Therefore if you have not been faithful in the use of unrighteous wealth, who will entrust the true wealth to you?
Parallel translations
- WEB If therefore you have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches?
- KJV If therefore ye have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches?
- BSB So if you have not been faithful with worldly wealth, who will entrust you with true riches?
- NKJV Therefore if you have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches?
- NLT And if you are untrustworthy about worldly wealth, who will trust you with the true riches of heaven?
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
If we are unfaithful with worldly wealth, we cannot be trusted with true spiritual riches.
Overview
Money is a test; the 'true riches' are the spiritual treasures of the kingdom. Mishandling the lesser disqualifies one from the greater. Jesus presses that faithful stewardship of material things prepares the heart for the weightier trusts of God's grace.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 7
- Luke 12:33Sell that which you have, and give gifts to the needy. Make for yourselves purses which don’t grow old, a treasure in the heavens that doesn’t fail, where no thief approaches, neither moth destroys.
- Prov 8:18–19With me are riches, honor, enduring wealth, and prosperity.
- Jas 2:5Listen, my beloved brothers. Didn’t God choose those who are poor in this world to be rich in faith, and heirs of the Kingdom which he promised to those who love him?
- Luke 16:9I tell you, make for yourselves friends by means of unrighteous mammon, so that when you fail, they may receive you into the eternal tents.
- Luke 18:22When Jesus heard these things, he said to him, “You still lack one thing. Sell all that you have, and distribute it to the poor. You will have treasure in heaven. Come, follow me.”
- Eph 3:8To me, the very least of all saints, was this grace given, to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ,
- Rev 3:18I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire, that you may become rich; and white garments, that you may clothe yourself, and that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and eye salve to anoint your eyes, that you may see.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
Luke shows Jesus the Savior for all — outsiders, the poor, the nations — the one who, on the Emmaus road, opened all the Scriptures to show they were about himself.
How Luke 16:11 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.