Luke 16 Bible in Basic English
Audio: World English Bible (WEB), read by Winfred W. Henson · About the recordings
1 And another time he said to the disciples, There was a certain man of great wealth who had a servant; and it was said to him that this servant was wasting his goods.
1 Y DIJO también á sus discípulos: Había un hombre rico, el cual tenía un mayordomo, y éste fué acusado delante de él como disipador de sus bienes.
2 And he sent for him and said, What is this which is said about you? give me an account of all you have done, for you will no longer be the manager of my property.
2 Y le llamó, y le dijo: ¿Qué es esto que oigo de ti? Da cuenta de tu mayordomía, porque ya no podrás más ser mayordomo.
3 And the servant said to himself, What am I to do now that my lord takes away my position? I have not enough strength for working in the fields, and I would be shamed if I made requests for money from people in the streets.
3 Entonces el mayordomo dijo dentro de sí: ¿Qué haré? que mi señor me quita la mayordomía. Cavar, no puedo; mendigar, tengo vergüenza.
4 I have come to a decision what to do, so that when I am put out of my position they will take me into their houses.
4 Yo sé lo que haré para que cuando fuere quitado de la mayordomía, me reciban en sus casas.
5 And sending for every one who was in debt to his lord he said to the first, What is the amount of your debt to my lord?
5 Y llamando á cada uno de los deudores de su señor, dijo al primero: ¿Cuánto debes á mi señor?
6 And he said, A hundred measures of oil. And he said, Take your account straight away and put down fifty.
6 Y él dijo: Cien barriles de aceite. Y le dijo: Toma tu obligación, y siéntate presto, y escribe cincuenta.
7 Then he said to another, What is the amount of your debt? And he said, A hundred measures of grain. And he said to him, Take your account and put down eighty.
7 Después dijo á otro: ¿Y tú, cuánto debes? Y él dijo: Cien coros de trigo. Y él le dijo: Toma tu obligación, y escribe ochenta.
8 And his lord was pleased with the false servant, because he had been wise; for the sons of this world are wiser in relation to their generation than the sons of light.
8 Y alabó el señor al mayordomo malo por haber hecho discretamente; porque los hijos de este siglo son en su generación más sagaces que los hijos de luz.
9 And I say to you, Make friends for yourselves through the wealth of this life, so that when it comes to an end, you may be taken into the eternal resting-places.
9 Y yo os digo: Haceos amigos de las riquezas de maldad, para que cuando faltareis, os reciban en las moradas eternas.
10 He who is true in a little, is true in much; he who is false in small things, is false in great.
10 El que es fiel en lo muy poco, también en lo más es fiel: y el que en lo muy poco es injusto, también en lo más es injusto.
11 If, then, you have not been true in your use of the wealth of this life, who will give into your care the true wealth?
11 Pues si en las malas riquezas no fuisteis fieles, ¿quién os confiará lo verdadero?
12 And if you have not been true in your care of the property of other people, who will give you that which is yours?
12 Y si en lo ajeno no fuisteis fieles, ¿quién os dará lo que es vuestro?
13 No man may be a servant to two masters: for he will have hate for the one and love for the other; or he will keep to the one and have no respect for the other. You may not be servants of God and of wealth.
13 Ningún siervo puede servir á dos señores; porque ó aborrecerá al uno y amará al otro, ó se allegará al uno y menospreciará al otro. No podéis servir á Dios y á las riquezas.
14 And the Pharisees, who had a great love of money, hearing these things, were making sport of him.
14 Y oían también todas estas cosas los Fariseos, los cuales eran avaros, y se burlaban de él.
15 And he said, You take care to seem right in the eyes of men, but God sees your hearts: and those things which are important in the opinion of men, are evil in the eyes of God.
15 Y díjoles: Vosotros sois los que os justificáis á vosotros mismos delante de los hombres; mas Dios conoce vuestros corazones; porque lo que los hombres [tienen] por sublime, delante de Dios es abominación.
16 The law and the prophets were till John: but then came the preaching of the kingdom of God, and everyone makes his way into it by force.
16 La ley y los profetas hasta Juan: desde entonces el reino de Dios es anunciado, y quienquiera se esfuerza [á entrar] en él.
17 But heaven and earth will come to an end before the smallest letter of the law may be dropped out.
17 Empero más fácil cosa es pasar el cielo y la tierra, que frustrarse un tilde de la ley.
18 Everyone who puts away his wife and takes another, is a false husband: and he who is married to a woman whose husband has put her away, is no true husband to her.
