The Living Bible (326 page)

Luke
16

Jesus now told this story to his disciples:
“A rich man hired an accountant to handle his affairs, but soon a rumor went around that the accountant was thoroughly dishonest.

    
²
 
“So his employer called him in and said, ‘What’s this I hear about your stealing from me? Get your report in order, for you are to be dismissed.’

    
³
 
“The accountant thought to himself, ‘Now what? I’m through here, and I haven’t the strength to go out and dig ditches, and I’m too proud to beg.
⁴
 
I know just the thing! And then I’ll have plenty of friends to take care of me when I leave!’

    
^5-6
 
“So he invited each one who owed money to his employer to come and discuss the situation. He asked the first one, ‘How much do you owe him?’ ‘My debt is 850 gallons of olive oil,’ the man replied. ‘Yes, here is the contract you signed,’ the accountant told him. ‘Tear it up and write another one for half that much!’

    
⁷
 
“‘And how much do you owe him?’ he asked the next man. ‘A thousand bushels of wheat,’ was the reply. ‘Here,’ the accountant said, ‘take your note and replace it with one for only 800 bushels!’

    
⁸
 
“The rich man had to admire the rascal for being so shrewd.
*
And it is true that the citizens of this world are more clever in dishonesty
*
than the godly
*
are.
⁹
 
But shall I tell
you
to act that way, to buy friendship through cheating? Will this ensure your entry into an everlasting home in heaven?
*
¹⁰
 
No!
For unless you are honest in small matters, you won’t be in large ones. If you cheat even a little, you won’t be honest with greater responsibilities.
¹¹
 
And if you are untrustworthy about worldly wealth, who will trust you with the true riches of heaven?
¹²
 
And if you are not faithful with other people’s money, why should you be entrusted with money of your own?

    
¹³
 
“For neither you nor anyone else can serve two masters. You will hate one and show loyalty to the other, or else the other way around—you will be enthusiastic about one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.”

    
¹⁴
 The Pharisees, who dearly loved their money, naturally scoffed at all this.

    
¹⁵
 Then he said to them,
“You wear a noble, pious expression in public, but God knows your evil hearts. Your pretense brings you honor from the people, but it is an abomination in the sight of God.
¹⁶
 
Until John the Baptist began to preach, the laws of Moses and the messages of the prophets were your guides. But John introduced the Good News that the Kingdom of God would come soon. And now eager multitudes are pressing in.
¹⁷
 
But that doesn’t mean that the Law has lost its force in even the smallest point. It is as strong and unshakable as heaven and earth.

    
¹⁸
 
“So anyone who divorces his wife and marries someone else commits adultery, and anyone who marries a divorced woman commits adultery.”

    
¹⁹
 
“There was a certain rich man,”
Jesus said,
“who was splendidly clothed and lived each day in mirth and luxury.
²⁰
 
One day Lazarus, a diseased beggar, was laid at his door.
²¹
 
As he lay there longing for scraps from the rich man’s table, the dogs would come and lick his open sores.
²²
 
Finally the beggar died and was carried by the angels to be with Abraham in the place of the righteous dead.
*
The rich man also died and was buried,
²³
 
and his soul went into hell.
*
There, in torment, he saw Lazarus in the far distance with Abraham.

    
²⁴
 
“‘Father Abraham,’ he shouted, ‘have some pity! Send Lazarus over here if only to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am in anguish in these flames.’

    
²⁵
 
“But Abraham said to him, ‘Son, remember that during your lifetime you had everything you wanted, and Lazarus had nothing. So now he is here being comforted and you are in anguish.
²⁶
 
And besides, there is a great chasm separating us, and anyone wanting to come to you from here is stopped at its edge; and no one over there can cross to us.’

    
²⁷
 
“Then the rich man said, ‘O Father Abraham, then please send him to my father’s home—
²⁸
 
for I have five brothers—to warn them about this place of torment lest they come here when they die.’

    
²⁹
 
“But Abraham said, ‘The Scriptures have warned them again and again. Your brothers can read them any time they want to.’

    
³⁰
 
“The rich man replied, ‘No, Father Abraham, they won’t bother to read them. But if someone is sent to them from the dead, then they will turn from their sins.’

