# Luke 16.1-13

<!-- type: passage | created: 2026-06-01 | updated: 2026-06-01 -->

**Book:** [Luke](/codex/luke-the-evangelist/) · NASB95

## Immediate context (±2 verses)

**ASV** ([ASV](/codex/asv/))
> **1. And he said also unto the disciples, <span class="rl-speech">There was a certain rich man, who had a steward; and the same was accused unto him that he was wasting his goods.</span> 2. And he called him, and said unto him, <span class="rl-speech">What is this that I hear of thee? render the account of thy stewardship; for thou canst be no longer steward.</span> 3. And the steward said within himself, What shall I do, seeing that my lord taketh away the stewardship from me? I have not strength to dig; to beg I am ashamed. 4. I am resolved what to do, that, when I am put out of the stewardship, they may receive me into their houses. 5. And calling to him each one of his lord's debtors, he said to the first, <span class="rl-speech">How much owest thou unto my lord?</span> 6. And he said, <span class="rl-speech">A hundred measures of oil.</span> And he said unto him, <span class="rl-speech">Take thy bond, and sit down quickly and write fifty.</span> 7. Then said he to another, And how much owest thou? And he said, <span class="rl-speech">A hundred measures of wheat.</span> He saith unto him, <span class="rl-speech">Take thy bond, and write fourscore.</span> 8. <span class="rl-speech">And his lord commended the unrighteous steward because he had done wisely: for the sons of this world are for their own generation wiser than the sons of the light.</span> 9. <span class="rl-speech">And I say unto you, Make to yourselves friends by means of the mammon of unrighteousness; that, when it shall fail, they may receive you into the eternal tabernacles.</span> 10. <span class="rl-speech">He that is faithful in a very little is faithful also in much: and he that is unrighteous in a very little is unrighteous also in much.</span> 11. <span class="rl-speech">If therefore ye have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches?</span> 12. <span class="rl-speech">And if ye have not been faithful in that which is another's, who will give you that which is your own?</span> 13. <span class="rl-speech">No servant can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.</span>**
>
> 14. <span class="rl-speech">And the Pharisees, who were lovers of money, heard all these things; and they scoffed at him.</span> 15. And he said unto them, <span class="rl-speech">Ye are they that justify yourselves in the sight of men; but God knoweth your hearts: for that which is exalted among men is an abomination in the sight of God.</span> (Luke 16:1-15, ASV)

**WEB** ([WEB](/codex/web/))
> **1. He also said to his disciples, <span class="rl-speech">“There was a certain rich man who had a manager. An accusation was made to him that this man was wasting his possessions.</span> 2. He called him, and said to him, <span class="rl-speech">‘What is this that I hear about you? Give an accounting of your management, for you can no longer be manager.’</span> 3. “The manager said within himself, ‘What will I do, seeing that my lord is taking away the management position from me? I don’t have strength to dig. I am ashamed to beg. 4. I know what I will do, so that when I am removed from management, they may receive me into their houses.’ 5. Calling each one of his lord’s debtors to him, he said to the first, <span class="rl-speech">‘How much do you owe to my lord?’</span> 6. He said, <span class="rl-speech">‘A hundred batos of oil.’</span> He said to him, <span class="rl-speech">‘Take your bill, and sit down quickly and write fifty.’</span> 7. Then he said to another, <span class="rl-speech">‘How much do you owe?’</span> He said, <span class="rl-speech">‘A hundred cors of wheat.’</span> He said to him, <span class="rl-speech">‘Take your bill, and write eighty.’</span> 8. “His lord commended the dishonest manager because he had done wisely, for the children of this world are, in their own generation, wiser than the children of the light. 9. I tell you, make for yourselves friends by means of unrighteous mammon, so that when you fail, they may receive you into the eternal tents. 10. He who is faithful in a very little is faithful also in much. He who is dishonest in a very little is also dishonest in much. 11. If therefore you have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches? 12. If you have not been faithful in that which is another’s, who will give you that which is your own? 13. No servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to one, and despise the other. You aren’t able to serve God and Mammon.”**
>
> 14. The Pharisees, who were lovers of money, also heard all these things, and they scoffed at him. 15. He said to them, <span class="rl-speech">“You are those who justify yourselves in the sight of men, but God knows your hearts. For that which is exalted among men is an abomination in the sight of God.</span> (Luke 16:1-15, WEB)

