Luke 16:9
New International Version
I tell you, use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves, so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings.

New Living Translation
Here’s the lesson: Use your worldly resources to benefit others and make friends. Then, when your possessions are gone, they will welcome you to an eternal home.

English Standard Version
And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of unrighteous wealth, so that when it fails they may receive you into the eternal dwellings.

Berean Standard Bible
I tell you, use worldly wealth to make friends for yourselves, so that when it is gone, they will welcome you into eternal dwellings.

Berean Literal Bible
And I say to you, make friends for yourselves by the mammon of unrighteousness, that when it fails, they might receive you into the eternal dwellings.

King James Bible
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.

New King James Version
“And I say to you, make friends for yourselves by unrighteous mammon, that when you fail, they may receive you into an everlasting home.

New American Standard Bible
And I say to you, make friends for yourselves by means of the wealth of unrighteousness, so that when it is all gone, they will receive you into the eternal dwellings.

NASB 1995
“And I say to you, make friends for yourselves by means of the wealth of unrighteousness, so that when it fails, they will receive you into the eternal dwellings.

NASB 1977
“And I say to you, make friends for yourselves by means of the mammon of unrighteousness; that when it fails, they may receive you into the eternal dwellings.

Legacy Standard Bible
And I say to you, make friends for yourselves from the wealth of unrighteousness, so that when it fails, they will take you into the eternal dwellings.

Amplified Bible
And I tell you [learn from this], make friends for yourselves [for eternity] by means of the wealth of unrighteousness [that is, use material resources as a way to further the work of God], so that when it runs out, they will welcome you into the eternal dwellings.

Christian Standard Bible
And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of worldly wealth so that when it fails, they may welcome you into eternal dwellings.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of the unrighteous money so that when it fails, they may welcome you into eternal dwellings.

American Standard Version
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.

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
“Also, I say to you, make for yourselves friends of this money of evil, that whenever it has been spent, they may receive you into their eternal dwellings.”

Contemporary English Version
My disciples, I tell you to use wicked wealth to make friends for yourselves. Then when it is gone, you will be welcomed into an eternal home.

Douay-Rheims Bible
And I say to you: Make unto you friends of the mammon of iniquity; that when you shall fail, they may receive you into everlasting dwellings.

English Revised Version
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.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
[Jesus continued,] "I'm telling you that although wealth is often used in dishonest ways, you should use it to make friends for yourselves. When life is over, you will be welcomed into an eternal home.

Good News Translation
And Jesus went on to say, "And so I tell you: make friends for yourselves with worldly wealth, so that when it gives out, you will be welcomed in the eternal home.

International Standard Version
"I'm telling you, make friends for yourselves by means of unrighteous wealth, so that when it fails, they will welcome you into eternal homes.

Literal Standard Version
And I say to you, make to yourselves friends out of the wealth of unrighteousness, that when you may fail, they may receive you into the continuous dwelling places.

Majority Standard Bible
I tell you, use worldly wealth to make friends for yourselves, so that when it is gone, they will welcome you into eternal dwellings.

New American Bible
I tell you, make friends for yourselves with dishonest wealth, so that when it fails, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings.

NET Bible
And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by how you use worldly wealth, so that when it runs out you will be welcomed into the eternal homes.

New Revised Standard Version
And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of dishonest wealth so that when it is gone, they may welcome you into the eternal homes.

New Heart English Bible
And I say to you, make friends for yourselves by means of unrighteous mammon, so that when it is gone they may welcome you into the everlasting dwellings.

Webster's Bible Translation
And I say to you, Make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness; that when ye fail, they may receive you into everlasting habitations.

Weymouth New Testament
"But I charge you, so to use the wealth which is ever tempting to dishonesty as to win friends who, when it fails, shall welcome you to the tents that never perish.

World English Bible
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.

Young's Literal Translation
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.

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
The Parable of the Shrewd Manager
8The master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly. For the sons of this age are more shrewd in dealing with their own kind than are the sons of light. 9 I tell you, use worldly wealth to make friends for yourselves, so that when it is gone, they will welcome you into eternal dwellings. 10Whoever is faithful with very little will also be faithful with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much.…

Cross References
Matthew 6:24
No one can serve two masters: Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.

Matthew 19:21
Jesus told him, "If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow Me."

Luke 11:41
But give as alms the things that are within you, and you will see that everything is clean for you.

Luke 12:33
Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide yourselves with purses that will not wear out, an inexhaustible treasure in heaven, where no thief approaches and no moth destroys.

Luke 16:4
I know what I will do, so that after my removal from management, people will welcome me into their homes.'

Luke 16:11
So if you have not been faithful with worldly wealth, who will entrust you with true riches?

Luke 16:13
No servant can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money."


Treasury of Scripture

And I say to you, Make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness; that, when you fail, they may receive you into everlasting habitations.

Make.

Luke 11:41
But rather give alms of such things as ye have; and, behold, all things are clean unto you.

Luke 14:14
And thou shalt be blessed; for they cannot recompense thee: for thou shalt be recompensed at the resurrection of the just.

Proverbs 19:17
He that hath pity upon the poor lendeth unto the LORD; and that which he hath given will he pay him again.

of the.

