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¹Now Jesus was also saying to the disciples, "There was a certain rich man who had a manager [of his estate], and accusations [against this man] were brought to him, that this man was squandering his [master's] possessions.

²So he called him and said to him, 'What is this I hear about you? Give an accounting of your management [of my affairs], for you can no longer be [my] manager.'

³The manager [of the estate] said to himself, 'What will I do, since my master is taking the management away from me? I am not strong enough to dig [for a living], and I am ashamed to beg.

⁴I know what I will do, so that when I am removed from the management, people [who are my master's debtors] will welcome me into their homes.'

⁵So he summoned his master's debtors one by one, and he said to the first, 'How much do you owe my master?'

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

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

⁸And his master commended the unjust manager [not for his misdeeds, but] because he had acted shrewdly [by preparing for his future unemployment]; for the sons of this age [the non-believers] are shrewder in relation to their own kind [that is, to the ways of the secular world] than are the sons of light [the believers].

⁹And I tell you [learn from this], make friends for yourselves [for eternity] by means of the wealth of unrighteousness [that is, use material resources as a way to further the work of God], so that when it runs out, they will welcome you into the eternal dwellings.

¹⁰"He who is faithful in a very little thing is also faithful in much; and he who is dishonest in a very little thing is also dishonest in much.

¹¹Therefore if you have not been faithful in the use of earthly wealth, who will entrust the true riches to you?

¹²And if you have not been faithful in the use of that [earthly wealth] which belongs to another [whether God or man, and of which you are a trustee], 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 he will stand devotedly by the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and mammon [that is, your earthly possessions or anything else you trust in and rely on instead of God]."

¹⁴Now the Pharisees, who were lovers of money, were listening to all these things and were sneering and ridiculing Him.

¹⁵So He said to them, "You are the ones who declare yourselves just and upright in the sight of men, but God knows your hearts [your thoughts, your desires, your secrets]; for that which is highly esteemed among men is detestable in the sight of God.

¹⁶"The Law and the [writings of the] Prophets were proclaimed until John; since then the gospel of the kingdom of God has been and continues to be preached, and everyone tries forcefully to go into it.

¹⁷Yet it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for a single stroke of a letter of the Law to fail and become void.

¹⁸"Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery, and he who marries one who is divorced from her husband commits adultery.

¹⁹"Now there was a certain rich man who was habitually dressed in expensive purple and fine linen, and celebrated and lived joyously in splendor every day.

²⁰And a poor man named Lazarus, was laid at his gate, covered with sores.

²¹He [eagerly] longed to eat the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table. Besides, even the dogs were coming and licking his sores.

²²Now it happened that the poor man died and his spirit was carried away by the angels to Abraham's bosom (paradise); and the rich man also died and was buried.

²³In Hades (the realm of the dead), being in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away and Lazarus in his bosom (paradise).

²⁴And he cried out, '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, because I am in severe agony in this flame.'

²⁵But Abraham said, 'Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things [all the comforts and delights], and Lazarus likewise bad things [all the discomforts and distresses]; but now he is comforted here [in paradise], while you are in severe agony.

²⁶And besides all this, between us and you [people] a great chasm has been fixed, so that those who want to come over from here to you will not be able, and none may cross over from there to us.'

²⁷So the rich man said, 'Then, father [Abraham], I beg you to send Lazarus to my father's house—

²⁸for I have five brothers—in order that he may solemnly warn them and witness to them, so that they too will not come to this place of torment.'

²⁹But Abraham said, 'They have [the Scriptures given by] Moses and the [writings of the] Prophets; let them listen to them.'

³⁰He replied, 'No, father Abraham, but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent [they will change their old way of thinking and seek God and His righteousness].'

³¹And he said to him, 'If they do not listen to [the messages of] Moses and the Prophets, they will not be persuaded even if someone rises from the dead.'"

¹Jesus said to His disciples, "Stumbling blocks [temptations and traps set to lure one to sin] are sure to come, but woe (judgment is coming) to him through whom they come!

²It would be better for him if a millstone [as large as one turned by a donkey] were hung around his neck and he were hurled into the sea, than for him to cause one of these little ones to stumble [in sin and lose faith].

³Pay attention and always be on guard [looking out for one another]! If your brother sins and disregards God's precepts, solemnly warn him; and if he repents and changes, forgive him.

⁴Even if he sins against you seven times a day, and returns to you seven times and says, 'I repent,' you must forgive him [that is, give up resentment and consider the offense recalled and annulled]."

