LUK 16
16
The Parable of the Unrighteous Manager
1 Jesus also spoke to His disciples and said: “There was a wealthy man who employed a steward to manage his estate. Charges were brought to him that this steward was mismanaging and squandering his property.
2 So the master summoned him and said, ‘What is this report I hear about you? Turn in a full account of your administration, because you can no longer remain in charge.’
3 The steward began reasoning within himself, ‘What am I going to do now that my master is removing me from my position? I do not have the strength to do manual labour, and I am too ashamed to survive by begging.
4 I know what course of action I will take, so that after I am dismissed from my stewardship, people will receive me into their homes.’
5 So he called each one of his master’s debtors to him individually. He asked the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’
6 He replied, ‘Eight hundred gallons of olive oil.’ The steward said to him, ‘Take your bill, sit down immediately, and revise it to four hundred.’
7 Then he said to another, ‘And how much do you owe?’ He answered, ‘A thousand measures of wheat.’ He said to him, ‘Take your bill and change it to eight hundred.’
8 The master praised the dishonest steward, not for his corruption, but because he had acted with shrewd foresight. For the sons of this present age show greater practical wisdom in dealing with their own affairs than the sons of light do.
9 And I tell you, make use of earthly wealth to cultivate relationships for eternal purposes, so that when such wealth comes to an end, you will be welcomed into everlasting dwellings.
10 The one who proves faithful in very small matters will also be faithful in great matters, and the one who is dishonest in small things will also be dishonest in much.
11 Therefore, if you have not shown yourselves trustworthy in handling unrighteous wealth, who will entrust to you the true and lasting riches?
12 And if you have not been faithful with what belongs to another, who will give you what is truly your own?
13 No servant can remain loyal to two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will cling to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.”
Pharisaic Love of Money and Hypocrisy
14 The Pharisees, who were lovers of money, were listening to all these things and were mocking Him with contempt.
15 Jesus said to them, “You are the ones who present yourselves as righteous in the sight of men, but God has full knowledge of your hearts. What is highly esteemed among men is repulsive in the sight of God.”
The Law and the Kingdom of God
Matt. 11:12–13
16 “The Law and the Prophets were proclaimed up until the time of John. From that point on, the good news of the kingdom of God is being announced, and people are pressing into it with urgent determination.
17 But it would be easier for the entire created order to collapse than for the smallest mark of the Law to lose its authority or fail to be fulfilled.
18 Everyone who divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery, and the one who marries a woman divorced from her husband also commits adultery.”
The Rich Man and Lazarus
19 “There was a rich man who clothed himself in purple garments and fine linen and lived in continual luxury and self-indulgence.
20 And laid at his gate was a poor man named Lazarus, whose body was covered with open sores.
21 He longed to be fed with what fell from the rich man’s table. Even the dogs came and licked his wounds.
22 The day came when the poor man died, and he was carried by angels to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried.
23 While he was in Hades, suffering torment, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham from a great distance, with Lazarus resting at his side.
24 He cried out and said, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus so that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am suffering terribly in this flame.’
25 But Abraham said, ‘Son, remember that during your lifetime you received what you considered good, while Lazarus received what was painful and harmful. Now he is being comforted here, and you are in anguish.
26 And beyond all this, a vast chasm has been permanently fixed between us and you, so that those who desire to pass from here to you are unable to do so, and no one can cross from there to us.’
27 Then he said, ‘I beg you, father, send Lazarus to my father’s household,
28 for I have five brothers. Let him warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.’
29 But Abraham said, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; they must listen to them.’
30 He replied, ‘No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’
31 Abraham said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be persuaded even if someone rises from the dead.’”
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Copyright © 2026 Michael Adeyemi Adegbola. This Scripture text is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License (CC BY-SA 4.0).
