Lay Up Treasures in Heaven
19 q“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where rmoth and rust1 destroy and where thieves break in and steal, 20 but lay up for yourselves streasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
22 t“The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light, 23 but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!
24 u“No one can serve two masters, for 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 God and money.2
Do Not Be Anxious
25 v“Therefore I tell you, do not be wanxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? 26 Look at the xbirds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of ymore value than they? 27 And which of you by being anxious can zadd a single hour to his span of life?3 28 And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, 29 yet I tell you, even aSolomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30 But if God so clothes the bgrass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, cO you of little faith? 31 Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and dyour heavenly Father knows that you need them all. 33 eBut seek first the kingdom of God and his frighteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
34 “Therefore do not be anxious about gtomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.
32 b“Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. 33 cSell your possessions, and give to the needy. Provide yourselves with moneybags that do not grow old, with a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches and no moth destroys. 34 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
The Parable of the Dishonest Manager
1 He also said to the disciples, “There was a rich man who had a gmanager, and charges were brought to him that this man was wasting his possessions. 2 And he called him and said to him, ‘What is this that I hear about you? hTurn in the account of your management, for you can no longer be manager.’ 3 And the manager said to himself, ‘What shall I do, since my master is taking the management away from me? I am not strong enough to dig, and I am ashamed to beg. 4 I have decided what to do, so that when I am removed from management, people may receive me into their houses.’ 5 So, summoning his master’s debtors one by one, he said to the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’ 6 He said, ‘A hundred measures1 of oil.’ He said to him, ‘Take your bill, and sit down quickly and write fifty.’ 7 Then he said to another, ‘And how much do you owe?’ He said, ‘A hundred measures2 of wheat.’ He said to him, ‘Take your bill, and write eighty.’ 8 The master commended the dishonest manager for his shrewdness. For the sons of this world3 are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than the isons of light. 9 And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of unrighteous wealth,4 so that when it fails they may receive you into the eternal dwellings.
10 “One who is jfaithful in a very little is also faithful in much, and one who is dishonest in a very little is also dishonest in much. 11 If then you have not been faithful in the unrighteous wealth, who will entrust to you the true riches? 12 And if you have not been faithful in that which is another’s, who will give you that which is your own? 13 kNo servant can serve two masters, for 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 God and money.”
27 Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit sorphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.
Faith Without Works Is Dead
14 What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has lfaith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? 15 mIf a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, 16 and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good1 is that? 17 So also nfaith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.
Warning to the Rich
1 Come now, you prich, qweep and howl for the miseries that are coming upon you. 2 Your riches have rotted and your garments are rmoth-eaten. 3 Your gold and silver have corroded, and their corrosion will be evidence against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have laid up streasure in the last days. 4 Behold, the twages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, are crying out against you, and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts. 5 You have lived on the earth in luxury and in self-indulgence. You have fattened your hearts in a uday of slaughter. 6 You have vcondemned and murdered the righteous person. He does not resist you.
