Luke 16

Chapter 16

Jesus' story about a man who prepared for his future

1Jesus told another story to his disciples: ‘A rich man had a servant who took care of his money and the things in his house. Some people told the rich man that the servant was wasting his things. 2So the rich man told the servant to come to him. He said to his servant, “I am hearing bad stories about you. So write down everything that you have done with my things. You can no longer take care of these things for me.”

3The servant thought, “I must decide what I should do. My master will not let me work for him any longer. I am not strong enough to dig in the ground. I would be ashamed to ask other people for money. 4But I must have a way to live after I stop working for my master. Now I know! I know what I can do so that people will accept me into their homes.”

5Many people had a debt that they had not paid back to the master. So the servant told those people to come to him. He asked the first man, “How big is your debt to my master?” 6The man replied, “I have to give him 100 barrels of olive oil.” The servant said to him, “Here is the paper with your debt written down on it. Take the paper. Sit down now and write 50 barrels there.” #16:6 A barrel is a large, round, wooden container for water or oil.

7He asked the next man, “How big is your debt to my master?” The man replied, “I have to give him 100 baskets of wheat.” The servant replied, “Here is the paper with your debt written down on it. Take the paper and write 80 baskets.” ’ #16:7 The servant was making friends because he could make their debts smaller.

8Jesus then said, ‘The servant in the story was not an honest man. But his master spoke well about the clever thing that he had done. People who belong to this world are clever in the way that they make friends. They do that better than the people who live in God's light. 9So I tell you this. Use the money that you have in this world to help other people so that they become your friends. One day you will die and your money will be finished. Then they will welcome you in heaven, your home for ever.

10If you can trust someone with a very small thing, you can also trust them with bigger things. But if someone is not honest with a very small thing, you cannot trust them with anything bigger. 11So if people cannot trust you with this world's money, God will not trust you. He will not give you his true riches. 12And if you have not faithfully taken care of other people's things, God will not give you things for yourself.

13A slave cannot work for two masters at the same time. Maybe he will hate one of the masters, but he will love the other one. Or he will work well for one master, but he will think bad things about the other one. God and money are like different masters. You cannot work for both of them.’

14The Pharisees heard all this. They loved money very much, so they laughed at Jesus. 15Jesus said to them, ‘You are happy when people give you honour as good people. But God sees inside you. He knows what you are thinking. The things that many people give honour to are the things that God hates.’ #16:15 The Pharisees thought that they were good people who obeyed God. They wanted people to respect them.

16Jesus then said, ‘The books of God's Law and God's prophets had authority until John the Baptist came. Since then, God's servants tell people the good news about the kingdom of God. Everyone is now trying to get into that kingdom. 17But this does not mean that anyone can destroy God's Law. One day, the earth and the sky will finish. But until that time, nobody can remove even a small thing from God's Law.

18A man must not send his wife away and then marry another woman. If he does that, it is the same as if he had sex with another man's wife. Also, if a woman has left her husband, another man must not marry her. That is the same as if he had sex with another man's wife.’

Jesus' story about a rich man and a poor man

19Jesus then said, ‘At one time, there was a rich man who wore very expensive clothes. He ate big meals every day. 20There was also a poor man called Lazarus. He had sores all over his body. He lay on the ground outside the gate of the rich man. 21He was very hungry. He wanted to eat the bits of food that the rich man threw away. Even the dogs came and they tasted the sores on his body.

22Then Lazarus died and God's angels carried him away. They put him at the side of Abraham in heaven. The rich man then also died and his family buried him in the ground. 23He went down into the deep hole of death. He was in a lot of pain there. He looked up and he saw Abraham far away in heaven. He also saw Lazarus at Abraham's side. 24So he shouted out, “Father Abraham, please be kind to me. Please send Lazarus here to help me. I am in great pain because I am in a fire that burns me. Let him put his finger into some water. Then he can use the water to make my mouth cool.”

25Abraham replied, “My child, remember the time when you were alive on earth. Remember what happened then. You had many good things, and Lazarus had many bad things. Now I am taking care of Lazarus and you are in pain. 26But that is not everything. Between you and us, there is a big hole. It is wide and long and deep. There is a reason why that hole is there. Nobody can go across from here to where you are. And nobody can come across here from where you are.”

27The rich man said, “If that is true, father Abraham, please send Lazarus to my family. 28I have five brothers that are still alive. He can tell them not to do the same things as I did. Then they will not also come here when they die. They will not be in great pain, as I am.”

29Abraham replied, “They have the books that Moses and God's prophets wrote. Your family should read them and do what they say.”

30The rich man said, “That is not enough, father Abraham. But if someone goes to them from among the dead people, they will listen. Then they will turn away from the wrong things that they do.”

31But Abraham said to him, “They do not listen to what Moses and God's prophets have said. So they will not believe God's message even if someone comes back from among the dead people.” ’

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