Luke 16-18

Amplified Bible, Classic Edition

16 Also [Jesus] said to the disciples, There was a certain rich man who had a ^[a]manager of his estate, and accusations [against this man] were brought to him, that he was squandering his [master’s] possessions.

² And he called him and said to him, What is this that I hear about you? Turn in the account of your management [of my affairs], for you can be [my] manager no longer.

³ And the manager of the estate said to himself, What shall I do, seeing that my master is taking the management away from me? I am not able to dig, and I am ashamed to beg.

⁴ I have come to know what I will do, so that they [my master’s debtors] may accept and welcome me into their houses when I am put out of the management.

⁵ So he summoned his master’s debtors one by one, and he said to the first, How much do you owe my master?

⁶ He said, A hundred measures [about 900 gallons] of oil. And he said to him, Take back your written acknowledgement of ^[b]obligation, and sit down quickly and write fifty [about 450 gallons].

⁷ After that he said to another, And how much do you owe? He said, A hundred measures [about 900 bushels] of wheat. He said to him, Take back your written acknowledgement of ^[c]obligation, and write eighty [about 700 bushels].

⁸ And [his] master praised the dishonest (unjust) manager for acting ^[d]shrewdly and ^[e]prudently; for the sons of this age are shrewder and more prudent and wiser in [^[f]relation to] their own generation [to their own age and ^[g]kind] than are the sons of light.

⁹ And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of unrighteous mammon (^[h]deceitful riches, money, possessions), so that when it fails, they [those you have favored] may receive and welcome you into the everlasting habitations (dwellings).

¹⁰ He who is faithful in a very little [thing] is faithful also in much, and he who is dishonest and unjust in a very little [thing] is dishonest and unjust also in much.

¹¹ Therefore if you have not been faithful in the [case of] unrighteous mammon (^[i]deceitful riches, money, possessions), who will entrust to you the true riches?

¹² And if you have not proved faithful in that which belongs to another [whether God or man], who will give you that which is your own [that is, ^[j]the true riches]?

¹³ No servant is able to serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will stand by and be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon (riches, or ^[k]anything in which you trust and on which you rely).

¹⁴ Now the Pharisees, who were covetous and lovers of money, heard all these things [taken together], and they began to sneer at and ridicule and scoff at Him.

¹⁵ But He said to them, You are the ones who declare yourselves just and upright before men, but God knows your hearts. For what is exalted and highly thought of among men is detestable and abhorrent (an abomination) in the sight of God.^(A)

¹⁶ Until John came, there were the Law and the Prophets; since then the good news (the Gospel) of the kingdom of God is being preached, and everyone strives violently to go in [would force his ^[l]own way rather than God’s way into it].

¹⁷ Yet it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one dot of the Law to fail and become void.

¹⁸ Whoever divorces (dismisses and repudiates) his wife and marries another commits adultery, and he who marries a woman who is divorced from her husband commits adultery.

¹⁹ There was a certain rich man who [habitually] clothed himself in purple and fine linen and ^[m]reveled and feasted and made merry in splendor every day.

²⁰ And at his gate there ^[n]was [carelessly] dropped down and left a certain ^[o]utterly destitute man named Lazarus, [reduced to begging alms and] covered with [^[p]ulcerated] sores.

²¹ He [eagerly] desired to be satisfied with what fell from the rich man’s table; moreover, the dogs even came and licked his sores.

²² And it occurred that the man [reduced to] begging died and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s bosom. The rich man also died and was buried.

²³ And in Hades (the realm of the dead), being in torment, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham far away, and Lazarus in his bosom.

²⁴ And he cried out and said, Father Abraham, have pity and mercy on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am in anguish in this flame.

²⁵ But Abraham said, Child, remember that you in your lifetime fully received [what is due you in] comforts and delights, and Lazarus in like manner the discomforts and distresses; but now he is comforted here and you are in anguish.

²⁶ And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, in order that those who want to pass from this [place] to you may not be able, and no one may pass from there to us.

²⁷ And [the man] said, Then, father, I beseech you to send him to my father’s house—

²⁸ For I have five brothers—so that he may give [solemn] testimony and warn them, lest they too come into this place of torment.

²⁹ But Abraham said, They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear and listen to them.

³⁰ But he answered, No, father Abraham, but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent (^[q]change their minds for the better and heartily amend their ways, with abhorrence of their past sins).

³¹ He said to him, If they do not hear and listen to Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be persuaded and convinced and believe [even] if someone should rise from the dead.

17 And [Jesus] said to His disciples, Temptations (snares, traps set to entice to sin) are sure to come, but woe to him by or through whom they come!

