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Jesus told his disciples: "There was a rich man
whose manager was accused of wasting his possessions.
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So he called him in and asked him, 'What is this I hear about you?
Give an account of your management, because you cannot be manager any longer.'
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"The manager said to himself, 'What shall I do now? My master is taking away my job.
I'm not strong enough to dig, and I'm ashamed to beg -
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I know what I'll do so that, when I lose my job here,
people will welcome me into their houses.'
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"So he called in each one of his master's debtors. He asked the first,
'How much do you owe my master?"
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" ' Eight hundred gallons of olive oil, he replied. "The manager told him,
'Take your bill, sit down quickly, and make it four hundred.'
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"Then he asked the second, 'And how much do you owe?'
" 'A thousand bushels of wheat,' he replied. "He told him,
'Take your bill and make it eight hundred.'
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"The master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly.
For the people of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own kind
than are the people of the light.
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I tell lyou, se worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves,
so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings.
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"Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much,
and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much.
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"The Law and the Prophets were proclaimed until John. Since that time,
the good news of the kingdom of God is being preached,
and everyone is forcing his way into it.
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"He said to him, 'If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets,
they will not be convinced even if someone rise from the dead.' "
