Luke 16:1-13

Tree of Life Version

A Lesson for the Disciples

16 Now Yeshua was also saying to the disciples, “There was a rich man who had a household manager, and this manager was accused of squandering his belongings. ² So he called the manager and said to him, ‘What’s this I hear about you? Give an accounting of your management, because you cannot be manager any longer.’

³ “Then the manager said to himself, ‘What shall I do, since my master is taking the management away from me? I’m not strong enough to dig; I’m ashamed to beg. ⁴ I know what I’ll do, so that when I’m put out of management others will welcome me into their homes.’ ⁵ So he called in each one of his master’s debtors, and he said to the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’

⁶ “He said, ‘One hundred units of olive oil.’

“The manager said to him, ‘Take your bill, sit down quickly, and write fifty.’ ⁷ Then he said to another, ‘Now how much do you owe?’

“He said, ‘A hundred units of wheat.’

“The manager said to him, ‘Take your bill and write eighty.’

⁸ “Now the master praised the crooked manager because he had acted shrewdly, for the sons of this age are smarter when dealing with their own generation than the sons of light. ⁹ I say to you, make friends for yourselves from the wealth of the world, so when it runs out, they will welcome you into the eternal shelters.

¹⁰ “One who is faithful in the smallest matters is also faithful in much, and the one unjust in the smallest matters will likewise be unjust in much. ¹¹ So then, if you cannot be trusted with unjust wealth, who will trust you with true wealth? ¹² Now if you have not been trustworthy with what belongs to another, who will give you anything of your own? ¹³ No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will stick by one and look down on the other. You cannot serve God and money.”^[a]