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Parable of the Shrewd Manager

16 Jesus told this story to his disciples: “There was a certain rich man who had a manager handling his affairs. One day a report came that the manager was wasting his employer’s money. So the employer called him in and said, ‘What’s this I hear about you? Get your report in order, because you are going to be fired.’

“The manager thought to himself, ‘Now what? My boss has fired me. I don’t have the strength to dig ditches, and I’m too proud to beg. Ah, I know how to ensure that I’ll have plenty of friends who will give me a home when I am fired.’

“So he invited each person who owed money to his employer to come and discuss the situation. He asked the first one, ‘How much do you owe him?’ The man replied, ‘I owe him 800 gallons of olive oil.’ So the manager told him, ‘Take the bill and quickly change it to 400 gallons.[a]

“‘And how much do you owe my employer?’ he asked the next man. ‘I owe him 1,000 bushels of wheat,’ was the reply. ‘Here,’ the manager said, ‘take the bill and change it to 800 bushels.[b]

“The rich man had to admire the dishonest rascal for being so shrewd. And it is true that the children of this world are more shrewd in dealing with the world around them than are the children of the light. Here’s the lesson: Use your worldly resources to benefit others and make friends. Then, when your possessions are gone, they will welcome you to an eternal home.[c]

10 “If you are faithful in little things, you will be faithful in large ones. But if you are dishonest in little things, you won’t be honest with greater responsibilities. 11 And if you are untrustworthy about worldly wealth, who will trust you with the true riches of heaven? 12 And if you are not faithful with other people’s things, why should you be trusted with things of your own?

13 “No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other; you will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and be enslaved to money.”

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Footnotes

  1. 16:6 Greek 100 baths . . . 50 [baths].
  2. 16:7 Greek 100 korous . . . 80 [korous].
  3. 16:9 Or you will be welcomed into eternal homes.

The Parable about a Dishonest Manager

16 Now Jesus[a] was saying to the disciples, “A rich man had a servant manager who was accused of wasting his assets. So he called for him and asked him, ‘What’s this I hear about you? You can’t be my manager any longer. Now give me a report about your management!’

“Then the servant manager told himself, ‘What should I do? My master is taking my position away from me. I’m not strong enough to plow, and I’m ashamed to beg. I know what I’ll do so that people[b] will welcome me into their homes when I’m dismissed from my job.’

“So he called for each of his master’s debtors. He asked the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’ The man replied, ‘A hundred jars of olive oil.’ The manager[c] told him, ‘Get your bill. Sit down quickly and write “50.”’ Then he asked another debtor,[d] ‘How much do you owe?’ The man replied, ‘A hundred containers of wheat.’ The manager[e] told him, ‘Get your bill and write “80.”’ The master praised the dishonest servant manager for being so clever, because worldly people[f] are more clever than enlightened people[g] in dealing with their own.[h]

“I’m telling you, make friends for yourselves by means of unrighteous wealth, so that when it fails, they will welcome you into eternal homes.[i] 10 Whoever is faithful with very little is also faithful with a lot, and whoever is dishonest with very little is also dishonest with a lot. 11 So if you haven’t been faithful with unrighteous wealth, who will trust you with true wealth? 12 And if you haven’t been faithful with what belongs to foreigners, who will give you what is your own?

13 “No servant can serve two masters, because either he will hate one and love the other, or be loyal to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and wealth!”

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Footnotes

  1. Luke 16:1 Lit. he
  2. Luke 16:4 Lit. they
  3. Luke 16:6 Lit. He
  4. Luke 16:7 The Gk. lacks debtor
  5. Luke 16:7 Lit. He
  6. Luke 16:8 Lit. the sons of this age
  7. Luke 16:8 Lit. the sons of light
  8. Luke 16:8 Lit. own generation
  9. Luke 16:9 Lit. tents