Luke 16:11,13
If therefore ye have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches? …

mammon.

Proverbs 23:5
Wilt thou set thine eyes upon that which is not? for riches certainly make themselves wings; they fly away as an eagle toward heaven.

1 Timothy 6:9,10,17
But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition…

when.

Psalm 73:26
My flesh and my heart faileth: but God is the strength of my heart, and my portion for ever.

Ecclesiastes 12:3-7
In the day when the keepers of the house shall tremble, and the strong men shall bow themselves, and the grinders cease because they are few, and those that look out of the windows be darkened, …

Isaiah 57:16
For I will not contend for ever, neither will I be always wroth: for the spirit should fail before me, and the souls which I have made.

into.

2 Corinthians 4:17,18
For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; …

2 Corinthians 5:1
For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.

1 Timothy 6:18
That they do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to distribute, willing to communicate;

Jump to Previous
Charge Dishonesty End Eternal Everlasting Fail Fails Friends Gain Habitations Mammon Means Perish Receive Received Resting-Places Tabernacles Tempting Tents Unrighteous Unrighteousness Use Wealth Welcome Welcomed Win Worldly Yourselves
Jump to Next
Charge Dishonesty End Eternal Everlasting Fail Fails Friends Gain Habitations Mammon Means Perish Receive Received Resting-Places Tabernacles Tempting Tents Unrighteous Unrighteousness Use Wealth Welcome Welcomed Win Worldly Yourselves
Luke 16
1. The parable of the unjust steward.
14. Jesus reproves the hypocrisy of the covetous Pharisees.
19. The parable of the rich man and Lazarus the beggar.














(9) And I say unto you.--The pronoun is emphatic, and stands, as in Matthew 5:22; Matthew 5:28; Matthew 5:32, in contrast with what had gone before.

Make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness.--On "mammon," comp. Note on Matthew 6:24. The word was Syriac in its origin, and was found also, as Augustine testifies, in Punic. It was in common use in the Targums or Paraphrases of the Old Testament, in our Lord's time, for "wealth" or "riches," and possibly, as stated by Tertullian, whose authority, as a Carthaginian, may be admitted as of some weight, was applied to some Syrian deity who, like the Greek Plutus, was worshipped as wealth personified. If we admit this view, it explains, what otherwise it is not easy to explain, St. Luke's introduction of the Syriac word instead of its Greek equivalent. "The mammon of unrighteousness," the genitive having the same force as in Luke 16:8, is the wealth to which that character for the most part attaches, wealth wrongly gained and wrongly spent. And yet "of that mammon"--or better, out of, or with, the mammon--men are to make friends. The right use of wealth in helping the poor, making men happier and better, leading them to repentance and to God, will gain for us friends, perhaps the very persons whom we have helped, perhaps the angels of God who rejoice over one sinner that repenteth, perhaps even Christ and the Father, who will receive us into "everlasting habitations." . . .

Verse 9. - And I say unto you, Make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness. Then, with his usual solemn formula, "I say unto you," the Lord gave out his moral interpretation of the parable. His words were addressed to possessors of various degrees of wealth. "You will soon have to give up all your worldly goods; be prudent in time, make some real friends out of the mammon of unrighteousness; by means of that money entrusted to your care, do good to others who are in need." The mammon of unrighteousness. This word "mammon" does not denote, as some have supposed, the name of a deity, the god of wealth or money, but it signifies "money" itself. It is a Syriac or Aramaic term. The words, "of unrighteousness," are added because in so many cases the getting of money is tainted with unrighteousness in some form or other; and, when possessed, it so often hardens the heart, as the Lord himself said in another place (Luke 18:25), that it was easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God. "What the steward of my story," said the Master, "did to men of his world, see that you with your money do toward those who belong to your world." That, when ye fail, they may receive you into everlasting habitations. So that when you shall be dismissed from being stewards of God's possessions, that is, when ye shall die, "when ye suffer the last eclipse and bankruptcy of life," that then others, your friends, may receive you (welcome you) into everlasting dwellings. The majority of the older authorities here, instead of" when ye fail," read, "when it (money) shall fail you" (by the event of your death). The sense of the passage, however, remains the same, whichever reading be adopted. But now a deeply interesting question arises - When the Lord speaks of friends receiving us after death into eternal homes, to what friends is he alluding? Great expositors, Ewald and Meyer, for instance, tell us that he means the angels. But the plain sense of the parable points, not to angels, but to poor, weak, suffering persons whom we have helped here; these, then, must be the friends who will receive us, or welcome us, in the world to come. A further query suggests itself - How will these be able to receive us? To such a question no definite reply can be given. We know too little of the awful mysteries of that world to be able even to hazard a surmise as to the help or the comfort which grateful, blessed spirits will be able to show to their brethren the newly arrived, when they receive them. His word here must suffice us; well will it be for us, if one day we practically discover the holy secret for ourselves. Godet has a weighty note with which he concludes his exposition of this difficult but most instructive parable: "There is no thought more fitted than that of this parable, on the one hand to undermine the idea of merit belonging to alms-giving (what merit could be got out of that which is another's? and is not all money, are not all goods out of which we bestow our alms, God's?); and on the other, to encourage us in the practice of that virtue which assures us of friends and protectors for the grave moment of our passing into the world to come." One beautiful and exquisitely comforting thought is shrined in this playful and yet intensely solemn utterance of Jesus. The eternal tents, the "many mansions," as John calls them, will have among their occupants, it is certain, many a one whose life on earth was hard and sorrowful. These are now enjoying bliss indescribable, these poor Lazaruses, to whom this world was so sad, so dreary a habitation. And perhaps a portion of their blessedness consists in this power, to which the Lord makes allusion here, of assisting others - the helped here becoming the helpers there. Although the teaching of Christ and his chosen servants here and elsewhere shows us distinctly that no merit can attach to almsgiving, seeing that our alms are only given out of property entrusted to us for a short time by God for this and other similar purposes, yet the same authoritative teaching informs us that God has regard to almsdeeds done in the true spirit of love, in determining our eternal destiny. Thus a message direct from heaven informs the Roman legionary Cornelius that his prayers and alms were come up for a memorial before God. Paul writes to Timothy to charge the Ephesus Christians "that they do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to distribute, willing to communicate; laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life." In the parable of Lazarus and Dives we shall find this principle yet more clearly illustrated. These are only a few out of the many passages where this generosity and almsgiving is commended to the believer with peculiar earnestness.