**KJV** ([KJV](/codex/kjv/))
> **1. And he said also unto his disciples, <span class="rl-speech">There was a certain rich man, which had a steward; and the same was accused unto him that he had wasted his goods.</span> 2. And he called him, and said unto him, <span class="rl-speech">How is it that I hear this of thee? give an account of thy stewardship; for thou mayest be no longer steward.</span> 3. Then the steward said within himself, What shall I do? for my lord taketh away from me the stewardship: I cannot dig; to beg I am ashamed. 4. I am resolved what to do, that, when I am put out of the stewardship, they may receive me into their houses. 5. So he called every one of his lord's debtors unto him, and said unto the first, <span class="rl-speech">How much owest thou unto my lord?</span> 6. And he said, <span class="rl-speech">An hundred measures of oil.</span> And he said unto him, <span class="rl-speech">Take thy bill, and sit down quickly, and write fifty. <sup>measures: the word Batus in the original containeth nine gallons three quarts</sup></span> 7. Then said he to another, And how much owest thou? And he said, <span class="rl-speech">An hundred measures of wheat.</span> And he said unto him, <span class="rl-speech">Take thy bill, and write fourscore. <sup>measures: the word here interpreted a measure in the original containeth about fourteen bushels and two quarts</sup></span> 8. <span class="rl-speech">And the lord commended the unjust steward, because he had done wisely: for the children of this world are in their generation wiser than the children of light.</span> 9. <span class="rl-speech">And I say unto you, Make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness; that, when ye fail, they may receive you into everlasting habitations. <sup>mammon: or, riches</sup></span> 10. <span class="rl-speech">He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much: and he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much.</span> 11. <span class="rl-speech">If therefore ye have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches? <sup>mammon: or, riches</sup></span> 12. <span class="rl-speech">And if ye have not been faithful in that which is another man's, who shall give you that which is your own?</span> 13. <span class="rl-speech">No servant can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.</span>**
>
> 14. <span class="rl-speech">And the Pharisees also, who were covetous, heard all these things: and they derided him.</span> 15. And he said unto them, <span class="rl-speech">Ye are they which justify yourselves before men; but God knoweth your hearts: for that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God.</span> (Luke 16:1-15, KJV)

**YLT** ([YLT](/codex/ylt/))
> **1. And he said also unto his disciples, <span class="rl-speech">'A certain man was rich, who had a steward, and he was accused to him as scattering his goods;</span> 2. and having called him, he said to him, <span class="rl-speech">What [is] this I hear about thee? render the account of thy stewardship, for thou mayest not any longer be steward.</span> 3. <span class="rl-speech">'And the steward said in himself, What shall I do, because my lord doth take away the stewardship from me? to dig I am not able, to beg I am ashamed:</span> 4. <span class="rl-speech">I have known what I shall do, that, when I may be removed from the stewardship, they may receive me to their houses.</span> 5. 'And having called near each one of his lord's debtors, he said to the first, <span class="rl-speech">How much dost thou owe to my lord?</span> 6. and he said, <span class="rl-speech">A hundred baths of oil;</span> and he said to him, <span class="rl-speech">Take thy bill, and having sat down write fifty.</span> 7. 'Afterward to another he said, <span class="rl-speech">And thou, how much dost thou owe?</span> and he said, <span class="rl-speech">A hundred cors of wheat;</span> and he saith to him, <span class="rl-speech">Take thy bill, and write eighty.</span> 8. <span class="rl-speech">'And the lord commended the unrighteous steward that he did prudently, because the sons of this age are more prudent than the sons of the light, in respect to their generation.</span> 9. <span class="rl-speech">and I say to you, Make to yourselves friends out of the mammon of unrighteousness, that when ye may fail, they may receive you to the age-during tabernacles.</span> 10. <span class="rl-speech">'He who is faithful in the least, [is] also faithful in much; and he who in the least [is] unrighteous, is also unrighteous in much;</span> 11. <span class="rl-speech">if, then, in the unrighteous mammon ye became not faithful, the true who will entrust to you?</span> 12. <span class="rl-speech">and if in the other's ye became not faithful, your own, who shall give to you?</span> 13. <span class="rl-speech">'No domestic is able to serve two lords, for either the one he will hate, and the other he will love; or one he will hold to, and of the other he will be heedless; ye are not able to serve God and mammon.'</span>**
>
> 14. And also the Pharisees, being lovers of money, were hearing all these things, and were deriding him, 15. and he said to them, <span class="rl-speech">'Ye are those declaring yourselves righteous before men, but God doth know your hearts; because that which among men is high, [is] abomination before God;</span> (Luke 16:1-15, YLT)

## Setting

- **Speaker:** _TBD_
- **Audience:** _TBD_
- **Location:** _TBD_
- **Time period:** _TBD_

## Theological reading

_Patristic / early-church-father exegesis, to be added._

## Key words

_Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word; see Lexicon Roadmap._

- _TBD_
- _TBD_
- _TBD_
- _TBD_

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## Quoted in

**Concepts:**

- [Biblical Stewardship](/codex/biblical-stewardship/)
- [Jesus Said](/codex/jesus-said/), via [Luke 16](/codex/luke-16/)

**Lexicon:**

- [G5207 - huios](/codex/g5207-huios/), via [Luke 16.8](/codex/luke-16-8/)

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_Scripture quotations taken from the **New American Standard Bible®** (NASB), Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by **The Lockman Foundation**. Used by permission. All rights reserved. [www.lockman.org](https://www.lockman.org)_

## Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the **most literal English translations available** (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the **public domain in the United States**, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

- **[ASV](/codex/asv/)** (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
- **[WEB](/codex/web/)** (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
- **[KJV](/codex/kjv/)** (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
- **[YLT](/codex/ylt/)** (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See [Bibles](/codex/bibles/) for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.