The Parable of the Dishonest Manager

16 He also said to the disciples, “There was a rich man who had ^(A)a 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 ^(B)management, 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 ^(C)shrewdness. For ^(D)the sons of this world^[c] are ^(E)more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than ^(F)the sons of light. ⁹ And I tell you, ^(G)make friends for yourselves by means of ^(H)unrighteous wealth,^[d] so that when it fails they may receive you into the eternal dwellings.

^10 (I)“One who is ^(J)faithful 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 ^(K)that which is another's, who will give you that which is your own? ^13 (L)No 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.”

^3 (A)And he said to them, “Take nothing for your journey, ^(B)no staff, nor bag, nor bread, nor money; and do not have two tunics.^{[a] 4} And whatever house you enter, stay there, and from there depart. ⁵ And wherever they do not receive you, when you leave that town ^(C)shake off the dust from your feet ^(D)as a testimony ^(E)against them.”

¹⁶ And he told them a parable, saying, ^(A)“The land of a rich man produced plentifully, ¹⁷ and he thought to himself, ^(B)‘What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?’ ¹⁸ And he said, ‘I will do this: I will tear down my ^(C)barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. ¹⁹ And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have ample goods laid up ^(D)for many years; relax, ^(E)eat, drink, be merry.”’ ²⁰ But God said to him, ^(F)‘Fool! ^(G)This night ^(H)your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, ^(I)whose will they be?’ ²¹ So is the one ^(J)who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.”

⁴² And the Lord said, “Who then is ^(A)the faithful and ^(B)wise ^(C)manager, whom his master will set over his household, to give them their portion of food at the proper time?