Luke Sixteen
And he spoke a parable to his disciples, There was a rich man, who had
a steward; and they accused him that he was
wasting his wealth. So his master called him and said to him,
What is this that I hear concerning you? Give
me an account of your stewardship; for no
longer can you be a steward for me. Then the steward said to himself, What
will I do? for my lord will take away from
me the stewardship? I cannot dig, and I am
ashamed to beg. Now I know what I will do, so that when I
leave the stewardship, they will receive me
in their houses. And he called his lord’s debtors, one by
one, and said to the first, How much do you
owe my lord? He said to him, A hundred pounds of butter. He said to him, Take your note, sit down
quickly, and write fifty pounds. And he said to another, And you, what do
you owe to my lord? He said to him, One
hundred bushels of wheat. He said to him,
Take your note, and sit down and write eighty
bushels. And the lord praised the unjust steward
because he had done wisely; for the children
of this world are wiser in their generation
than the children of light. And I also say, use this earthly wealth,
however acquired, to make friends so that
when it is gone, they will receive you and
you will have everlasting habitation.
He who is faithful with little, is also faithful
with much; and he who is dishonest with
little, is also dishonest with much. If therefore, you are not faithful with the
wealth of iniquity, who will believe that there
is any truth in you? And if you are not found faithful with
that which is not your own, who will give
you that which is your own? No servant can serve two masters; for
either he will hate the one and like the other;
or he will honor one and despise the other.
You cannot serve God and mammon
(wealth).
¶ When the Pharisees heard all these
things, because they loved money, they ridiculed
him. But Jesus said to them, You are the ones
who make yourselves righteous before men;
but God knows your hearts. For what is
highly esteemed among men is disgusting
in the presence of God. The law and prophets were until John;
from that time the kingdom of God is
preached, and everyone presses to enter into
it. It is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one letter of the law to pass
away. He who divorces his wife and marries
another commits adultery; and he who marries
the one who is separated commits adultery.
¶ There was a rich man, who used to wear
purple and fine linen, and every day he made
merry very lavishly. And there was a poor man named
Lazarus, who was laid down at that rich
man’s door, afflicted with boils; He longed to fill his stomach with the
crumbs that fell from the rich man’s tray; the
dogs also came and licked his boils. Now it happened that the poor man died,
and the angels carried him into Abraham’s
bosom; and the rich man also died and was
buried. And while he was tormented in Sheol, he
lifted up his eyes from a distance, and saw
Abraham, with Lazarus in his bosom. And he called in a loud voice and said, O
my father Abraham, have mercy on me, and
send Lazarus to dip his finger in water and
wet my tongue; for I am tormented in this
flame. Abraham said to him, My son, remember
you received your pleasures when you
were living, and Lazarus his hardships; and
behold now he is comfortable here, and you
are suffering. Besides all these things, a great gulf is
fixed between us and you; so that those who
wish to cross over from here to you cannot,
neither from there to cross over to us. He said to him, If that is so, I beseech
you, O my father, to send him to my father’s
house; For I have five brothers; let him go and
testify to them, so that they may not also
come to this place of torment. Abraham said to him, They have Moses
and the prophets; let them hear them. But he said to him, No, my father
Abraham; but if only a man from the dead
go to them, they will repent. Abraham said to him, If they will not
hear Moses and the prophets, neither will
they believe even if a man should rise from
the dead.
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