路加福音 16
Chinese Contemporary Bible (Traditional)
善用錢財
16 耶穌又對門徒說：「某財主有個管家，有人控告這管家浪費主人的財物。 2 財主便把管家召來，對他說，『聽說你浪費我的財物，到底是怎麼回事？把帳目交代清楚，你不能再當管家了。』
3 「管家私下盤算，『主人要辭退我了，怎麼辦呢？鋤地我沒有力氣，討飯我又感到羞恥。 4 我知道該怎麼辦了！就算被辭退了，也會有人照應我。』 5 於是，他把欠他主人債的一個一個召來，問第一個，『你欠了我主人多少？』
6 「他回答說，『一百桶油。』
「管家說，『這是你的帳，快坐下，改成五十吧！』
7 「管家又問另一個，『你欠多少？』
「他回答說，『一百石麥子。』
「管家說，『這是你的帳，改成八十石吧。』
8 「主人誇獎這個不義的管家精明。因為今世的兒女在處理世事方面比光明的兒女更精明。
9 「我告訴你們，要善用今世[a]的錢財，廣結朋友。這樣，當錢財不管用時，他們會接你們到永遠的居所。
見微知著
10 「一個人在小事上忠心，在大事上也會忠心；在小事上靠不住，在大事上更靠不住。 11 如果你們不能忠心地處理今世的財富，誰會把真正的財富交託給你們呢？ 12 如果你們不能忠心地處理別人的產業，誰會把你們名下的產業交給你們呢？ 13 一個僕人不能服侍兩位主人，因為他不是恨這位、愛那位，就是重這位、輕那位。你們不能又事奉上帝，又崇拜金錢。」
警戒貪財的法利賽人
14 法利賽人向來貪財，他們一面聽一面嗤笑耶穌。 15 耶穌對他們說：「你們在人面前自以為義，但上帝能看透你們的心。因為世人所看重的東西在上帝看來卻是可憎的。 16 約翰還沒有來以前，律法書和先知書是你們的準則。他出來後，上帝國的福音開始廣傳，人人都在努力進上帝的國。 17 不過，就是天地都消失，律法的一點一劃也不會失效。 18 任何人休妻另娶，就是犯通姦罪，娶被休的女子也是犯通姦罪。」
財主和乞丐
19 耶穌又說：「有個財主天天衣著華麗，生活奢侈。 20 又有一個名叫拉撒路的乞丐身上長滿了膿瘡，被人放在財主家門口。 21 他渴望吃到財主桌上掉下來的食物殘渣，卻只有狗來舔他的瘡。
22 「後來，乞丐死了，天使帶他到亞伯拉罕身邊。財主也死了，被人埋葬了。 23 他在陰間受折磨，抬頭遠遠地看見亞伯拉罕和他身邊的拉撒路， 24 就喊著說，『我的先祖亞伯拉罕啊！求你可憐我，派拉撒路用指尖蘸點水來潤潤我的舌頭吧！我在這火中實在痛苦不堪。』
25 「亞伯拉罕說，『孩子啊！你要想想，你生前享福，而拉撒路受苦；如今他在這裡得到安慰，而你受折磨。 26 況且，在你我中間隔著一道深淵，這邊的人不能到你那邊去，你那邊的人也不能到這裡來。』
27 「財主說，『我的先祖啊，那麼求你派拉撒路去我父親家裡， 28 因為我有五個弟兄。讓拉撒路去警告他們，以免他們也來到這痛苦的地方。』
29 「但是亞伯拉罕卻說，『他們可以聽從摩西和眾先知的話呀！』
30 「財主回答說，『我的先祖亞伯拉罕啊！他們不會聽的。但如果有一個死而復活的人去警告他們，他們肯定會悔改！』
31 「亞伯拉罕說，『如果他們不聽從摩西和眾先知的話，即使一個人從死裡復活，他們也不會信服。』」
Footnotes
- 16·9 「今世」希臘文是「不義」。
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
The Message
The Story of the Crooked Manager
16 1-2 Jesus said to his disciples, “There was once a rich man who had a manager. He got reports that the manager had been taking advantage of his position by running up huge personal expenses. So he called him in and said, ‘What’s this I hear about you? You’re fired. And I want a complete audit of your books.’
