路加福音 16
Chinese New Version (Simplified)
不义的管家
16 耶稣又对门徒说：“有一个财主的管家，有人在他主人面前告他浪费主人的财物。 2 主人把他叫来，对他说：‘我听见关于你的是怎么一回事呢？把你管理的帐目交代清楚，因为你不能再作管家了。’ 3 那管家心里说：‘主人不要我再作管家了，我作甚么才好呢？锄地吧，没有力气！讨饭吧，怕羞！ 4 我知道要怎么作了，好使人在我离开管家的职务以后，接我到他们家里去。’ 5 于是把欠他主人债的人，一个一个地叫来，问头一个说：‘你欠我主人多少？’ 6 他说：‘四千公升油。’管家说：‘拿你的欠单去，快坐下写二千。’ 7 又问一个说：‘你欠多少？’他说：‘四万公升麦子。’管家说：‘拿你的欠单去，写三万。’ 8 主人就夸奖这不义的管家作事机警；因为在应付自己的世事上，今世之子比光明之子更精明。 9 我告诉你们，要用不义的钱财（“钱财”亚兰文是“玛门”）去结交朋友，好叫钱财无用的时候，他们可以接你们到永恒的帐棚里。 10 在最小的事上忠心的，在大事上也忠心；在最小的事上不义的，在大事上也不义。 11 如果你们在不义的钱财上不忠心，谁还把真实的钱财托付给你们呢？ 12 如果你们在别人的东西上不忠心，谁还把你们自己的东西交给你们呢？
不能服事两个主人(A)
13 “一个家仆不能服事两个主人；他若不是恨这个爱那个，就是忠于这个轻视那个。你们不能服事 神，又服事金钱。” 14 贪财的法利赛人听见这些话，就嗤笑耶稣。 15 耶稣对他们说：“你们在人面前自称为义， 神却知道你们的心；因为人所高举的， 神却看作是可憎恶的。 16 律法和先知到约翰就结束了。从此， 神的国的福音就传开了，人人都要努力进去。 17 天地过去，要比律法的一点一画失效还容易呢。 18 凡休妻另娶的，就犯了奸淫；娶被丈夫所休的，也是犯了奸淫。
财主与拉撒路
19 “有一个财主，身穿紫色袍和细麻衣，天天奢华宴乐。 20 又有一个乞丐，名叫拉撒路，满身是疮，被人放在财主门口， 21 想得财主桌子上掉下来的零碎充饥；并且有狗来舔他的疮。 22 后来乞丐死了，被天使送到亚伯拉罕的怀里。那财主也死了，并且埋葬了。 23 财主在阴间受痛苦，举目远远望见亚伯拉罕，和他怀里的拉撒路， 24 就喊着说：‘我祖亚伯拉罕啊，可怜我吧！打发拉撒路来用指头蘸点水，凉凉我的舌头吧！因为我在这火焰里非常痛苦。’ 25 亚伯拉罕说：‘孩子，你应该回想你生前享过福，同样拉撒路受过苦，现在他在这里得安慰，你却要受苦了。 26 不但这样，我们与你们之间，有深渊隔开，人想从这边过到你们那里是不可能的，从那边过到我们这边也是不可能的。’ 27 那人说：‘我祖啊，那么求你差遣拉撒路到我家里去， 28 因为我有五个兄弟，他可以警告他们，免得他们也到这受苦的地方来。’ 29 亚伯拉罕说：‘他们有摩西和先知可以听从。’ 30 他说：‘不然，我祖亚伯拉罕啊，如果有人从死人中复活，到他们那里去，他们必定会悔改。’ 31 亚伯拉罕说：‘如果他们不听从摩西和先知，就算有一个从死人中复活的人，他们也不会接受劝告。’”
Luke 16
EasyEnglish Bible
A story about a man who thought carefully
16 Jesus told another story to his disciples: ‘A rich man had a servant who worked for him. The servant took care of the money and things that belonged to the man. Then some people told the rich man that his servant was wasting his master's things. 2 So the master sent someone to bring his servant to him. He said to his servant, “I am hearing bad stories about you. So write down everything that you have done with my money and my things. Then you must stop working for me.”
3 “I must think about what I can do,” the servant said to himself. “My master will not let me work for him any longer. I am not strong enough to dig in the ground. I would be ashamed to ask other people for money. 4 I must stop working for my master. But I know what I can do so that people will then accept me into their homes.”
