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.
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.
- KJV 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.
- 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.
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 each has received a gift, employ it in serving one another, as good managers of the grace of God in its various forms.
- Matt 25:14–30“For it is like a man, going into another country, who called his own servants, and entrusted his goods to them.
- Jas 4:3You ask, and don’t receive, because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it for your pleasures.
- 1 Cor 4:1–2So let a man think of us as Christ’s servants, and stewards of God’s mysteries.
- Luke 12:42The Lord said, “Who then is the faithful and wise steward, whom his lord will set over his household, to give them their portion of food at the right times?
- Titus 1:7For the overseer must be blameless, as God’s steward; not self-pleasing, not easily angered, not given to wine, not violent, not greedy for dishonest gain;
- Luke 15:13Not many days after, the younger son gathered all of this together and traveled into a far country. There he wasted his property with riotous living.
- Luke 15:30But when this, your son, came, who has devoured your living with prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him.’
- Matt 18:23–24Therefore the Kingdom of Heaven is like a certain king, who wanted to reconcile accounts with his servants.
- Prov 18:9One who is slack in his work is brother to him who is a master of destruction.
- Luke 19:20Another came, saying, ‘Lord, behold, your mina, which I kept laid away in a handkerchief,
- Gen 43:19They came near to the steward of Joseph’s house, and they spoke to him at the door of the house,
- Hos 2:8For she did not know that I gave her the grain, the new wine, and the oil, and multiplied to her silver and gold, which they used for Baal.
- Luke 16:19“Now there was a certain rich man, and he was clothed in purple and fine linen, living in luxury every day.
- 1 Chr 28:1David assembled all the princes of Israel, the princes of the tribes, the captains of the companies who served the king by division, the captains of thousands, the captains of hundreds, and the rulers over all the substance and possessions of the king and of his sons, with the officers and the mighty men, even all the mighty men of valor, to Jerusalem.
- Luke 8:3and Joanna, the wife of Chuzas, Herod’s steward; Susanna; and many others; who served them from their possessions.
- Gen 15:2Abram said, “Lord Yahweh, what will you give me, since I go childless, and he who will inherit my estate is 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.