< Luke 16 >

1 He seide also to hise disciplis, Ther was a riche man, that hadde a baili; and this was defamed to him, as he hadde wastid his goodis.
[Jesus] also said to his disciples, “Once there was a rich man who had a household manager. [One day] he was told {[someone] told him} that [the manager] was managing the rich man’s money badly.
2 And he clepide hym, and seide to hym, What here Y this thing of thee? yelde reckynyng of thi baili, for thou miyte not now be baili.
So he summoned [his manager] and said to him, ‘(It is terrible what they are saying about you [(sg)]!/Is it true what they are saying about you [(sg)] [RHQ]?) Give me a written account of [the funds] you have been managing, because you can no longer be my [household] manager!’
3 And the baili seide with ynne him silf, What schal Y do, for my lord takith awei fro me the baili? delfe mai Y not, I schame to begge.
Then the manager thought to himself, ‘My master is going to fire me, so (I do not know what to do./what shall I do [RHQ]?) I am not strong enough to [work by] digging ditches, and I am ashamed to beg [for money].’
4 Y woot what Y schal do, that whanne Y am remeued fro the baili, thei resseyue me in to her hous.
[Suddenly he had an idea]. ‘I know what I will do, so that people will take me into their houses [and provide for me] after I am dismissed {after my master dismisses me} from my work!’
5 Therfor whanne alle the dettours of his lord weren clepid togider, he seide to the firste, Hou myche owist thou to my lord?
So [one by one] he summoned the people who owed his master money. He asked the first one, ‘How much do you [(sg)] owe my master?’
6 And he seide, An hundrid barelis of oyle. And he seide to hym, Take thi caucioun, and sitte soone, and write fifti.
The man replied, ‘Eight hundred gallons of olive oil.’ The manager said to him, ‘Take your bill and sit down and quickly change it to 400 [gallons]!’
7 Aftirward he seide to another, And hou myche owist thou? Which answerde, An hundrid coris of whete. And he seide to hym, Take thi lettris, and write foure scoore.
He said to another man, ‘How much do you owe?’ The man replied, ‘A thousand bushels of wheat.’ The manager said to him, ‘Take your bill and change it to 800 [bushels]!’ [He did similar things for the others who owed his master money].
8 And the lord preiside the baili of wickydnesse, for he hadde do prudentli; for the sones of this world ben more prudent in her generacioun than the sones of liyt. (aiōn g165)
When his master [heard what the manager had done], he admired the dishonest manager for the clever thing he had done. [The truth] is that the ungodly people in this world act more wisely toward other people than godly people [MET] act. (aiōn g165)
9 And Y seie to you, make ye to you freendis of the ritchesse of wickidnesse, that whanne ye schulen fayle, thei resseyue you in to euerlastynge tabernaclis. (aiōnios g166)
[So] I tell you [(pl)] this: Use the money that you have [here] on earth to help others so that they will become your friends. Then when [you die and] you cannot [take] any money with you, [God and his angels] will welcome you into a home [in heaven] that will last forever. (aiōnios g166)
10 He that is trewe in the leeste thing, is trewe also in the more; and he that is wickid in a litil thing, is wickid also in the more.
People who faithfully manage small [matters] will also faithfully manage important [matters]. People who are dishonest in [the way they handle] small [matters] will be dishonest [in the way they handle] important [matters].
11 Therfor if ye weren not trewe in the wickid thing of ritchesse, who schal bitake to you that that is verry?
So if you have not faithfully handled the money that [God has given you here] on earth, (he will certainly not allow you to possess the true [spiritual] riches [in heaven!]/would he allow you to possess the true [spiritual] riches [in heaven]?) [RHQ]
12 And if ye weren not trewe in othere mennus thing, who schal yyue to you that that is youre?
And if you have not faithfully managed things that belong to other people, ([God] will certainly not allow you to receive [treasures in heaven that] would belong to you!/would God allow you to receive [treasures in heaven that] would belong to you?) [RHQ]
13 No seruaunt may serue to twei lordis; for ether he schal hate `the toon, and loue the tothir; ethir he schal drawe to `the toon, and schal dispise the tothir. Ye moun not serue to God and to ritchesse.
No servant is able to serve two [different] bosses [at the same time. If he tried to do that], he would prefer one of them more than the other one; he would be loyal to one of them and despise the other one. [Similarly], you cannot [devote your life] to worshipping God and [worshipping] money and material goods [at the same time].”
14 But the Farisees, that weren coueytous, herden alle these thingis, and thei scorneden hym.
There were some Pharisees [there]. They loved [to acquire] money. When they heard Jesus say that, they ridiculed him.
15 And he seide to hem, Ye it ben, that iustifien you bifor men; but God hath knowun youre hertis, for that that is hiy to men, is abhomynacioun bifor God.
But he said to them, “You try to make other people think that you are righteous, but God knows your (inner beings/hearts). [So he will reject you. Keep in mind that many] things that people think are important, God thinks are detestable.
16 The lawe and prophetis til to Joon; fro that tyme the rewme of God is euangelisid, and ech man doith violence in to it.
