Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

2 First of all, I want God's people to do this. They must talk to God for all the people. They must ask God to help them. They must ask God to give them what they need. They must thank God for all that he gives them.

² They must talk to God for all the kings and all rulers. They must do this so that we may live in peace and quiet, so that we may please God and do what is right.

³ This is a good thing. And God, our Saviour, is pleased when people do it.

⁴ He wants all people to be saved and to know what is true.

⁵ There is one God. There is also one man who can open the way between God and all people. That man is Christ Jesus.

⁶ He gave his life to set all men free. This matter was told at the right time.

⁷ I was chosen to tell about this and to be an apostle. I am telling the truth. I am not lying. I was chosen to teach people who are not Jews. I must teach them to believe and to know what is true.

16 Jesus also talked to his disciples. He said, `A rich man had a manager in charge of his things. People told the rich man that the manager was wasting his things.

² he called the manager and asked him, "What is this I hear about you? Tell me what you have done. You cannot be my manager any more."

³ `Then the manager thought to himself, "What will I do? My master is taking my work away from me. I am not strong enough to go out and dig. I am ashamed to beg.

⁴ I know what I will do. Then, when I lose my job, these people will take me into their own homes."

⁵ `So he called to him everyone who owed his master something. He asked the first man, "How much do you owe my master?"

⁶ He answered, "A hundred tins of oil." The manager said, "Take your paper. Sit down right now and write on it fifty."

⁷ Then he asked the next man, "How much do you owe?" He said, "A hundred bags of grain." The manager said, "Take your paper and write on it eighty."

⁸ `Then the master praised the manager who did wrong. He praised him because he did what was wise. The people of this world are wiser than the people who have the Light. They know how to get along with people like themselves.

⁹ `I tell you this. Money may be a wrong thing, but use it to make friends for yourselves. Then when your money is spent, they will be glad to see you come into that place where people live for ever.

¹⁰ `Anyone who can be trusted in a little matter can also be trusted in a big matter. Anyone who does wrong in a very little matter will do wrong also in a big matter.

¹¹ So if you could not be trusted to use money, which is bad, who will trust you to use true riches?

¹² If you could not be trusted with what belonged to another person, who will give you something for yourself?

¹³ No servant can work for two masters. He will hate one and love the other. Or he will obey one and despise the other. You cannot work for both God and money.'