1. Now, Jesus also taught His disciples saying, "There was a rich man who had a manager, and this manager was reported to him for squandering the rich man's wealth.
2. "So, he called in the manager one day and said to him 'What is this I hear about you? You must give a final account of your management of my wealth, and then you can no longer be my manager.'
3. "The manager said to himself, 'What shall I do now that I am losing my position as a manager? I am too proud to beg, and I am not strong enough for manual labor.'
4. 'I know what I will do, so that when I am removed from my job, I will still have many favors to call in.'
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.'
7. "So the manager said, 'Take your bill, and sit down and quickly write it for fifty.'
8. "Then he said to another, 'How much do you owe?' And she said, 'I owe a hundred measures of wheat'; so, he said to her, 'Take your bill and make it out for eighty.'
9. "And to his surprise, the wealthy master praised his unrighteous manager, because he acted shrewdly; for the children of this age are more shrewd in relation to their own kind than are the sons and daughters of the Light.
10. "So I say to you, make friends for yourselves by means of unrighteous wealth, so that when it fails, they will receive you into their eternal dwellings.
11. "The one who is faithful in a very little thing is faithful also in much; and the one who is unrighteous in a very little thing is also unrighteous in much.
12. "Therefore, if you have not been faithful in the use of unrighteous wealth, who will entrust the true riches to you?
13. "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?
14. "From everyone who has been given much will much be required, and to the one who has been entrusted with much, all the more shall be required.
15. "A person cannot mount two horses or bend two bows. No servant can serve two masters; for either they will hate the one and love the other, or else they will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money."
16. Now the Pharisees, who were lovers of money, were listening in and scoffing at Him.
17. And He said to them, "You are those who justify yourselves in the sight of men, but God knows your hearts; for that which is highly esteemed among men is detestable in the sight of God."
18. Then Jesus said, "There was a rich man, who was clothed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day.
19. "And at his gate lay a poor man named Lazarus, full of sores, who desired to be fed with what fell from the rich man's table; moreover the dogs came and licked his sores.
20. "The poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham's bosom.
21. "The rich man also died and was buried, and in Hades, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes, and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus in his bosom.
22. "And he called out, 'Father Abraham, have mercy upon 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.'
23. "But Abraham said, 'Son, remember that you in your lifetime received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner evil things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in anguish.
24. "And 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.'
25. "And he said, 'Then I beg you, father, to send him to my father's house, for I have five brothers, so that he may warn them, lest they also come into this place of torment.'
26. "But Abraham said, 'They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.'
27. "And he said, 'No, father Abraham; but if some one goes to them from the dead, they will repent.'
28. "He said to him, 'If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be convinced if some one should rise from the dead.'"
29. Then Phillip said to Jesus, "Lord increase our faith."
30. And Jesus said to him, "If you had faith the size of a mustard seed, you would say to the oak tree, 'Be uprooted and cast into the lake,' and it would obey you."
31. Then as they were walking, ten lepers stood at a distance and shouted to Christ to heal them saying, "Master, have mercy on us!"
32. When He saw them, He said, "Go show yourselves to the priests and Pharisees. And as they went, they were healed along the way."
33. And one of them, a foreigner, turned back and began to glorify God with a loud voice, falling at Jesus' feet and thanking Him.
34. And Jesus said, "Were not ten cured? But the other nine, where are they? Only this one foreigner has glorified God for his miracle."
35. So, He said to him, "Go now, for it is your faith that has made you well."
|