Chapter XXI

THE UNFAITHFUL STEWARD, AND THE RICH MAN AND LAZARUS.

1 [16:1]AND he also said to the disciples, There was a certain rich man that had a steward; and he was accused to him of wasting his property. [16:2]And calling him, he said to him, What is this which I hear of you? Render an account of your stewardship; for you can be no longer a steward. [16:3]And the steward said within himself, What shall I do, because my lord takes the stewardship away from me? I am not strong enough to dig; I am ashamed to beg. [16:4]I know what I will do, that when I am put out of the stewardship, they may receive me into their houses. [16:5]And calling each one of his lord's debtors, he said to the first, How much do you owe my lord? [16:6]And he said, A hundred baths [1,350 gallons] of oil. And he said to him, Take your bill, and sit down quickly, and write fifty. [16:7]Then he said to another, And how much do you owe? And he said, A hundred cors [1,445 bushels] of wheat. And he said to him, Take your bill, and write eighty. [16:8]And the lord praised the unjust steward, because he did wisely; for the children of this life are wiser, for their generation, than the children of light.

2 [16:9]And I tell you, Make yourselves friends of the riches procured by injustice, that when it fails they may receive you into the eternal tabernacles. [16:10]He that is faithful in the least is faithful also in much; and he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much. [16:11]If, therefore, you have not been faithful in the riches procured by injustice, who will commit to you the true? [16:12]And if you have not been faithful in another's, who will give you yours? [16:13]No domestic can serve two masters; for he will either hate the first and love the other, or he will adhere to the first and despise the other. You cannot serve God and riches.

3 [16:14]And the Pharisees, who are avaricious, heard all these things, and derided him. [16:15]And he said to them, You are they that justify yourselves before men; but God knows your hearts; for that which is high among men is an abomination before God. [16:16]The law and the prophets were till John; since that time the kingdom of God is preached, and every one presses violently into it. [16:17]And it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away, than for one point of the law to fail. [16:18]Every one that puts away his wife and marries another, commits adultery; and he that marries a woman put away from a husband, commits adultery.

4 [16:19]There was a certain rich man, and he was clothed in purple and fine linen, and feasted sumptuously every day. [16:20]And a certain poor man by the name of Lazarus was laid at his gate, afflicted with ulcers, [16:21]and desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table; but the dogs also came and licked his ulcers. [16:22]And the poor man died, and was carried away by the angels to Abraham's bosom. And the rich man also died, and was buried; [16:23]and in hades he lifted up his eyes, being in torments, and saw Abraham from afar, and Lazarus in his bosom. [16:24]And he called and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am in pain in this flame.

5 [16:25]But Abraham said, Son, remember that you received your good things in your life, and Lazarus in like manner evil things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in pain. [16:26]And besides all this, there is a great chasm fixed between us and you, so that those wishing to pass from hence to you cannot, neither can they pass from thence to us. [16:27]And he said, I beseech you then, father, send him to my father's house, [16:28]for I have five brothers, to testify fully to them, that they may not also come to this place of torment [16:29]But Abraham said, They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them. [16:30]But he said, No, father Abraham, but if one went to them from the dead they would change their minds. [16:31]But he said to him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, they would not be persuaded if one arose from the dead.