Luke 16:8 - Plain English Version

⁸ That manager was cheating his boss, but his boss thought, ‘This man is a liar and a cheat, but he is smart too. He has done something that will help him get his food later.’ ” Then Jesus said, “You know, the people that don’t care about God, but only care about the things in this world, they are smart with the things of this world. God’s people are not so smart with the things of this world.

More versions

King James Version (Oxford) 1769

⁸ And the lord commended the unjust steward, because he had done wisely: for the children of this world are in their generation wiser than the children of light.

Amplified Bible - Classic Edition

⁸ And [his] master praised the dishonest (unjust) manager for acting shrewdly and prudently; for the sons of this age are shrewder and more prudent and wiser in [relation to] their own generation [to their own age and kind] than are the sons of light.

American Standard Version (1901)

⁸ And his lord commended the unrighteous steward because he had done wisely: for the sons of this world are for their own generation wiser than the sons of the light.

Common English Bible

⁸ “The master commended the dishonest manager because he acted cleverly. People who belong to this world are more clever in dealing with their peers than are people who belong to the light.

Catholic Public Domain Version

⁸ And the lord praised the iniquitous steward, in that he had acted prudently. For the sons of this age are more prudent with their generation than are the sons of light.

Luke 16:8 Cross References

Genesis 3:1

You know, God made lots of animals, but the snake was more smart than all the other animals. He was really smart and tricky. One day, the snake went to the woman and said to her, “Did God say, ‘You can’t eat fruit from any of the trees in the garden’? Is that true?”

Matthew 17:26

Peter said, “They take money from other people, not from their own mob.” Then Jesus said, “All right, that means their own families don’t have to pay anything. And we are God’s family, so we don’t have to pay money for God’s house.

Luke 16:10

Then Jesus said, “If people can trust you with little things, they can trust you with big things too. If you cheat with little things, you will cheat with big things too.

Luke 16:4

What can I do? I know what to do. I will do something to get people to like me, so that after I lose my job, they will look after me, and they will let me live in their homes.’

Luke 16:7

Then the manager asked the next man, ‘What did you borrow from my boss?’ That man said, ‘I borrowed 100 bags of flour.’ The manager said, ‘We can change that. Here is the paper that has the numbers on it. I’ll let you change it right now. Make it 80 bags of flour.’

Luke 18:6

Then Jesus said, “That judge was a bad man, but think about what he said to himself. That woman kept on asking him, and in the end, he did the right thing.

John 12:36

You have to listen to my message while I am still here, and you have to believe it, so that you will be my followers. Then it will be like you are living in the light that I’m shining for you.” After Jesus said those things, he left that place and stayed away from those people, so they didn’t know where he was.

1 Corinthians 3:18

Some of you mob think you are really smart, but you are thinking wrong, like the people of this world that don’t know God. So stop tricking yourselves. Instead, you have to think God’s way. Other people might think you are fools, but really, you will be wise.

Ephesians 5:8

You see, you used to be like that before. You didn’t know what was right, like you were living in the dark. But then you came to our leader, Jesus, and now you are in the light. So live like people that belong to the light.

Philippians 3:19

They don’t listen to God. They listen to their own bodies, and they do bad things so that their bodies feel good. They do those bad things, but they don’t feel shame. Instead, they think they are smart. They only think about the things that belong to this world. And in the end God will finish them up for ever.

1 Thessalonians 5:5

You listen to what God says. It’s like you belong to the light, and you belong to the day time. You aren’t people that belong to the night time or the dark.

1 Peter 2:9

But you are the people God picked out for himself. Together you work for him, like the men that looked after his ceremonies. You are his own family. God called you away from doing bad things, so you can do good things. It is like you used to live in the dark so that nobody could see you do bad things there, but now he called you away from that to live in his good light. So let’s tell everyone that God is really great and really good.