5 Many people had a debt that they had not paid back to the master. So the servant told those people to come to him. He asked the first man, “How big is your debt to my master?” 6 The man replied, “I have to give him 100 barrels of oil.”[a] The servant said to him, “Here is the paper with your debt written down on it. Take the paper. Sit down now and write 50 barrels there.”[b]
7 He asked the next man, “How big is your debt to my master?” The man replied, “I have to give him 100 baskets of wheat.” The servant replied, “Here is the paper with your debt written down on it. Take the paper and write 80 baskets.” ’[c]
8 Jesus then said, ‘The servant in the story was not honest. But his master spoke well about what he had done. It would help the servant later in his life. People that do not obey God think carefully. They know how to do well with people who are like themselves. But people who live in God's light often think less carefully. 9 So I tell you this. People may get money in wrong ways. But you should use it to do good to those who need help. Then they will be your friends. You will die, one day. Then those people will be happy to see you in that place where people live for all time.
10 If you can trust a person with a very small thing, you can also trust him with bigger things. And if you cannot trust a person with a very small thing, you cannot trust him with big things. 11 So if people cannot trust you with money in this world, nobody will trust you with really valuable things. 12 And if people cannot trust you with other people's things, nobody will give you things for yourself.
13 A slave cannot work for two masters at the same time. Maybe he will hate one of the masters, but he will love the other one. Or he will work well for one master, but he will think bad things about the other one. God and money are like different masters. You cannot work for both of them.’
14 The Pharisees heard all this. They loved money very much, so they laughed at Jesus. They said to him, ‘You are wrong.’ 15 Jesus replied, ‘You are happy when people like you. You want them to think that you are good people. But God sees inside you. He knows what you are thinking. The things that many people think are valuable are not valuable to God. He hates those things.’[d]
16 Jesus then said, ‘The books of God's Law and God's prophets spoke God's message until John the Baptist came. Since then, God's servants tell people the good news about the kingdom of God. Everyone is now trying very much to get into that kingdom. 17 But this does not mean that anyone can destroy God's Law. One day, the earth and the sky will finish. But until that time, nobody can remove even a small thing from God's Law.
18 A man must not send his wife away and then marry another woman. If he does that, it is the same as if he had sex with another man's wife. Also, if a woman has left her husband, another man must not marry her. That is the same as if he had sex with another man's wife.’
Jesus tells a story about a rich man and a poor man
19 Jesus then said, ‘At one time, there was a rich man who wore very expensive clothes. This rich man ate big meals every day. 20 There was also a poor man called Lazarus. He had sores all over his body. He lay outside the gate of the rich man. 21 He was very hungry. He wanted to eat the bits of food that the rich man threw away. Even the dogs came and they tasted the sores on his body. 22 Then Lazarus died and God's angels carried him away. They put him at the side of Abraham in heaven. The rich man then also died and his family buried him in the ground. 23 He went to Hades, the place for dead people. He was in a lot of pain there. He saw Abraham far away in heaven. He also saw Lazarus at Abraham's side. 24 So he shouted out, “Father Abraham, please be kind to me. Please send Lazarus here to help me. I am in great pain because I am in a fire that burns me. Let him put his finger into some water. Then he can use the water to make my mouth cool.”
25 Abraham replied, “My child, remember the time when you were alive on earth. Remember what happened then. You had many good things, and Lazarus had many bad things. Now I am taking care of Lazarus, and you are in pain. 26 But that is not everything. Between you and us, there is a big hole. It is wide and long and deep. There is a reason why that hole is there. Nobody can cross from here to where you are. And nobody can cross from where you are to come here.”
27 The rich man said, “If that is true, father Abraham, please send Lazarus to my family. 28 I have five brothers that are still alive. He can tell them not to do the same things as I did. Then they will not also come here when they die. They will not be in great pain, as I am.”
29 Abraham replied, “They have the books that Moses and God's prophets wrote. Your family should read them and do what they say.”[e]
30 The rich man said, “That is not enough, father Abraham. But if someone goes to them from among the dead people, they will listen. Then they will turn away from the wrong things that they do.”
31 But Abraham said to him, “They do not listen to what Moses and God's prophets have said. So they will not believe God's message even if someone comes back from among the dead people.” ’[f]
Footnotes
- 16:6 A barrel is like a large, round, wooden box that contains water or oil.
