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16
The Parable of the Unjust Steward
1 He also said to His disciples: “There was a certain rich man who had a manager, and this manager was reported to him as squandering his possessions. 2 And calling him, he said to him, ‘What is this I hear about you? Render an account of your management, for you can no longer be manager.’
3 “Then the manager said within himself, ‘What shall I do? For my master is taking the management away from me. I cannot dig; I am ashamed to beg. 4 I know what I will do, so that whenever I am removed from the management, they will receive me into their houses.’
5 “And having summoned each one of his master's debtors to him, he said to the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’ 6 And he said, ‘A hundred baths of olive oil.’ So he said to him, ‘Take your bill, and sit down quickly and write fifty.’ 7 Then he said to another, ‘And how much do you owe?’ So he said, ‘A hundred measures of wheat.’ And he said to him, ‘Take your bill, and write eighty.’ 8 So the master praised the unrighteous manager because he had dealt shrewdly. For the sons of this age are shrewder in their own generation than the sons of light.
9 “And I say to you, make friends for yourselves by the mammon of unrighteousness, so that whenever you fail, they may receive you into the eternal dwellings. 10 He that is faithful in what is least is faithful also in much; and he that is unjust in what is least is also unjust in much. 11 Therefore if you were not faithful with the unrighteous mammon, who will entrust to you what is genuine? 12 And if you were not faithful in what belongs to another, who will give to you what is yours?
13 “No servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.”
More Warnings about the Pharisees
14 Now the Pharisees, who were lovers of money, were hearing all these things, and they were mocking Him. 15 And He said to them, “You are those who justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts. Because that which is exalted among men is an abomination before God.
16 “The law and the prophets were until John. Since that time the kingdom of God has been preached, and everyone enters forcibly into it. 17 And it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one tittle of the law to fail.
18 “Everyone who divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery; and everyone who marries a woman who is divorced from her husband commits adultery.
The Rich Man and Lazarus
19 “Now there was a certain rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen, enjoying himself splendidly every day. 20 But there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, covered with sores, who had been placed at his gate, 21 and longing to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table. And even the dogs came and would lick his sores. 22 And it came to pass that the beggar died, and he was carried away by the angels to Abraham's bosom. The rich man also died and was buried. 23 And being in torments in Hades, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham from afar, and Lazarus in his bosom.
24 “Then he cried 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; for I am suffering in this flame.’ 25 But Abraham said, ‘Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus bad things, but now here he is comforted and you are suffering. 26 And besides all this, between us and you a great gulf has been fixed, so that those who desire to cross over from here to you are not able, nor may those from there cross over to us.’
27 “Then he said, ‘Therefore I beseech you, father, that you would send him to my father's house, 28 for I have five brothers, so that he may testify to them, lest they also come to this place of torment.’ 29 Abraham said to him, ‘They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.’ 30 And he said, ‘No, father Abraham; but if someone from the dead should go to them, they will repent.’ 31 But he said to him, ‘If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded should one rise from the dead.’ ”

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© 2014 Dr. Paul W. Esposito