3-4 “The manager said to himself, ‘What am I going to do? I’ve lost my job as manager. I’m not strong enough for a laboring job, and I’m too proud to beg. . . . Ah, I’ve got a plan. Here’s what I’ll do . . . then when I’m turned out into the street, people will take me into their houses.’
5 “Then he went at it. One after another, he called in the people who were in debt to his master. He said to the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’
6 “He replied, ‘A hundred jugs of olive oil.’
“The manager said, ‘Here, take your bill, sit down here—quick now—write fifty.’
7 “To the next he said, ‘And you, what do you owe?’
“He answered, ‘A hundred sacks of wheat.’
“He said, ‘Take your bill, write in eighty.’
8-9 “Now here’s a surprise: The master praised the crooked manager! And why? Because he knew how to look after himself. Streetwise people are smarter in this regard than law-abiding citizens. They are on constant alert, looking for angles, surviving by their wits. I want you to be smart in the same way—but for what is right—using every adversity to stimulate you to creative survival, to concentrate your attention on the bare essentials, so you’ll live, really live, and not complacently just get by on good behavior.”
God Sees Behind Appearances
10-13 Jesus went on to make these comments:
If you’re honest in small things,
you’ll be honest in big things;
If you’re a crook in small things,
you’ll be a crook in big things.
If you’re not honest in small jobs,
who will put you in charge of the store?
No worker can serve two bosses:
He’ll either hate the first and love the second
Or adore the first and despise the second.
You can’t serve both God and the Bank.
14-18 When the Pharisees, a money-obsessed bunch, heard him say these things, they rolled their eyes, dismissing him as hopelessly out of touch. So Jesus spoke to them: “You are masters at making yourselves look good in front of others, but God knows what’s behind the appearance.
What society sees and calls monumental,
God sees through and calls monstrous.
God’s Law and the Prophets climaxed in John;
Now it’s all kingdom of God—the glad news
and compelling invitation to every man and woman.
The sky will disintegrate and the earth dissolve
before a single letter of God’s Law wears out.
Using the legalities of divorce
as a cover for lust is adultery;
Using the legalities of marriage
as a cover for lust is adultery.
The Rich Man and Lazarus
19-21 “There once was a rich man, expensively dressed in the latest fashions, wasting his days in conspicuous consumption. A poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, had been dumped on his doorstep. All he lived for was to get a meal from scraps off the rich man’s table. His best friends were the dogs who came and licked his sores.
22-24 “Then he died, this poor man, and was taken up by the angels to the lap of Abraham. The rich man also died and was buried. In hell and in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham in the distance and Lazarus in his lap. He called out, ‘Father Abraham, mercy! Have mercy! Send Lazarus to dip his finger in water to cool my tongue. I’m in agony in this fire.’
25-26 “But Abraham said, ‘Child, remember that in your lifetime you got the good things and Lazarus the bad things. It’s not like that here. Here he’s consoled and you’re tormented. Besides, in all these matters there is a huge chasm set between us so that no one can go from us to you even if he wanted to, nor can anyone cross over from you to us.’
27-28 “The rich man said, ‘Then let me ask you, Father: Send him to the house of my father where I have five brothers, so he can tell them the score and warn them so they won’t end up here in this place of torment.’
29 “Abraham answered, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets to tell them the score. Let them listen to them.’
30 “‘I know, Father Abraham,’ he said, ‘but they’re not listening. If someone came back to them from the dead, they would change their ways.’
31 “Abraham replied, ‘If they won’t listen to Moses and the Prophets, they’re not going to be convinced by someone who rises from the dead.’”
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.
Copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson