Luke 16:1-13
Expanded Bible
True Wealth
16 Jesus also said to his ·followers [disciples], “Once there was a rich man who had a manager to take care of his business. This manager was accused of ·cheating him [wasting/squandering his assests/possessions]. 2 So he called the manager in and said to him, ‘What is this I hear about you? Give me a ·report [accounting] of ·what you have done with my money [L your management], because you ·can’t be my manager any longer [are going to be fired].’ 3 The manager thought to himself, ‘What will I do since my master is ·taking my job away from [about to fire] me? I am not strong enough to ·dig ditches [or work the soil; L dig], and I am ashamed to beg. 4 I know what I’ll do so that when I ·lose my job [L am removed from management] people will welcome me into their homes.’
5 “So the manager called in everyone who owed the master any money. He asked the first one, ‘How much do you owe [L my master]?’ 6 He answered, ‘Eight hundred gallons [C Greek: one hundred batoi; a batos was about eight gallons] of olive oil.’ The manager said to him, ‘Take your bill, sit down quickly, and write ·four hundred gallons [Greek: fifty (batoi)].’ 7 Then the manager asked another one, ‘How much do you owe?’ He answered, ‘·One thousand bushels [Greek: one hundred koroi; a koros was about ten bushels] of wheat.’ Then the manager said to him, ‘Take your bill and write eight hundred bushels [C Greek: eighty (koroi)].’ 8 So, the master praised the ·dishonest [unrighteous; unjust] manager for being ·clever [shrewd; prudent]. Yes, ·worldly people [L the children of this age] are more ·clever [shrewd; prudent] with their own ·kind [contemporaries; generation] than ·spiritual people [L the children of light] are.
9 “I tell you, make friends for yourselves using ·worldly riches [L the mammon/wealth of unrighteousness] so that when those riches ·are gone [fail; run out], you will be welcomed in ·those homes that continue forever [eternal dwellings/tents; C God’s presence]. 10 Whoever ·can be trusted [is faithful] with a little ·can also be trusted [is also faithful] with a lot, and whoever is ·dishonest [unjust] with a little is ·dishonest [unjust] with a lot. 11 If [L therefore] you ·cannot be trusted [have not been faithful] with ·worldly riches [L unrighteous mammon], then who will trust you with true riches? 12 And if you ·cannot be trusted [have not been faithful] with things that belong to someone else, who will give you things of your own?
13 “No servant can serve two ·masters [lords]. [L For] The servant will hate one master and love the other, or will ·follow [be devoted/loyal to] one master and ·refuse to follow [despise] the other. You cannot serve both God and ·worldly riches [money; L mammon].”
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Luke 16:1-13
Amplified Bible
The Unjust Steward (Manager)
16 Now Jesus was also saying to the disciples, “There was a certain rich man who had a manager [of his estate], and accusations [against this man] were brought to him, that this man was squandering his [master’s] possessions. 2 So he called him and said to him, ‘What is this I hear about you? Give an accounting of your management [of my affairs], for you can no longer be [my] manager.’ 3 The manager [of the estate] said to himself, ‘What will I do, since my master is taking the management away from me? I am not strong enough to dig [for a living], and I am ashamed to beg. 4 I know what I will do, so that when I am removed from the management, people [who are my master’s debtors] will welcome me into their homes.’ 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 [a]measures of [olive] oil.’ And he said to him, ‘Take your bill, and sit down quickly and write [b]fifty.’ 7 Then he said to another, ‘And how much do you owe?’ He said, ‘A hundred [c]measures of wheat.’ He said to him, ‘Take your bill, and write eighty.’ 8 And his master commended the unjust manager [not for his misdeeds, but] because he had acted shrewdly [by preparing for his future unemployment]; for the sons of this age [the non-believers] are shrewder in relation to their own kind [that is, to the ways of the secular world] than are the sons of light [the believers]. 9 And I tell you [learn from this], make friends for yourselves [for eternity] by means of the [d]wealth of unrighteousness [that is, use material resources as a way to further the work of God], so that when it runs out, they will welcome you into the eternal dwellings.
10 “He who is faithful in a very little thing is also faithful in much; and he who is dishonest in a very little thing is also dishonest in much. 11 Therefore if you have not been faithful in the use of earthly wealth, who will entrust the true riches to you? 12 And if you have not been faithful in the use of that [earthly wealth] which belongs to another [whether God or man, and of which you are a trustee], who will give you that which is your own? 13 No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will stand devotedly by the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and mammon [that is, your earthly possessions or anything else you trust in and rely on instead of God].”
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- Luke 16:6 Gr baths, a Hebrew unit of measure equaling about 7-8 gal.
- Luke 16:6 It is possible that the manager was releasing the debtors from unlawful interest he was charging them (cf v 2)
- Luke 16:7 Gr kors, one kor equals 10-12 bushels.
- Luke 16:9 Gr mamona, from Aram mammon, signifying riches, wealth, etc., personified as an object of worship.
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