Luke 16:13

An Understandable Version (2005 edition)

No person can serve two masters, for he will either hate the one and love the other, or else he will cling to the one [i.e., as a close friend] and look down on the other. You cannot serve God and material things [at the same time].”

Cross References

Matthew 4:10

Then Jesus replied to him, “Get away from me Satan, for it is written [Deut. 6:13], ‘You are supposed to worship the Lord your God, and serve only Him.’”

Matthew 6:24

No person can serve two masters, for he will either hate the one and love the other, or else he will cling to the one and look down on the other. You cannot serve God and material things [at the same time].

Luke 11:23

The person who is not on my side is [actually] against me. And the person who does not gather [people to me] is [actually] driving them away [from me].

Luke 14:26

“If anyone comes to me [i.e., to be my disciple], and does not hate his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brothers and sisters and, yes, even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.

Luke 16:12

And if you have not been trustworthy with what belongs to someone else, who will give you something of your own?

Luke 16:9

Therefore, I tell you, make friends for yourselves by using worldly wealth, so that when it fails [i.e., when you run out of money] they [i.e., the friends you made with its wise and benevolent use] may welcome you into the eternal [i.e., heavenly] dwelling places. [Note: The idea here seems to be that by your shrewd use of material possessions for the benefit of others, you are actually storing up treasures for yourself in heaven].

Luke 9:50

But Jesus said to him; “Do not try to stop him, for the person who is not against you is for you.”

James 4:4

You people who have become unfaithful to God, do you not know that being [intimate] friends with the world [of sin] means hostility toward God? Therefore, whoever determines to be an [intimate] friend of the world becomes an enemy of God.