- 16:6 The man had a big debt to pay, but the servant made it only half.
- 16:7 The debt was large but the servant made it smaller.
- 16:15 People thought that the Pharisees were important people. They thought that the Pharisees were very good people. They thought that they obeyed God. But God knew that it was not true. They wanted people to think well of them. This was more important to them. But what God thought was not important to them.
- 16:29 The men of God wrote down the messages that they received. An officer read these messages aloud in their meeting places. They explained them to the people. If the people listened, they could understand them. And then they could obey God.
- 16:31 Jesus came back after he had died. But many of the Pharisees and the other people still did not believe.
Luke 16
New Life Version
The Picture-Story of the Boss Who Stole
16 Jesus said to His followers, “There was a rich man who put a boss over his houses and lands. Someone told him that his boss was not using his riches in a right way. 2 The rich man sent for the boss and said, ‘What is this I hear about you? Tell me what you have done with my things. You are not to be the boss of my houses and lands anymore.’
3 “The boss said to himself, ‘What will I do now? The owner of the houses and lands is taking my work away from me. I cannot dig in the ground for a living. I am too proud to ask for help. 4 I know what I will do. I will make it so that when I lose this work I will be able to go to the homes of my friends.’
5 “He sent for the people who owed the rich man. He asked the first one, ‘How much do you owe the owner?’ 6 The first man said, ‘One hundred barrels of oil.’ The boss said to him, ‘Take your bill. Sit down at once and change it to fifty.’ 7 He asked another one, ‘How much do you owe?’ He said, ‘One hundred bags of wheat.’ He said to him, ‘Take your bill and change it to eighty.’ 8 Then the rich man said that this sinful boss had been wise to plan for himself for the days ahead. For the people of the world are wiser in their day than the children of light.
9 “I tell you, make friends for yourselves by using the riches of the world that are so often used in wrong ways. So when riches are a thing of the past, friends may receive you into a home that will be forever. 10 He that is faithful with little things is faithful with big things also. He that is not honest with little things is not honest with big things. 11 If you have not been faithful with riches of this world, who will trust you with true riches? 12 If you have not been faithful in that which belongs to another person, who will give you things to have as your own? 13 No servant can have two bosses. He will hate the one and love the other. Or, he will be faithful to one and not faithful to the other. You cannot be faithful to God and to riches at the same time.”
Jesus Teaches That the Law Is Not Finished
14 The proud religious law-keepers heard all these things. They loved money so they made fun of Jesus. 15 Jesus said to them, “You are the kind of people who make yourselves look good before other people. God knows your hearts. What men think is good is hated in the eyes of God. 16 Until John came, you had the writings of the Law and of the early preachers. From that time until now the Good News of the holy nation of God has been preached. Everyone is pushing his way in. 17 But it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one small part of a word in the Law to be of no more use.
18 “Whoever divorces his wife and marries another woman is not faithful in marriage and is guilty of sex sins.
The Rich Man and the Man Who Begged for Food
19 “There was a rich man who dressed in purple linen clothes everyday. He lived like a king would live with the best of food. 20 There was a poor man named Lazarus who had many bad sores. He was put by the door of the rich man. 21 He wanted the pieces of food that fell from the table of the rich man. Even dogs came and licked his sores.
22 “The poor man who asked for food died. He was taken by the angels into the arms of Abraham. The rich man died also and was buried. 23 In hell the rich man was in much pain. He looked up and saw Abraham far away and Lazarus beside him. 24 He cried out and said, ‘Father Abraham, take pity on me. Send Lazarus. Let him put the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue. I am in much pain in this fire.’ 25 Abraham said, ‘My son, do not forget that when you were living you had your good things. Lazarus had bad things. Now he is well cared for. You are in pain. 26 And more than all this, there is a big deep place between us. No one from here can go there even if he wanted to go. No one can come from there.’
27 “Then the rich man said, ‘Father, then I beg you to send Lazarus to my father’s house. 28 I have five brothers. Let him tell them of these things, or they will come to this place of much pain also.’ 29 Abraham said, ‘They have the Writings of Moses and of the early preachers. Let them hear what they say.’ 30 But the rich man said, ‘No, Father Abraham. If someone goes to them from the dead, they will be sorry for their sins and turn from them.’ 31 Abraham said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and to the early preachers, they will not listen even if someone is raised from the dead.’”
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