Luke 16:1-9

Evangelical Heritage Version

The Shrewd Manager

16 Jesus also said to his disciples, “There was a rich man who had a manager who was accused of wasting his possessions. ² The rich man called him in and said to him, ‘What is this that I hear about you? Give an account of your management, because you can no longer be manager.’

³ “The manager said to himself, ‘What will I do, since my master is taking away the management position from me? I am not strong enough to dig. I am ashamed to beg. ⁴ I know what I will do, so that when I am removed from my position as manager, people will receive me into their houses.’

⁵ “He called each one of his master’s debtors to him. He asked the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’ ⁶ He said, ‘Six hundred gallons^[a] of olive oil.’ He said to him, ‘Take your bill, sit down quickly, and write three hundred.’ ⁷ Then he said to another, ‘How much do you owe?’ And he said, ‘Six hundred bushels^[b] of wheat.’ He said to him, ‘Take your bill and write four hundred and eighty.’

⁸ “The master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly. For the children^[c] of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation^[d] than the children of the light are. ⁹ I tell you, make friends for yourselves with unrighteous mammon,^[e] so that when it runs out, they will welcome you into the eternal dwellings.