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 ¹ He also said to his disciples, "There was a certain rich man, whose manager was accused of wasting his goods.

 ² And he called him and said to him, 'What is this that I hear about you? Give an account of your management, for you may be no longer be my manager.'

 ³ Then the manager said to himself, 'What shall I do? For my lord is taking away the management. I am not able to dig, and I am ashamed to beg.

 ⁴ I know what to do, so that people will receive me into their house, when I am put out of the management.'

 ⁵ So he called every one of his lord's debtors to him and said to the first, 'How much do you owe my lord?'

 ⁶ And he said, 'A hundred measures of oil.' And he said to him, 'Take your bill and sit down quickly and write fifty.'

 ⁷ Then he said to another, 'And how much do you owe?' And he said, 'A hundred measures of wheat.' And he said to him, 'Take your bill and write eighty.'

 ⁸ And his lord commended the dishonest manager because he had dealt shrewdly. For the people of this world are more shrewd in their generation than the children of light.

 ⁹ So I say to you, Make friends for yourselves using unrighteous wealth, so that when it is gone, they may welcome you into their everlasting homes.¹

 ¹⁰ He who is faithful in that which is least is also faithful in much; and he who is dishonest in the least is also dishonest in much.

 ¹¹ Therefore if you have not been faithful in unrighteous money, who will trust you with true riches?²

 ¹² And if you have not been faithful in that which belongs to another, who will give you that which is your own?

 ¹³ No servant can serve two masters. For either he will hate one and love the other, or else he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money."

 ¹⁴ Now the Pharisees, who were covetous, heard all these things and derided him.

 ¹⁵ And he said to them, "You are the ones who justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts. For what is highly exalted by men is an abomination in the sight of God.

 ¹⁶ The law and the prophets were proclaimed until John. Since that time, the kingdom of God is being preached, and everyone is forcing his way into it. [People were entering the kingdom then, two thousand years ago; for to enter the kingdom is an inward, personal experience; and it does not come with outward signs to be observed. Matthew reports the same: "From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven is forcibly entered, and forceful men lay hold of it." Mat 11:12. ]

 ¹⁷ But it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one dot of the law to fail.

 ¹⁸ Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery, and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.

 ¹⁹ There was a certain rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen, feasting and living in splendor every day.

 ²⁰ And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, who laid at his gate, full of sores,

 ²¹ Longing to be fed with the crumbs that fell from the rich man's table. And even the dogs came and licked his sores.

 ²² And it came to pass, that the beggar died and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom; and the rich man also died and was buried.

 ²³ And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torment, and saw Abraham far off, and Lazarus in his bosom. [Most Bibles say the rich man, who was being tormented in agony in the fire, was in Hades, the place of the dead. According to the Net Bible, "The Greek term Hades stands for the Hebrew concept of Sheol. It is what is called hell today."]

 ²⁴ And he cried and said, 'Father Abraham, have mercy on me and send Lazarus so that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am in agony in this fire.'

 ²⁵ But Abraham said, 'Son, remember that you received your good things in your lifetime; while Lazarus received evil things; but now he is comforted and you are in agony.

 ²⁶ And beside this, there is a great gulf fixed between us and you, so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, neither can anyone cross from there to us.'

 ²⁷ Then he said, 'I beg you therefore, father, that you would send him to my father's house.

 ²⁸ For I have five brothers. Let him warn them, lest they also come into this place of torment.'

 ²⁹ But Abraham said to him, 'They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.'

 ³⁰ Then he said, 'No, father Abraham, but if one went to them from the dead, they will repent.'

 ³¹ But Abraham replied to him, 'If they do not hear Moses and the prophets,³ neither will they be convinced even though someone rose from the dead.'"[Like the Jews who could not apply Moses and the prophets, therefore failing to repent in their own conduct, Christians of today think they have no need to repent, presuming they are excused by grace from all the Bible's stated exclusions, requirements, and qualifying conditions of salvation; they also overlook that every man will be judged on his works and words. So today's Christians, listening to the words of the scriptures, hear them like a beautiful song that is sweet to their ears, but they fail to apply the commands to themselves — always thinking the warnings and commands apply to bad people, not righteous believing people like themselves; so they do not obey the commands of repentance from sin that they hear, remaining slaves to sin; and then, like Lazarus in this parable, they are banned from heaven when they die. ]