1  Jesus also said to his disciples, “Once there was a rich man who had a household manager. One day he was told {someone told him} that the manager was managing the rich man’s money badly. 2 So he summoned his manager and said to him, ‘◄It is terrible what they are saying about you (sg)!/Is it true what they are saying about you (sg) [RHQ]?► Give me a written account of the funds you have been managing, because you can no longer be my household manager!’ 3 Then the manager thought to himself, ‘My master is going to fire me, so ◄I do not know what to do./what shall I do [RHQ]?► I am not strong enough to work by digging ditches, and I am ashamed to beg for money.’ 4  Suddenly he had an idea. ‘I know what I will do, so that people will take me into their houses and provide for me after I am dismissed {after my master dismisses me} from my work!’ 5 So one by one he summoned the people who owed his master money. He asked the first one, ‘How much do you (sg) owe my master?’ 6 The man replied, ‘Eight hundred gallons of olive oil.’ The manager said to him, ‘Take your bill and sit down and quickly change it to 400 gallons!’ 7 He said to another man, ‘How much do you owe?’ The man replied, ‘A thousand bushels of wheat.’ The manager said to him, ‘Take your bill and change it to 800 bushels!’ He did similar things for the others who owed his master money. 8 When his master heard what the manager had done, he admired the dishonest manager for the clever thing he had done. The truth is that the ungodly people in this world act more wisely toward other people than godly people [MET] act. 9  So I tell you (pl) this: Use the money that you have here on earth to help others so that they will become your friends. Then when you die and you cannot take any money with you, God and his angels will welcome you into a home in heaven that will last forever.

10 People who faithfully manage small matters will also faithfully manage important matters. People who are dishonest in the way they handle small matters will be dishonest in the way they handle important matters. 11 So if you have not faithfully handled the money that God has given you here on earth, ◄he will certainly not allow you to possess the true spiritual riches in heaven!/would he allow you to possess the true spiritual riches in heaven?► [RHQ] 12 And if you have not faithfully managed things that belong to other people, ◄God will certainly not allow you to receive treasures in heaven that would belong to you!/would God allow you to receive treasures in heaven that would belong to you?► [RHQ] 13 No servant is able to serve two different bosses at the same time. If he tried to do that, he would prefer one of them more than the other one; he would be loyal to one of them and despise the other one. Similarly, you cannot devote your life to worshipping God and worshipping money and material goods at the same time.”

14 There were some Pharisees there. They loved to acquire money. When they heard Jesus say that, they ridiculed him. 15 But he said to them, “You try to make other people think that you are righteous, but God knows your ◄inner beings/hearts►. So he will reject you. Keep in mind that many things that people think are important, God thinks are detestable.

16 The laws that God gave Moses and what the prophets [MTY] wrote were ◄in effect/what you needed to obey► until John the Baptizer came. Since then I have been preaching about how God wants to rule people’s lives in a new way, and many people are accepting that message and very eagerly asking God to control their lives. But that does not mean that God has abolished the laws that he established previously. 17  All of God’s laws, even those that seem insignificant, are more permanent than heaven and earth.

18  For example, because God considers that a marriage lasts until either the husband or the wife dies, he considers that any man who divorces his wife and marries another woman is committing adultery. He also considers that any man who marries a woman who has been divorced by her husband {whose husband has divorced her} is also committing adultery.”

19  Jesus also said [MET], “Once there was a rich man who wore expensive purple linen garments. He ate luxuriously every day. 20 And every day a poor man whose name was Lazarus was laid {some people also laid a poor man whose name was Lazarus} at the gate of the rich man’s house. Lazarus’ body was covered with sores. 21 He was so hungry that he wanted to eat the scraps of food that fell from the table where the rich man ate. Furthermore, to make things worse, dogs came and licked his sores. 22  Eventually the poor man died. Then he was taken by the angels {the angels took him} to start feasting next to his ancestor Abraham. The rich man also died, and his body was buried {some people buried his body}. 23 In the place where dead people wait for God to judge them, he was suffering great pain. He looked up and saw Abraham far away, and he saw Lazarus sitting close to Abraham. 24 So he shouted, ‘Father Abraham, I am suffering very much in this fire! So please pity me, and send Lazarus here so that he can dip his finger in water and touch my tongue to cool it!’ 25 But Abraham replied, ‘Son, remember that while you (sg) were alive on earth you enjoyed many good things. But Lazarus was miserable. Now it is fair that he is happy here, and you are suffering. 26 Besides that, there is a huge ravine between you (sg) and us. So those who want to go from here to where you (sg) are, are not able to. Furthermore, no one can cross from there to where we (exc) are.’ 27 Then the rich man said, ‘If that is so, father Abraham, I ask you (sg) to send Lazarus to my father’s house. 28 I have five brothers who live there. Tell him to warn them to turn away from their sinful behavior so that they do not also come to this place, where we(exc) suffer great pain!’ 29 But Abraham replied, ‘No, I will not do that, because your brothers are able to go to the Jewish meeting places where the priests read what Moses and the prophets wrote. They should listen to what Moses and the prophets [MTY] wrote!’ 30 But the rich man replied, ‘No, father Abraham, that will not be enough But if someone from those who have died goes back to them and warns them, they will turn from their sinful behavior.’ 31  Abraham said to him, ‘No! If they do not listen to what [MTY] Moses and the prophets [MTY] wrote, even if someone would become alive again and go and warn them, they would not be convinced {he could not convince them} that they should turn from their sinful behavior.’ ”