Parallel Commentaries ...


Greek
I
ἐγὼ (egō)
Personal / Possessive Pronoun - Nominative 1st Person Singular
Strong's 1473: I, the first-person pronoun. A primary pronoun of the first person I.

tell
λέγω (legō)
Verb - Present Indicative Active - 1st Person Singular
Strong's 3004: (a) I say, speak; I mean, mention, tell, (b) I call, name, especially in the pass., (c) I tell, command.

you,
ὑμῖν (hymin)
Personal / Possessive Pronoun - Dative 2nd Person Plural
Strong's 4771: You. The person pronoun of the second person singular; thou.

use
ἐκ (ek)
Preposition
Strong's 1537: From out, out from among, from, suggesting from the interior outwards. A primary preposition denoting origin, from, out.

worldly
ἀδικίας (adikias)
Noun - Genitive Feminine Singular
Strong's 93: Injustice, unrighteousness, hurt. From adikos; injustice; morally, wrongfulness.

wealth
μαμωνᾶ (mamōna)
Noun - Genitive Masculine Singular
Strong's 3126: (Aramaic), riches, money, possessions, property. Of Chaldee origin; mammonas, i.e. Avarice.

to make
ποιήσατε (poiēsate)
Verb - Aorist Imperative Active - 2nd Person Plural
Strong's 4160: (a) I make, manufacture, construct, (b) I do, act, cause. Apparently a prolonged form of an obsolete primary; to make or do.

friends
φίλους (philous)
Adjective - Accusative Masculine Plural
Strong's 5384: Friendly; subst: a friend, an associate. Properly, dear, i.e. A friend; actively, fond, i.e. Friendly.

for yourselves,
ἑαυτοῖς (heautois)
Reflexive Pronoun - Dative Masculine 3rd Person Plural
Strong's 1438: Himself, herself, itself.

so that
ἵνα (hina)
Conjunction
Strong's 2443: In order that, so that. Probably from the same as the former part of heautou; in order that.

when
ὅταν (hotan)
Conjunction
Strong's 3752: When, whenever. From hote and an; whenever; also causatively inasmuch as.

it is gone,
ἐκλίπῃ (eklipē)
Verb - Aorist Subjunctive Active - 3rd Person Singular
Strong's 1587: To fail, die out, come to an end, be defunct. From ek and leipo; to omit, i.e. cease.

they will welcome
δέξωνται (dexōntai)
Verb - Aorist Subjunctive Middle - 3rd Person Plural
Strong's 1209: To take, receive, accept, welcome. Middle voice of a primary verb; to receive.

you
ὑμᾶς (hymas)
Personal / Possessive Pronoun - Accusative 2nd Person Plural
Strong's 4771: You. The person pronoun of the second person singular; thou.

into
εἰς (eis)
Preposition
Strong's 1519: A primary preposition; to or into, of place, time, or purpose; also in adverbial phrases.

eternal
αἰωνίους (aiōnious)
Adjective - Accusative Feminine Plural
Strong's 166: From aion; perpetual.

dwellings.
σκηνάς (skēnas)
Noun - Accusative Feminine Plural
Strong's 4633: A tent, booth, tabernacle, abode, dwelling, mansion, habitation. Apparently akin to skeuos and skia; a tent or cloth hut.


Links
Luke 16:9 NIV
Luke 16:9 NLT
Luke 16:9 ESV
Luke 16:9 NASB
Luke 16:9 KJV

Luke 16:9 BibleApps.com
Luke 16:9 Biblia Paralela
Luke 16:9 Chinese Bible
Luke 16:9 French Bible
Luke 16:9 Catholic Bible

NT Gospels: Luke 16:9 I tell you make for yourselves friends (Luke Lu Lk)
Luke 16:8
Top of Page
Top of Page