Fluent Translation · Read & Reflect
Luke 16
The Shrewd Steward
Jesus also said to his disciples, “There was a rich man who had a steward, and accusations were brought to him that this steward was wasting his possessions. He called him and said, ‘What is this I hear about you? Give an account of your stewardship, because you can no longer be steward.’ The steward said to himself, ‘What should I do? My master is taking the stewardship away from me. I am not strong enough to dig, and I am ashamed to beg. I know what I will do so that when I am removed from the stewardship, people will welcome me into their homes.’ He called in each of his master’s debtors. He asked the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’ The man said, ‘A hundred measures of olive oil.’ The steward told him, ‘Take your bill, sit down quickly, and write fifty.’ Then he asked another, ‘And how much do you owe?’ The man said, ‘A hundred measures of wheat.’ He told him, ‘Take your bill and write eighty.’ The master commended the unrighteous steward because he had acted shrewdly. For the children of this age are more shrewd toward their own generation than the children of light. And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of unrighteous wealth so that when it fails, they may welcome you into eternal dwellings. Whoever is faithful in very little is also faithful in much, and whoever is unrighteous in very little is also unrighteous in much. Therefore, if you have not been faithful with unrighteous wealth, who will entrust true riches to you? And if you have not been faithful with what belongs to another, who will give you what is your own? No servant can serve two masters. Either they will hate one and love the other, or be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.”
God Knows the Heart
The Pharisees, who loved money, heard all these things and ridiculed Jesus. He said to them, “You are the ones who justify yourselves before people, but God knows your hearts. What is highly valued among people is detestable before God. The Law and the Prophets were until John. Since then God’s kingdom is announced as good news, and everyone is pressing into it. But it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one stroke of a letter of the Law to fall. Everyone who divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery, and whoever marries a woman divorced from her husband commits adultery.
The Rich Man and Lazarus
“There was a rich man who dressed in purple and fine linen and feasted splendidly every day. A poor man named Lazarus had been laid at his gate, covered with sores. He longed to be fed with what fell from the rich man’s table. Even the dogs came and licked his sores. The poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried. In Hades, while in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus at his side. He called out, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me! Send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in anguish in this flame.’ But Abraham said, ‘Child, remember that during your life you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things. Now he is comforted here, and you are in anguish. Besides all this, a great chasm has been fixed between us and you so that those wanting to cross from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross from there to us.’ The rich man said, ‘Then I beg you, father, send him to my father’s house, because I have five brothers. Let him warn them so they do not also come to this place of torment.’ Abraham said, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets. Let them listen to them.’ He said, ‘No, Father Abraham. But if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’ Abraham said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be persuaded if someone rises from the dead.’”