The laws that [God gave Moses] and what the prophets [MTY] [wrote] were ([in effect/what you needed to obey]) until John [the Baptizer] came. Since then [I] have been preaching about how God wants to [rule people’s lives in a new way], and many people are [accepting that message and] very eagerly asking God to control [their lives. But that does not mean that God has abolished the laws that he established previously].
17 Forsothe it is liyter heuene and erthe to passe, than that o titil falle fro the lawe.
[All of God’s] laws, [even those that seem] insignificant, are more permanent than heaven and earth.
18 Euery man that forsakith his wijf, and weddith an other, doith letcherie; and he that weddith the wijf forsakun of the hosebonde, doith auowtrie.
[For example, because God considers that a marriage lasts until either the husband or the wife dies, he considers that] any man who divorces his wife and marries another woman is committing adultery. He also [considers that] any man who marries a woman who has been divorced by her husband {whose husband has divorced her} is [also] committing adultery.”
19 There was a riche man, and was clothid in purpur, and whit silk, and eete euery dai schynyngli.
[Jesus also said] [MET], “Once there was a rich man who wore [expensive] purple linen [garments]. He ate luxuriously every day.
20 And there was a begger, Lazarus bi name, that lai at his yate ful of bilis,
And every day a poor man whose name was Lazarus was laid {[some people also] laid a poor man whose name was Lazarus} at the gate of the rich man’s [house]. Lazarus’ body was covered with sores.
21 and coueitide to be fulfillid of the crummes, that fellen doun fro the riche mannus boord, and no man yaf to hym; but houndis camen, and lickiden hise bilis.
He [was so hungry that he] wanted to eat the scraps [of food] that fell from the table where the rich man [ate]. Furthermore, [to make things worse], dogs came and licked his sores.
22 And it was don, that the begger diede, and was borun of aungels in to Abrahams bosum. And the riche man was deed also,
[Eventually] the poor man died. Then he was taken by the angels {the angels took him} to [start feasting] next to his [ancestor] Abraham. The rich man also died, and his body was buried {[some people] buried his body}.
23 and was biried in helle. And he reiside hise iyen, whanne he was in turmentis, and say Abraham afer, and Lazarus in his bosum. (Hadēs g86)
In the place where dead people wait [for God to judge them], he was suffering great pain. He looked up and saw Abraham far away, and he saw Lazarus sitting close to Abraham. (Hadēs g86)
24 And he criede, and seide, Fadir Abraham, haue merci on me, and sende Lazarus, that he dippe the ende of his fyngur in watir, to kele my tunge; for Y am turmentid in this flawme.
So he shouted, ‘Father Abraham, I am suffering very much in this fire! So [please] pity me, and send Lazarus [here] so that he can dip his finger in water [and touch] my tongue to cool it!’
25 And Abraham seide to hym, Sone, haue mynde, for thou hast resseyued good thingis in thi lijf, and Lazarus also yuel thingis; but he is now coumfortid, and thou art turmentid.
But Abraham replied, ‘Son, remember that while you [(sg)] were alive [on earth] you enjoyed [many] good things. But Lazarus was miserable. Now [it is fair that] he is happy here, and you are suffering.
26 And in alle these thingis a greet derk place is stablischid betwixe vs and you; that thei that wolen fro hennus passe to you, moun not, nethir fro thennus passe ouer hidur.
Besides that, there is a huge ravine between you [(sg)] and us. So those who want to go from here to where you [(sg)] are, are not able to. Furthermore, no one can cross from there to where we [(exc)] are.’
27 And he seide, Thanne Y preie thee, fadir, that thou sende hym in to the hous of my fadir.
Then the rich man said, ‘If that is so, father [Abraham], I ask you [(sg)] to send [Lazarus] to my father’s house.
28 For Y haue fyue britheren, that he witnesse to hem, lest also thei come in to this place of turmentis.
I have five brothers [who live there]. Tell him to warn them [to turn away from their sinful behavior so that] they do not also come to this place, where [we(exc)] suffer great pain!’
29 And Abraham seide to him, Thei han Moyses and the prophetis; here thei hem.
But Abraham replied, ‘[No, I will not do that, because your brothers] are able to [go to the Jewish meeting places where the priests] read what Moses and the prophets [wrote]. They should listen to what Moses and the prophets [MTY] [wrote]!’
30 And he seide, Nay, fadir Abraham, but if ony of deed men go to hem, thei schulen do penaunce.
But the rich man replied, ‘No, father Abraham, [that will not be enough] But if someone from those who have died goes back to them [and warns them], they will turn from their sinful behavior.’
31 And he seide to hym, If thei heren not Moises and prophetis, nethir if ony of deed men rise ayen, thei schulen bileue to hym.
[Abraham] said to him, ‘No! If they do not listen to [what] [MTY] Moses and the prophets [MTY] [wrote], even if someone would become alive again [and go and warn them], they would not be convinced {he could not convince them} [that they should turn from their sinful behavior].’”

< Luke 16 >