Jeremiah 8:18-9:1

New International Version

¹⁸You who are my Comforter^[a] in sorrow,
    my heart is faint^(A) within me.
¹⁹Listen to the cry of my people
    from a land far away:^(B)
“Is the Lord not in Zion?
    Is her King^(C) no longer there?”

“Why have they aroused^(D) my anger with their images,
with their worthless^(E) foreign idols?”^(F)

²⁰“The harvest is past,
the summer has ended,
and we are not saved.”

²¹Since my people are crushed,^(G) I am crushed;
    I mourn,^(H) and horror grips me.
²²Is there no balm in Gilead?^(I)
    Is there no physician^(J) there?
Why then is there no healing^(K)
    for the wound of my people?

9 ^[b]¹Oh, that my head were a spring of water
and my eyes a fountain of tears!^(L)
I would weep^(M) day and night
for the slain of my people.^(N)

Footnotes

Jeremiah 8:18 The meaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain.
Jeremiah 9:1 In Hebrew texts 9:1 is numbered 8:23, and 9:2-26 is numbered 9:1-25.

Luke 16:1-13

New International Version

The Parable of the Shrewd Manager

16 Jesus told his disciples: “There was a rich man whose manager was accused of wasting his possessions.^(A) ²So he called him in and asked him, ‘What is this I hear about you? Give an account of your management, because you cannot be manager any longer.’

³“The manager said to himself, ‘What shall I do now? My master is taking away my job. I’m not strong enough to dig, and I’m ashamed to beg— ⁴I know what I’ll do so that, when I lose my job here, people will welcome me into their houses.’

⁵“So he called in each one of his master’s debtors. He asked the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’

⁶“‘Nine hundred gallons^[a] of olive oil,’ he replied.

“The manager told him, ‘Take your bill, sit down quickly, and make it four hundred and fifty.’

⁷“Then he asked the second, ‘And how much do you owe?’

“‘A thousand bushels^[b] of wheat,’ he replied.

“He told him, ‘Take your bill and make it eight hundred.’

⁸“The master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly. For the people of this world^(B) are more shrewd^(C) in dealing with their own kind than are the people of the light.^(D) ⁹I tell you, use worldly wealth^(E) to gain friends for yourselves, so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings.^(F)

¹⁰“Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much,^(G) and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much. ¹¹So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth,^(H) who will trust you with true riches? ¹²And if you have not been trustworthy with someone else’s property, who will give you property of your own?

¹³“No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.”^(I)

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