    
³¹
 
“But Abraham said, ‘If they won’t listen to Moses and the prophets, they won’t listen even though someone rises from the dead.’”
*

Luke
17

“There will always be temptations to sin,”
Jesus said one day to his disciples,
“but woe to the man who does the tempting.
^2-3
 
If he were thrown into the sea with a huge rock tied to his neck, he would be far better off than facing the punishment in store for those who harm these little children’s souls. I am warning you!

    
“Rebuke your brother if he sins, and forgive him if he is sorry.
⁴
 
Even if he wrongs you seven times a day and each time turns again and asks forgiveness, forgive him.”

    
⁵
 One day the apostles said to the Lord, “We need more faith; tell us how to get it.”

    
⁶
 
“If your faith were only the size of a mustard seed,”
Jesus answered,
“it would be large enough to uproot that mulberry tree over there and send it hurtling into the sea! Your command would bring immediate results!
^7-9
 
When a servant comes in from plowing or taking care of sheep, he doesn’t just sit down and eat, but first prepares his master’s meal and serves him his supper before he eats his own. And he is not even thanked, for he is merely doing what he is supposed to do.
¹⁰
 
Just so, if you merely obey me, you should not consider yourselves worthy of praise. For you have simply done your duty!”

    
¹¹
 As they continued onward toward Jerusalem, they reached the border between Galilee and Samaria,
¹²
 and as they entered a village there, ten lepers stood at a distance,
¹³
 crying out, “Jesus, sir, have mercy on us!”

    
¹⁴
 He looked at them and said,
“Go to the Jewish priest and show him that you are healed!”
And as they were going, their leprosy disappeared.

    
¹⁵
 One of them came back to Jesus, shouting, “Glory to God, I’m healed!”
¹⁶
 He fell flat on the ground in front of Jesus, face downward in the dust, thanking him for what he had done. This man was a despised
*
Samaritan.

    
¹⁷
 Jesus asked,
“Didn’t I heal ten men? Where are the nine?
¹⁸
 
Does only this foreigner return to give glory to God?”

    
¹⁹
 And Jesus said to the man,
“Stand up and go; your faith has made you well.”

    
²⁰
 One day the Pharisees asked Jesus, “When will the Kingdom of God begin?” Jesus replied,
“The Kingdom of God isn’t ushered in with visible signs.
²¹
 
You won’t be able to say, ‘It has begun here in this place or there in that part of the country.’ For the Kingdom of God is within you.”
*

    
²²
 Later he talked again about this with his disciples.
“The time is coming when you will long for me
*
to be with you even for a single day, but I won’t be here,”
he said.
²³
 
“Reports will reach you that I have returned and that I am in this place or that; don’t believe it or go out to look for me.
²⁴
 
For when I return, you will know it beyond all doubt. It will be as evident as the lightning that flashes across the skies.
²⁵
 
But first I must suffer terribly and be rejected by this whole nation.

    
²⁶
 
“When I return
*
the world will be as indifferent to the things of God
*
as the people were in Noah’s day.
²⁷
 
They ate and drank and married—everything just as usual right up to the day when Noah went into the ark and the Flood came and destroyed them all.

    
²⁸
 
“And the world will be as it was in the days of Lot: people went about their daily business—eating and drinking, buying and selling, farming and building—
²⁹
 
until the morning Lot left Sodom. Then fire and brimstone rained down from heaven and destroyed them all.
³⁰
 
Yes, it will be ‘business as usual’ right up to the hour of my return.
*

    
³¹
 
“Those away from home that day must not return to pack; those in the fields must not return to town—
³²
 
remember what happened to Lot’s wife!
³³
 
Whoever clings to his life shall lose it, and whoever loses his life shall save it.
³⁴
 
That night two men will be asleep in the same room, and one will be taken away, the other left.
^35-36
 
Two women will be working together at household tasks; one will be taken, the other left; and so it will be with men working side by side in the fields.”

    
³⁷
 “Lord, where will they be taken?” the disciples asked.

    
Jesus replied,
“Where the body is, the vultures gather!”
*