² It would be more profitable for him if a millstone were hung around his neck and he were hurled into the sea than that he should cause to sin or be a snare to one of these little ones [^[r]lowly in rank or influence].

^3 [s]Pay attention and always be on your guard [looking out for one another]. If your brother sins (misses the mark), solemnly tell him so and reprove him, and if he repents (feels sorry for having sinned), forgive him.

⁴ And even if he sins against you seven times in a day, and turns to you seven times and says, I repent [I am sorry], you must forgive him (give up resentment and consider the offense as recalled and annulled).

⁵ The apostles said to the Lord, Increase our faith (that trust and confidence that spring from our belief in God).

⁶ And the Lord answered, If you had faith (trust and confidence in God) even [so small] like a grain of mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, Be pulled up by the roots, and be planted in the sea, and it would obey you.

⁷ Will any man of you who has a servant plowing or tending sheep say to him when he has come in from the field, Come at once and take your place at the table?

⁸ Will he not instead tell him, Get my supper ready and gird yourself and serve me while I eat and drink; then afterward you yourself shall eat and drink?

⁹ Is he grateful and does he praise the servant because he did what he was ordered to do?

¹⁰ Even so on your part, when you have done everything that was assigned and commanded you, say, We are unworthy servants [possessing no merit, for we have not gone beyond our obligation]; we have [merely] done what was our duty to do.

¹¹ As He went on His way to Jerusalem, it occurred that [Jesus] was passing [along the border] between Samaria and Galilee.

¹² And as He was going into one village, He was met by ten lepers, who stood at a distance.

¹³ And they raised up their voices and called, Jesus, Master, take pity and have mercy on us!

¹⁴ And when He saw them, He said to them, Go [at once] and show yourselves to the priests. And as they went, they were cured and made clean.^(B)

¹⁵ Then one of them, upon seeing that he was cured, turned back, ^[t]recognizing and thanking and praising God with a loud voice;

¹⁶ And he fell prostrate at Jesus’ feet, thanking Him [over and over]. And he was a Samaritan.

¹⁷ Then Jesus asked, Were not [all] ten cleansed? Where are the nine?

¹⁸ Was there no one found to return and to ^[u]recognize and give thanks and praise to God except this alien?

¹⁹ And He said to him, Get up and go on your way. Your faith (your trust and confidence that spring from your belief in God) has restored you to health.

²⁰ Asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, He replied to them by saying, The kingdom of God does not come with signs to be observed or with visible display,

²¹ Nor will people say, Look! Here [it is]! or, See, [it is] there! For behold, the kingdom of God is within you [in your hearts] and among you [surrounding you].

²² And He said to the disciples, The time is coming when you will long to see [even] one of the days of the Son of Man, and you will not see [it].

²³ And they will say to you, Look! [He is] there! or, Look! [He is] here! But do not go out or follow [them].

²⁴ For like the lightning, that flashes and lights up the sky from one end to the other, so will the Son of Man be in His [own] day.

²⁵ But first He must suffer many things and be disapproved and repudiated and rejected by this age and generation.

²⁶ And [just] as it was in the days of Noah, so will it be in the time of the Son of Man.

²⁷ [People] ate, they drank, they married, they were given in marriage, right up to the day when Noah went into the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all.^(C)

²⁸ So also [it was the same] as it was in the days of Lot. [People] ate, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they built;

²⁹ But on the [very] day that Lot went out of Sodom, it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed [them] all.

³⁰ That is the way it will be on the day that the Son of Man is revealed.^(D)

³¹ On that day let him who is on the housetop, with his belongings in the house, not come down [and go inside] to carry them away; and likewise let him who is in the field not turn back.

³² Remember Lot’s wife!^(E)

³³ Whoever tries to preserve his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life will preserve and ^[v]quicken it.

³⁴ I tell you, in that night there will be two men in one bed; one will be taken and the other will be left.

³⁵ There will be two women grinding together; one will be taken and the other will be left.

^36 [w]Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other will be left.

³⁷ Then they asked Him, Where, Lord? He said to them, Wherever the dead body is, there will the vultures or eagles be gathered together.

18 Also [Jesus] told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not to ^[x]turn coward (faint, lose heart, and give up).

² He said, In a certain city there was a judge who neither reverenced and feared God nor respected or considered man.

³ And there was a widow in that city who kept coming to him and saying, Protect and defend and give me justice against my adversary.

⁴ And for a time he would not; but later he said to himself, Though I have neither reverence or fear for God nor respect or consideration for man,

⁵ Yet because this widow continues to bother me, I will defend and protect and avenge her, lest she give me ^[y]intolerable annoyance and wear me out by her continual coming or ^[z]at the last she come and rail on me or ^[aa]assault me or ^[ab]strangle me.