18 Cualquiera que repudia á su mujer, y se casa con otra, adultera: y el que se casa con la repudiada del marido, adultera.
19 Now there was a certain man of great wealth, who was dressed in fair clothing of purple and delicate linen, and was shining and glad every day.
19 Había un hombre rico, que se vestía de púrpura y de lino fino, y hacía cada día banquete con esplendidez.
20 And a certain poor man, named Lazarus, was stretched out at his door, full of wounds,
20 Había también un mendigo llamado Lázaro, el cual estaba echado á la puerta de él, lleno de llagas,
21 Desiring the broken bits of food which came from the table of the man of wealth; and even the dogs came and put their tongues on his wounds.
21 Y deseando hartarse de las migajas que caían de la mesa del rico; y aun los perros venían y le lamían las llagas.
22 And in time the poor man came to his end, and angels took him to Abraham's breast. And the man of wealth came to his end, and was put in the earth.
22 Y aconteció que murió el mendigo, y fué llevado por los ángeles al seno de Abraham: y murió también el rico, y fué sepultado.
23 And in hell, being in great pain, lifting up his eyes he saw Abraham, far away, and Lazarus on his breast.
23 Y en el infierno alzó sus ojos, estando en los tormentos, y vió á Abraham de lejos, y á Lázaro en su seno.
24 And he gave a cry and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me and send Lazarus, so that he may put the end of his finger in water and put it on my tongue, for I am cruelly burning in this flame.
24 Entonces él, dando voces, dijo: Padre Abraham, ten misericordia de mí, y envía á Lázaro que moje la punta de su dedo en agua, y refresque mi lengua; porque soy atormentado en esta llama.
25 But Abraham said, Keep in mind, my son, that when you were living, you had your good things, while Lazarus had evil things: but now, he is comforted and you are in pain.
25 Y díjole Abraham: Hijo, acuérdate que recibiste tus bienes en tu vida, y Lázaro también males; mas ahora éste es consolado aquí, y tú atormentado.
26 And in addition, there is a deep division fixed between us and you, so that those who might go from here to you are not able to do so, and no one may come from you to us.
26 Y además de todo esto, una grande sima está constituída entre nosotros y vosotros, que los que quisieren pasar de aquí á vosotros, no pueden, ni de allá pasar acá.
27 And he said, Father, it is my request that you will send him to my father's house;
27 Y dijo: Ruégote pues, padre, que le envíes á la casa de mi padre;
28 For I have five brothers; and let him give them an account of these things, so that they may not come to this place of pain.
28 Porque tengo cinco hermanos; para que les testifique, porque no vengan ellos también á este lugar de tormento.
29 But Abraham said, They have Moses and the prophets; let them give ear to what they say.
29 Y Abraham le dice: A Moisés y á los profetas tienen: óiganlos.
30 And he said, No, father Abraham, but if someone went to them from the dead, their hearts would be changed.
30 El entonces dijo: No, padre Abraham: mas si alguno fuere á ellos de los muertos, se arrepentirán.
31 And he said to him, If they will not give attention to Moses and the prophets, they will not be moved even if someone comes back from the dead.
31 Mas [Abraham] le dijo: Si no oyen á Moisés y á los profetas, tampoco se persuadirán, si alguno se levantare de los muertos.
People & places in this chapter
From this site's family tree and Bible maps, only where those guides cite this chapter.
People
Lazarus
The poor man covered with sores at the rich man's gate in a parable of Jesus, carried by angels to Abraham's side.
Cited in the guide: Luke 16:20
Cross references (30)
Related passages for each verse, from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge as collected and ranked by readers at OpenBible.info.
