And he said also unto his disciples, There was a certain rich man, which had a steward; and the same was accused unto him that he had wasted his goods.
Parallel translations
- WEB He also said to his disciples, “There was a certain rich man who had a manager. An accusation was made to him that this man was wasting his possessions.
- BSB Jesus also said to His disciples, “There was a rich man whose manager was accused of wasting his possessions.
- NKJV He also said to His disciples: “There was a certain rich man who had a steward, and an accusation was brought to him that this man was wasting his goods.
- NASB Now He was also saying to the disciples, “There was a rich man who had a manager, and this manager was reported to him as squandering his possessions.
- NLT Jesus told this story to his disciples: “There was a certain rich man who had a manager handling his affairs. One day a report came that the manager was wasting his employer’s money.
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
Jesus tells the parable of a manager accused of wasting his master's goods, opening a lesson on the wise use of money.
Overview
Turning to His disciples, Jesus introduces a steward facing dismissal for mismanagement. The parable will teach shrewd, forward-looking use of worldly wealth for eternal ends. It calls believers to handle God's resources as faithful stewards in light of the coming kingdom.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 17
- 1 Pet 4:10As every man hath received the gift, even so minister the same one to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.
- Matt 25:14–30For the kingdom of heaven is as a man travelling into a far country, who called his own servants, and delivered unto them his goods.
- Jas 4:3Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.
- 1 Cor 4:1–2Let a man so account of us, as of the ministers of Christ, and stewards of the mysteries of God.
- Luke 12:42And the Lord said, Who then is that faithful and wise steward, whom his lord shall make ruler over his household, to give them their portion of meat in due season?
- Titus 1:7For a bishop must be blameless, as the steward of God; not selfwilled, not soon angry, not given to wine, no striker, not given to filthy lucre;
- Luke 15:13And not many days after the younger son gathered all together, and took his journey into a far country, and there wasted his substance with riotous living.
- Luke 15:30But as soon as this thy son was come, which hath devoured thy living with harlots, thou hast killed for him the fatted calf.
- Matt 18:23–24Therefore is the kingdom of heaven likened unto a certain king, which would take account of his servants.
- Prov 18:9He also that is slothful in his work is brother to him that is a great waster.
- Luke 19:20And another came, saying, Lord, behold, here is thy pound, which I have kept laid up in a napkin:
- Gen 43:19And they came near to the steward of Joseph’s house, and they communed with him at the door of the house,
- Hos 2:8For she did not know that I gave her corn, and wine, and oil, and multiplied her silver and gold, which they prepared for Baal.
- Luke 16:19There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day:
- 1 Chr 28:1And David assembled all the princes of Israel, the princes of the tribes, and the captains of the companies that ministered to the king by course, and the captains over the thousands, and captains over the hundreds, and the stewards over all the substance and possession of the king, and of his sons, with the officers, and with the mighty men, and with all the valiant men, unto Jerusalem.
- Luke 8:3And Joanna the wife of Chuza Herod’s steward, and Susanna, and many others, which ministered unto him of their substance.
- Gen 15:2And Abram said, LORD God, what wilt thou give me, seeing I go childless, and the steward of my house is this Eliezer of Damascus?
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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 16:1 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.