⁶ Then the Lord said, Listen to what the unjust judge says!

⁷ And will not [our just] God defend and protect and avenge His elect (His chosen ones), who cry to Him day and night? Will He ^[ac]defer them and ^[ad]delay help on their behalf?

⁸ I tell you, He will defend and protect and avenge them speedily. However, when the Son of Man comes, will He find [^[ae]persistence in] faith on the earth?

⁹ He also told this parable to some people who trusted in themselves and were confident that they were righteous [that they were upright and in right standing with God] and scorned and made nothing of all the rest of men:

¹⁰ Two men went up into the temple [^[af]enclosure] to pray, the one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector.

¹¹ The Pharisee ^[ag]took his stand ostentatiously and began to pray thus before and with himself: God, I thank You that I am not like the rest of men—extortioners (robbers), swindlers [unrighteous in heart and life], adulterers—or even like this tax collector here.

¹² I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I gain.

¹³ But the tax collector, [merely] standing at a distance, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but kept striking his breast, saying, O God, be favorable (be gracious, be merciful) to me, the ^[ah]especially wicked sinner that I am!

¹⁴ I tell you, this man went down to his home justified (forgiven and made upright and in right standing with God), rather than the other man; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted.

¹⁵ Now they were also bringing [even] babies to Him that He might touch them, and when the disciples noticed it, they reproved them.

¹⁶ But Jesus called them [^[ai]the parents] to Him, saying, Allow the little children to come to Me, and do not hinder them, for to such [as these] belongs the kingdom of God.

¹⁷ Truly I say to you, whoever does not accept and receive and welcome the kingdom of God like a little child [does] shall not in any way enter it [at all].

¹⁸ And a certain ruler asked Him, Good Teacher [You who are ^[aj]essentially and perfectly ^[ak]morally good], what shall I do to inherit eternal life [to partake of eternal salvation in the Messiah’s kingdom]?

¹⁹ Jesus said to him, Why do you call Me [^[al]essentially and perfectly ^[am]morally] good? No one is [^[an]essentially and perfectly ^[ao]morally] good—except God only.

²⁰ You know the commandments: Do not commit adultery, do not kill, do not steal, do not witness falsely, honor your father and your mother.^(F)

²¹ And he replied, All these I have kept from my youth.

²² And when Jesus heard it, He said to him, One thing you still lack. Sell everything that you have and ^[ap]divide [the money] among the poor, and you will have [rich] treasure in heaven; and come back [and] follow Me [become My disciple, join My party, and accompany Me].

²³ But when he heard this, he became distressed and very sorrowful, for he was rich—exceedingly so.

²⁴ Jesus, observing him, said, How difficult it is for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!

²⁵ For it is easier for a camel to enter through a needle’s eye than [for] a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.

²⁶ And those who heard it said, Then who can be saved?

²⁷ But He said, What is impossible with men is possible with God.^(G)

²⁸ And Peter said, See, we have left our own [things—home, family, and business] and have followed You.

²⁹ And He said to them, I say to you truly, there is no one who has left house or wife or brothers or parents or children for the sake of the kingdom of God

³⁰ Who will not receive in return many times more in this world and, in the coming age, eternal life.

³¹ Then taking the Twelve [apostles] aside, He said to them, Listen! We are going up to Jerusalem, and all things that are written about the Son of Man through and by the prophets will be fulfilled.^(H)

³² For He will be handed over to the Gentiles and will be made sport of and scoffed and jeered at and insulted and spit upon.^(I)

³³ They will flog Him and kill Him; and on the third day He will rise again.^(J)

³⁴ But they understood nothing of these things; His words were a mystery and hidden from them, and they did not comprehend what He was telling them.

³⁵ As He came near to Jericho, it occurred that a blind man was sitting by the roadside begging.

³⁶ And hearing a crowd going by, he asked what it meant.

³⁷ They told him, Jesus of Nazareth is passing by.

³⁸ And he shouted, saying, Jesus, Son of David, take pity and have mercy on me!

³⁹ But those who were in front reproved him, telling him to keep quiet; yet he ^[aq]screamed and shrieked so much the more, Son of David, take pity and have mercy on me!

⁴⁰ Then Jesus stood still and ordered that he be led to Him; and when he came near, Jesus asked him,

⁴¹ What do you want Me to do for you? He said, Lord, let me receive my sight!

⁴² And Jesus said to him, Receive your sight! Your faith (^[ar]your trust and confidence that spring from your faith in God) has healed you.

⁴³ And instantly he received his sight and began to follow Jesus, ^[as]recognizing, praising, and honoring God; and all the people, when they saw it, praised God.