `And Abraham said, Child, remember that thou did receive -- thou -- thy good things in thy life, and Lazarus in like manner the evil things, and now he is comforted, and thou art distressed;
26 and besides all these things, between us and you a great chasm is fixed, so that they who are willing to go over from hence unto you are not able, nor do they from thence to us pass through.
27 `And he said, I pray thee, then, father, that thou mayest send him to the house of my father,
28 for I have five brothers, so that he may thoroughly testify to them, that they also may not come to this place of torment.
29 `Abraham saith to him, They have Moses and the prophets, let them hear them;
30 and he said, No, father Abraham, but if any one from the dead may go unto them, they will reform.
31 And he said to him, If Moses and the prophets they do not hear, neither if one may rise out of the dead will they be persuaded.'
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.