⁵The apostles said to the Lord, "Increase our faith [our ability to confidently trust in God and in His power]."

⁶And the Lord said, "If you have [confident, abiding] faith in God [even as small] as a mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree [which has very strong roots], 'Be pulled up by the roots and be planted in the sea'; and [if the request was in agreement with the will of God] it would have obeyed you.

⁷"Which of you who has a servant plowing or tending sheep will say to him when he comes in from the field, 'Come at once and sit down to eat?'

⁸Will he not instead say to him, 'Prepare something for me to eat, and appropriately clothe yourself [for service] and serve me while I eat and drink; then afterward you may eat and drink?'

⁹He does not thank the servant just because he did what he was ordered to do, does he?

¹⁰So you too, when you have done everything that was assigned and commanded you, say, 'We are unworthy servants [undeserving of praise or a reward, for we have not gone beyond our obligation]; we have merely done what we ought to do.'"

¹¹While Jesus was on the way to Jerusalem, He was passing [along the border] between Samaria and Galilee.

¹²As He entered a village, He was met by ten lepers who stood at a distance;

¹³and they raised their voices and called out, "Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!"

¹⁴When He saw them, He said to them, "Go and show yourselves to the priests." And as they went, they were [miraculously] healed and made clean.

¹⁵One of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, glorifying and praising and honoring God with a loud voice;

¹⁶and he lay face downward at Jesus' feet, thanking Him [over and over]. He was a Samaritan.

¹⁷Then Jesus asked, "Were not ten [of you] cleansed? Where are the [other] nine?

¹⁸Was there no one found to return and to give thanks and praise to God, except this foreigner?"

¹⁹Jesus said to him, "Get up and go [on your way]. Your faith [your personal trust in Me and your confidence in God's power] has restored you to health."

²⁰Now having been asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, He replied, "The kingdom of God is not coming with signs to be observed or with a visible display;

²¹nor will people say, 'Look! Here it is!' or, 'There it is!' For the kingdom of God is among you [because of My presence]."

²²Then He said to the disciples, "The time will come when you will long to see [even] one of the days of the Son of Man, and you will not see it.

²³They will say to you, 'Look [the Messiah is] there!' or 'Look [He is] here!' Do not go away [to see Him], and do not run after them.

²⁴For just like the lightning, when it flashes out of one part of the sky, gives light to the other part of the sky, so [visible] will the Son of Man be in His day.

²⁵But first He must suffer many things and be repudiated and rejected and considered unfit [to be the Messiah] by this [unbelieving] generation.

²⁶And just as it was in the days of Noah, so it will be in the time of [the second coming of] the Son of Man:

²⁷the people were eating, they were drinking, they were marrying, they were being given in marriage, [they were indifferent to God] until the day that Noah went into the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all.

²⁸It was the same as it was in the days of Lot. People were eating, they were drinking, they were buying, they were selling, they were planting, they were building [carrying on business as usual, without regard for their sins];

²⁹but on the [very] day that Lot left Sodom it rained fire and brimstone (burning sulfur) from heaven and destroyed them all.

³⁰It will be just the same on the day that the Son of Man is revealed.

³¹On that day, whoever is on the housetop, with his belongings in the house, must not come down [and go inside] to take them out; and likewise whoever is in the field must not turn back.

³²Remember [what happened to] Lot's wife [when she looked back]!

³³Whoever seeks to save his life will [eventually] lose it [through death], and whoever loses his life [in this world] will keep it [from the consequences of sin and separation from God].

³⁴I tell you, on that night [when Messiah comes again] there will be two [sleeping] in one bed; the one (the non-believer) will be taken [away in judgment] and the other (the believer) will be left.

³⁵There will be two women grinding [at the mill] together; the one (the non-believer) will be taken [away in judgment] and the other (the believer) will be left.

³⁶["Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other will be left."]

³⁷And they asked Him, "Where, Lord?" He answered, "Where the corpse is, there the vultures will be gathered."

¹Now Jesus was telling the disciples a parable to make the point that at all times they ought to pray and not give up and lose heart,

²saying, "In a certain city there was a judge who did not fear God and had no respect for man.

³There was a [desperate] widow in that city and she kept coming to him and saying, 'Give me justice and legal protection from my adversary.'

⁴For a time he would not; but later he said to himself, 'Even though I do not fear God nor respect man,

⁵yet because this widow continues to bother me, I will give her justice and legal protection; otherwise by continually coming she [will be an intolerable annoyance and she] will wear me out.'"

