THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST. LUKE

THE NEW TESTAMENT
TRANSLATED FROM
THE SYRIAC PESHITO VERSION BY JAMES MURDOCK

Chapter 16

(Luk 16:1) And he spoke a parable to his disciples. There was a certain rich man, who had a steward; and accusations were brought to him of him, that he squandered his property.

(Luk 16:2) And his lord called him, and said to him: What is this that I hear of thee? Render to me an account of thy stewardship; for thou canst no longer be my steward.

(Luk 16:3) And the steward said with himself: What shall I do, since my lord is about to take from me the stewardship? To dig, I am unable; and to become a beggar, I am ashamed.

(Luk 16:4) I know what to do, that, when I am put out of the stewardship, they may receive me to their houses.

(Luk 16:5) And he called each one of his lord's debtors; and he said to the first, How much owest thou to my lord?

(Luk 16:6) And he said to him, One hundred measures of oil. And he said to him: Take thy bill, and sit down quickly, and write Fifty measures.

(Luk 16:7) And he said to another: And how much owest thou to my lord? And he said to him, One hundred cors of wheat. And he said to him: Take thy bill, and sit down, and write Eighty cors.

(Luk 16:8) And our Lord praised the unrighteous steward, for having acted sagaciously: for the children of this world are more sagacious than the children of light, in this their generation.

(Luk 16:9) And I also say to you: Make to yourselves friends, with this unrighteous mammon; so that when it is finished, they may receive you to their everlasting tabernacles

(Luk 16:10) He that is faithful in the little, is also faithful in the much; and he that is unjust in the little, is also unjust in the much.

(Luk 16:11) If therefore ye have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will intrust to you the reality ?

(Luk 16:12) And if ye have not been found faithful in that which is not yours, who will give to you that which is yours?

(Luk 16:13) There is no servant, who can serve two lords. For, either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will honor the one and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.

(Luk 16:14) And the Pharisees, when they heard all these things, because they loved money, derided him.

(Luk 16:15) And Jesus said to them: Ye are such as justify yourselves before men; but God knoweth your heart: for that which is exalted among men, is abominable before God.

(Luk 16:16) The law and the prophets were until John: since then, the kingdom of God is proclaimed, and every one presseth it to enter in.

(Luk 16:17) And it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away, than for one letter to pass from the law.

(Luk 16:18) Whoever putteth away his wife, and taketh another, committeth adultery; and whoever taketh her that is put away, committeth adultery.

(Luk 16:19) And there was a certain rich man, who was clothed in fine linen and scarlet, and passed every day in splendid luxury.

(Luk 16:20) And there was a certain poor man, whose name was Lazarus; and he was laid at the gate of the rich man, smitten with ulcers.

(Luk 16:21) And he desired to fill his belly with the fragments that fell from the rich man's table: and the dogs also came and licked his ulcers.

(Luk 16:22) And so it was, that the poor man died; and angels transported him to Abraham's bosom. The rich man also died, and was buried.

(Luk 16:23) And being tormented in hell, he raised his eyes from afar off, and saw Abraham, and Lazarus in his bosom.

(Luk 16:24) And he called with a loud voice, and said: Abraham, my father, have pity on me; and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and moisten my tongue; for, lo, I am tormented in this flame.

(Luk 16:25) And Abraham said to him: My son, remember, that thou receivedst thy good things in thy lifetime, and Lazarus his evil things: and now, behold he is here at rest, and thou art tormented.

(Luk 16:26) And with all these, there is a great barrier between us and you; so that they who would pass from here to you, cannot; neither [can they] pass from there to us

(Luk 16:27) He said to him: I pray thee, therefore, my father, that thou wouldst send him to my father's house;

(Luk 16:28) for I have five brothers; that he may go and protest to them; lest they also come to this place of torment.

(Luk 16:29) Abraham said to him: They have Moses and the prophets, let them hear them.

(Luk 16:30) But he said to him: No, my father Abraham: but if one shall go to them from the dead, they will repent.

(Luk 16:31) Abraham said to him: If they hear not Moses and the prophets, they will not believe, though one should rise from the dead.