- 1 1 Peter 4:10; Matthew 25:14–30; 1 Corinthians 4:1–2; Luke 12:42; James 4:3
- 2 1 Samuel 2:23–24; Ecclesiastes 11:9–10; Revelation 20:12; 1 Peter 4:5; 2 Corinthians 5:10
- 3 Proverbs 27:23–27; Jeremiah 5:31; Luke 18:4; 2 Thessalonians 3:11; Proverbs 21:25–26
- 4 James 3:15; Jeremiah 4:22; Proverbs 30:9
- 5 Luke 7:41–42; Matthew 18:24
- 6 Titus 2:10; Luke 16:12; Luke 16:9
- 7 Luke 20:9; Luke 20:12; Song of Songs 8:11–12
- 8 1 Thessalonians 5:5; Ephesians 5:8; John 12:36; Proverbs 6:6–8; Luke 16:10
- 9 Matthew 19:21; 1 Timothy 6:17–19; Daniel 4:27; Matthew 6:24; Proverbs 19:17
- 10 Luke 16:11–12; Matthew 25:21; Luke 19:17; Matthew 25:23; Hebrews 3:2
- 11 Luke 12:33; Proverbs 8:18–19; James 2:5; Ephesians 3:8; Luke 18:22
- 12 Luke 19:13–26; Job 1:21; Matthew 25:14–29; 1 Chronicles 29:14–16; 1 Peter 1:4–5
- 13 1 John 2:15–16; Matthew 6:24; James 4:4; Romans 8:5–8; Luke 14:26
- 14 Luke 23:35; Luke 12:15; Luke 20:47; Isaiah 56:11; Matthew 23:13
- 15 Proverbs 21:2; 1 Samuel 16:7; 1 Corinthians 4:5; Jeremiah 17:10; Proverbs 16:5
- 16 Matthew 11:9–14; Matthew 21:32; Acts 3:24–25; Matthew 3:2; John 1:45
- 17 Matthew 5:18; Luke 21:33; 1 Peter 1:25; Isaiah 40:8; Romans 3:31
- 18 Matthew 19:9; Mark 10:11–12; Matthew 5:31–32; 1 Corinthians 7:10–12; 1 Corinthians 7:4
- 19 Ezekiel 16:49; Luke 18:24–25; Amos 6:4–6; James 5:1–5; Ezekiel 27:7
- 20 Acts 3:2; James 2:5; Job 2:7; 1 Samuel 2:8; Psalm 34:19
- 21 Matthew 15:27; Mark 7:28; John 6:12; 1 Corinthians 4:11; 2 Corinthians 11:27
- 22 1 Peter 2:24; Psalm 49:16–19; Revelation 14:13; James 1:11; Matthew 18:10
- 23 2 Peter 2:4; Luke 16:28; Matthew 23:33; Matthew 18:9; Revelation 14:10–11
- 24 Revelation 22:1; John 4:10; John 4:14; Revelation 7:16–17; Matthew 25:41
- 25 Luke 6:24; 1 John 2:15; Psalm 17:14; Mark 9:45; Philippians 3:19
- 26 John 3:36; Psalm 49:14; Psalm 50:22; Malachi 3:18; 2 Thessalonians 1:4–10
- 28 Acts 2:40; Psalm 49:12–13; 1 Thessalonians 4:6; Acts 20:23
- 29 Acts 15:21; Luke 16:16; Luke 24:27; 2 Timothy 3:15–17; 2 Peter 1:19–21
- 30 Revelation 16:9–11; Luke 16:24; Luke 3:8; Luke 13:5; Luke 13:3
- 31 2 Corinthians 4:3; Acts 28:23; John 11:43–53; Acts 19:8; John 12:10–11
Cross references: OpenBible.info (CC BY), drawn mainly from the public-domain Treasury of Scripture Knowledge. · Sources & licences
What the Fathers said
Passages from the Church Fathers that expound or quote this chapter, verbatim from the public-domain Schaff edition (19th-century English translations).
How these were chosen
“Commentary” is the opening of a homily or exposition on this chapter (John Chrysostom’s homilies, Augustine’s tractates, sermons and expositions of the Psalms). “Quotes” are sentences where the edition’s own footnotes identify a quotation of a verse here, kept only when the wording matches the verse. Only works whose authorship is not in doubt are used. Psalms follow the Hebrew/English numbering (Augustine numbers them as the Septuagint does: his Psalm 50 is Psalm 51 here).
Our duty is to give to others the admonitions we have received ourselves. The recent lesson of the Gospel has admonished us to make friends of the mammon of iniquity, that they too may "receive" those who do so "into everlasting habitations." But who are they that shall have everlasting habitations, but the Saints of God?
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 6 (1888)
… exhibits Abraham as having said to the rich man, with reference to all those who were still alive: "If they do not obey Moses and the prophets, neither, if any one were to rise from the dead and go to them, will they believe him."
These are little things, but "He that is faithful in that which is least, is faithful also in much." Nor can that possibly be void which proceedeth out of the mouth of Thy Truth.
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 1 (1886)
And this I say, not that we may omit supplicating the saints, but to hinder our being careless, and entrusting our concerns to others only, while we fall back and slumber ourselves. For so when He said, "make to yourselves friends," he did not stop at this only, but He added, "of the unrighteous mammon;" that so again the good …
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 10 (1888)
For how can a man become the one servant of two masters, when our Lord says in the Gospels, No man can serve two masters?
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 2, vol. 7 (1894)