⁶Then the Lord said, "Listen to what the unjust judge says!

⁷And will not [our just] God defend and avenge His elect [His chosen ones] who cry out to Him day and night? Will He delay [in providing justice] on their behalf?

⁸I tell you that He will defend and avenge them quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will He find [this kind of persistent] faith on the earth?"

⁹He also told this parable to some people who trusted in themselves and were confident that they were righteous [posing outwardly as upright and in right standing with God], and who viewed others with contempt:

¹⁰"Two men went up into the temple [enclosure] to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector.

¹¹The Pharisee stood [ostentatiously] and began praying to himself [in a self-righteous way, saying]: 'God, I thank You that I am not like the rest of men—swindlers, unjust (dishonest), adulterers—or even like this tax collector.

¹²I fast twice a week; I pay tithes of all that I get.'

¹³But the tax collector, standing at a distance, would not even raise his eyes toward heaven, but was striking his chest [in humility and repentance], saying, 'God, be merciful and gracious to me, the [especially wicked] sinner [that I am]!'

¹⁴I tell you, this man went to his home justified [forgiven of the guilt of sin and placed in right standing with God] rather than the other man; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself [forsaking self-righteous pride] will be exalted."

¹⁵Now they were also bringing their babies to Him, so that He would touch and bless them, and when the disciples noticed it, they began reprimanding them.

¹⁶But Jesus called them to Himself, saying [to the apostles], "Allow the children to come to Me, and do not forbid them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.

¹⁷I assure you and most solemnly say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God [with faith and humility] like a child will not enter it at all."

¹⁸A certain ruler asked Him, "Good Teacher [You who are essentially and morally good], what shall I do to inherit eternal life [that is, eternal salvation in the Messiah's kingdom]?"

¹⁹Jesus said to him, "Why do you call Me good? No one is [essentially and morally] good except God alone.

²⁰You know the commandments: 'Do not commit adultery, Do not murder, Do not steal, Do not testify falsely, Honor your father and your mother.'"

²¹He replied, "I have kept all these things from my youth."

²²When Jesus heard this, He said to him, "You still lack one thing; sell everything that you have and distribute the money to the poor, and you will have [abundant] treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me [becoming My disciple, believing and trusting in Me and walking the same path of life that I walk]."

²³But when he heard these things, he became very sad, for he was extremely rich.

²⁴Jesus looked at him and said, "How difficult it is for those who are wealthy to enter the kingdom of God!

²⁵For it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man [who places his faith in wealth or status] to enter the kingdom of God."

²⁶And those who heard it said, " Then who can be saved?"

²⁷But He said, "The things that are impossible with people are possible with God."

²⁸Peter said, "Look, we have left all [things—homes, families, businesses] and followed You."

²⁹And He said to them, "I assure you and most solemnly say to you, there is no one who has left house or wife or brothers or parents or children for the sake of the kingdom of God,

³⁰who will not receive many times as much in this present age and in the age to come, eternal life."

³¹Then taking the twelve [disciples] aside, He said to them, "Listen carefully: we are going up to Jerusalem, and all things that have been written through the prophets about the Son of Man will be fulfilled and completed.

³²He will be betrayed and handed over to the Gentiles (Roman authorities), and will be mocked and ridiculed and insulted and abused and spit on,

³³and after they have scourged Him, they will kill Him; and on the third day He will rise [from the dead]."

³⁴But the disciples understood none of these things [about the approaching death and resurrection of Jesus]. This statement was hidden from them, and they did not grasp the [meaning of the] things that were said [by Jesus].

³⁵As He was approaching Jericho [on His way to Jerusalem], it happened that a blind man was sitting beside the road begging.

³⁶Now when he heard a crowd going by, he began to ask what this was [about].

³⁷They told him, "Jesus of Nazareth is passing by."

³⁸So he shouted out, saying, "Jesus, Son of David (Messiah), have mercy on me!"

³⁹Those who were leading the way were sternly telling him to keep quiet; but he screamed all the more, "Son of David, have mercy on me!"

⁴⁰Then Jesus stopped and ordered that the blind man be led to Him; and when he came near, Jesus asked him,

⁴¹"What do you want Me to do for you?" He said, "Lord, let me regain my sight!"

⁴²Jesus said to him, "Regain your sight; your [personal trust and confident] faith [in Me] has made you well."

⁴³Immediately he regained his sight and began following Jesus, glorifying and praising and honoring God. And all the people, when they saw it, praised God.