Luke 16 :: English Standard Version (ESV)

The Parable of the Dishonest Manager

Luk 16:1He also said to the disciples, “There was a rich man who had a manager, and charges were brought to him that this man was wasting his possessions.

Luk 16:2

Luk 16:2And he called him and said to him, ‘What is this that I hear about you? Turn in the account of your management, for you can no longer be manager.’

Luk 16:3

Luk 16:3And the manager said to himself, ‘What shall I do, since my master is taking the management away from me? I am not strong enough to dig, and I am ashamed to beg.

Luk 16:4

Luk 16:4I have decided what to do, so that when I am removed from management, people may receive me into their houses.’

Luk 16:5

Luk 16:5So, summoning his master’s debtors one by one, he said to the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’

Luk 16:6

Luk 16:6He said, ‘A hundred measures[fn] of oil.’ He said to him, ‘Take your bill, and sit down quickly and write fifty.’

Luk 16:7

Luk 16:7Then he said to another, ‘And how much do you owe?’ He said, ‘A hundred measures[fn] of wheat.’ He said to him, ‘Take your bill, and write eighty.’

Luk 16:8

Luk 16:8The master commended the dishonest manager for his shrewdness. For the sons of this world[fn] are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than the sons of light.

Luk 16:9

Luk 16:9And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of unrighteous wealth,[fn] so that when it fails they may receive you into the eternal dwellings.

Luk 16:10

Luk 16:10“One who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much, and one who is dishonest in a very little is also dishonest in much.

Luk 16:11

Luk 16:11If then you have not been faithful in the unrighteous wealth, who will entrust to you the true riches?

Luk 16:12

Luk 16:12And if you have not been faithful in that which is another’s, who will give you that which is your own?

Luk 16:13

Luk 16:13No servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.”

The Law and the Kingdom of God

Luk 16:14

Luk 16:14The Pharisees, who were lovers of money, heard all these things, and they ridiculed him.

Luk 16:15

Luk 16:15And he said to them, “You are those who justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts. For what is exalted among men is an abomination in the sight of God.

Luk 16:16

Luk 16:16“The Law and the Prophets were until John; since then the good news of the kingdom of God is preached, and everyone forces his way into it.[fn]

Luk 16:17

Luk 16:17But it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one dot of the Law to become void.

Divorce and Remarriage

Luk 16:18

Luk 16:18“Everyone who divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery, and he who marries a woman divorced from her husband commits adultery.

The Rich Man and Lazarus

Luk 16:19

Luk 16:19“There was a rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day.

Luk 16:20

Luk 16:20And at his gate was laid a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores,

Luk 16:21

Luk 16:21who desired to be fed with what fell from the rich man’s table. Moreover, even the dogs came and licked his sores.

Luk 16:22

Luk 16:22The poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s side.[fn] The rich man also died and was buried,

Luk 16:23

Luk 16:23and in Hades, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side.

Luk 16:24

Luk 16:24And he called out, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am in anguish in this flame.’

Luk 16:25

Luk 16:25But Abraham said, ‘Child, remember that you in your lifetime received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner bad things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in anguish.

Luk 16:26

Luk 16:26And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, in order that those who would pass from here to you may not be able, and none may cross from there to us.’

Luk 16:27

Luk 16:27And he said, ‘Then I beg you, father, to send him to my father’s house—

Luk 16:28

Luk 16:28for I have five brothers—so that he may warn them, lest they also come into this place of torment.’

Luk 16:29

Luk 16:29But Abraham said, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them.’

Luk 16:30

Luk 16:30And he said, ‘No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’

Luk 16:31

Luk 16:31He said to him, ‘If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead.’”

See the ESV Preface (Especially for Parenthesis, Brackets, & Asterisks).

ESV Footnotes

(16:6)

About 875 gallons or 3,200 liters

(16:7)

Between 1,000 and 1,200 bushels or 37,000 to 45,000 liters

(16:8)

Greek age

(16:9)

Greek mammon, a Semitic word for money or possessions; also verse 11; rendered money in verse 13

(16:16)

Or everyone is forcefully urged into it

(16:22)

Greek bosom; also verse 23

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