Luke 16 · WEB
The Shrewd Manager and the Rich Man and Lazarus
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He also said to his disciples, "There was a certain rich man who had a manager. An accusation was made to him that this man was wasting his possessions.
2He called him, and said to him, 'What is this that I hear about you? Give an accounting of your management, for you can no longer be manager.'
3"The manager said within himself, 'What will I do, seeing that my lord is taking away the management position from me? I don't have strength to dig. I am ashamed to beg.
4I know what I will do, so that when I am removed from management, they may receive me into their houses.'
5Calling each one of his lord's debtors to him, he said to the first, 'How much do you owe to my lord?'
6He said, 'A hundred batos of oil.' He said to him, 'Take your bill, and sit down quickly and write fifty.'
7Then he said to another, 'How much do you owe?' He said, 'A hundred cors of wheat.' He said to him, 'Take your bill, and write eighty.'
8"His lord commended the dishonest manager because he had done wisely, for the children of this world are, in their own generation, wiser than the children of the light.
9I tell you, make for yourselves friends by means of unrighteous mammon, that when you fail, they may receive you into the eternal tents.
10He who is faithful in a very little is faithful also in much. He who is dishonest in a very little is also dishonest in much.
11If therefore you have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches?
12If you have not been faithful in that which is another's, who will give you that which is your own?
13No servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to one, and despise the other. You aren't able to serve God and Mammon."
14The Pharisees, who were lovers of money, also heard all these things, and they scoffed at him.
15He said to them, "You are those who justify yourselves in the sight of men, but God knows your hearts. For that which is exalted among men is an abomination in the sight of God.
16The law and the prophets were until John. From that time the Good News of God's Kingdom is preached, and everyone is forcing his way into it.
17But it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away, than for one tiny stroke of a pen in the law to fall.
18Everyone who divorces his wife, and marries another, commits adultery. He who marries one who is divorced from a husband commits adultery.
19"Now there was a certain rich man, and he was clothed in purple and fine linen, living in luxury every day.
20A certain beggar, named Lazarus, was taken to his gate, full of sores,
21and desiring to be fed with the crumbs that fell from the rich man's table. Yes, even the dogs came and licked his sores.
22The beggar died, and he was carried away by the angels to Abraham's bosom. The rich man also died, and was buried.
23In Hades, he lifted up his eyes, being in torment, and saw Abraham far off, and Lazarus at his bosom.
24He cried and said, 'Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue! For I am in anguish in this flame.'
25"But Abraham said, 'Son, remember that you, in your lifetime, received your good things, and Lazarus, in the same way, bad things. But here he is now comforted and you are in anguish.
26Besides all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed, that those who want to pass from here to you are not able, and that none may cross over from there to us.'
27"He said, 'I ask you therefore, father, that you would send him to my father's house;
28for I have five brothers, that he may testify to them, so they won't also come into this place of torment.'
29"But Abraham said to him, 'They have Moses and the prophets. Let them listen to them.'
30"He said, 'No, father Abraham, but if one goes to them from the dead, they will repent.'
31"He said to him, 'If they don't listen to Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded if one rises from the dead.'"
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Summary
Jesus tells of a shrewd but dishonest manager who uses his master's money to secure his future, and applies the lesson with a piercing point: use earthly wealth wisely for eternal ends, because no one can serve both God and money. The Pharisees, lovers of money, scoff, so Jesus answers with the story of the rich man and Lazarus — two men whose eternal destinies reverse what their earthly status seemed to promise, and who are separated by a fixed gulf in the afterlife.
Themes
- Faithful stewardship of wealth
- Serving God versus serving Mammon
- Eternal reversal of earthly fortunes
- The reality of judgment and the afterlife
- The sufficiency of Scripture for repentance
Key verses
- Luke 16:10 — “He who is faithful in a very little is faithful also in much.”
- Luke 16:13 — “No servant can serve two masters... You aren't able to serve God and Mammon.”
- Luke 16:15 — “That which is exalted among men is an abomination in the sight of God.”
- Luke 16:31 — “If they don't listen to Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded if one rises from the dead.”
Context & background
These parables are taught while Jesus is still on his way to Jerusalem (modern Israel), with the Pharisees listening on. A "manager" (steward) was a trusted slave or servant who handled a wealthy landowner's contracts; reducing debts could plausibly mean removing his own commission. Mammon is an Aramaic word for wealth or property, treated here almost as a rival god. "Abraham's bosom" and Hades are spiritual realms used in Jewish thought to picture the righteous and unrighteous dead — they are not earthly places. Purple cloth and fine linen were luxury imports (Tyrian purple from coastal Phoenicia, modern Lebanon, and Egyptian linen from the Nile region of modern Egypt), markers of extreme wealth.
Cross-references
- 1 Timothy 6:9-10 — The love of money is a root of all kinds of evil.
- James 5:1-5 — Warning to the rich who live in luxury and ignore the poor.
- John 11:43-44; 12:9-11 — Even after a Lazarus rises from the dead, many still refuse to believe.
- Matthew 6:24 — Parallel saying about serving God and Mammon.
- Proverbs 19:17 — Whoever is kind to the poor lends to the Lord.