Luke 16-17
The Unrighteous Steward
Now He was also saying to the disciples, “There was a rich man who had a manager, and this manager was reported to him as asquandering his possessions. 2 And he called him and said to him, ‘What is this I hear about you? Give an accounting of your management, for you can no longer be manager.’ 3 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; I am ashamed to beg. 4 I know what I shall do, so that when I am removed from the management people will welcome me into their homes.’ 5 And he summoned each one of his master’s debtors, and he began saying to the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’ 6 And he said, ‘A hundred measures of oil.’ And 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?’ And he said, ‘A hundred measures of wheat.’ He *said to him, ‘Take your bill, and write eighty.’ 8 And his master praised the unrighteous manager because he had acted shrewdly; for the sons of athis age are more shrewd in relation to their own kind than the bsons of light. 9 And I say to you, amake friends for yourselves by means of the bwealth of unrighteousness, so that when it fails, cthey will receive you into the eternal dwellings.
10 “aHe who is faithful in a very little thing is faithful also in much; and he who is unrighteous in a very little thing is unrighteous also in much. 11 Therefore if you have not been faithful in the use of unrighteous awealth, who will entrust the true riches to you? 12 And if you have not been faithful in the use of that which is another’s, who will give you that which is your own? 13 aNo servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and bwealth.”
14 Now the Pharisees, who were alovers of money, were listening to all these things and bwere scoffing at Him. 15 And He said to them, “You are those who ajustify yourselves in the sight of men, but bGod knows your hearts; for that which is highly esteemed among men is detestable in the sight of God.
16 “aThe Law and the Prophets were proclaimed until John; since that time bthe gospel of the kingdom of God has been preached, and everyone is forcing his way into it. 17 aBut it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one stroke of a letter of the Law to fail.
18 “aEveryone who divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery, and he who marries one who is divorced from a husband commits adultery.
The Rich Man and Lazarus
19 “Now there was a rich man, and he habitually dressed in purple and fine linen, joyously living in splendor every day. 20 And a poor man named Lazarus awas laid at his gate, covered with sores, 21 and longing to be fed with the crumbs which were falling from the rich man’s table; besides, even the dogs were coming and licking his sores. 22 Now the poor man died and was carried away by the angels to aAbraham’s bosom; and the rich man also died and was buried. 23 In aHades he lifted up his eyes, being in torment, and *saw Abraham far away and Lazarus in his bosom. 24 And he cried out and said, ‘aFather Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus so that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool off my tongue, for I am in agony in bthis flame.’ 25 But Abraham said, ‘Child, remember that aduring your life you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus bad things; but now he is being comforted here, and you are in agony. 26 And besides all this, between us and you there is a great chasm fixed, so that those who wish to come over from here to you will not be able, and that none may cross over from there to us.’ 27 And he said, ‘Then I beg you, father, that you send him to my father’s house— 28 for I have five brothers—in order that he may awarn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.’ 29 But Abraham *said, ‘They have aMoses and the Prophets; let them hear them.’ 30 But he said, ‘No, afather Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent!’ 31 But he 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.’”
Instructions
He said to His disciples, “aIt is inevitable that stumbling blocks come, but woe to him through whom they come! 2 aIt would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck and he were thrown into the sea, than that he would cause one of these little ones to stumble. 3 Be on your guard! aIf your brother sins, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him. 4 And if he sins against you aseven times a day, and returns to you seven times, saying, ‘I repent,’ forgive him.”
5 aThe apostles said to bthe Lord, “Increase our faith!” 6 And athe Lord said, “If you had faith like ba mustard seed, you would say to this cmulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and be planted in the sea’; and it would obey you.
7 “Which of you, having a slave plowing or tending sheep, will say to him when he has come in from the field, ‘Come immediately and sit down to eat’? 8 But will he not say to him, ‘aPrepare something for me to eat, and properly clothe yourself and serve me while I eat and drink; and afterward you may eat and drink’? 9 He does not thank the slave because he did the things which were commanded, does he? 10 So you too, when you do all the things which are commanded you, say, ‘We are unworthy slaves; we have done only that which we ought to have done.’”
Ten Lepers Cleansed
11 While He was aon the way to Jerusalem, bHe was passing between Samaria and Galilee. 12 As He entered a village, ten leprous men who astood at a distance met Him; 13 and they raised their voices, saying, “Jesus, aMaster, have mercy on us!” 14 When He saw them, He said to them, “aGo and show yourselves to the priests.” And as they were going, they were cleansed. 15 Now one of them, when he saw that he had been healed, turned back, aglorifying God with a loud voice, 16 and he fell on his face at His feet, giving thanks to Him. And he was a aSamaritan. 17 Then Jesus answered and said, “Were there not ten cleansed? But the nine—where are they? 18 Was no one found who returned to agive glory to God, except this foreigner?” 19 And He said to him, “Stand up and go; ayour faith has made you well.”
20 Now having been questioned by the Pharisees aas to when the kingdom of God was coming, He answered them and said, “The kingdom of God is not coming with bsigns to be observed; 21 nor will athey say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or, ‘There it is!’ For behold, the kingdom of God is in your midst.”
Second Coming Foretold
22 And He said to the disciples, “aThe days will come when you will long to see one of the days of the Son of Man, and you will not see it. 23 aThey will say to you, ‘Look there! Look here!’ Do not go away, and do not run after them. 24 aFor just like the lightning, when it flashes out of one part of the sky, shines to the other part of the sky, so will the Son of Man be in His day. 25 aBut first He must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation. 26 aAnd just as it happened bin the days of Noah, so it will be also in the days of the Son of Man: 27 they were eating, they were drinking, they were marrying, they were being given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all. 28 It was the same as happened in athe days of Lot: they were eating, they were drinking, they were buying, they were selling, they were planting, they were building; 29 but on the day that Lot went out from Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all. 30 It will be just the same on the day that the Son of Man ais revealed. 31 On that day, the one who is aon the housetop and whose goods are in the house must not go down to take them out; and likewise the one who is in the field must not turn back. 32 aRemember Lot’s wife. 33 aWhoever seeks to keep his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life will preserve it. 34 I tell you, on that night there will be two in one bed; one will be taken and the other will be left. 35 aThere will be two women grinding at the same place; one will be taken and the other will be left. 36 [aTwo men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other will be left.”] 37 And answering they *said to Him, “Where, Lord?” And He said to them, “aWhere the body is, there also the vultures will be gathered.”
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