So ¹  the master said to his ²  slave, ‘Go out to the highways ³  and country roads ⁴  and urge ⁵  people ⁶  to come in, so that my house will be filled. ⁷ 

So if someone cleanses himself of such behavior, ¹  he will be a vessel for honorable use, set apart, useful for the Master, prepared for every good work.

They ¹  cried out with a loud voice, ²  “How long, ³  Sovereign Master, ⁴  holy and true, before you judge those who live on the earth and avenge our blood?”

So ¹  the slave came back and reported this to his master. Then the master of the household was furious ²  and said to his slave, ‘Go out quickly ³  to the streets and alleys of the city, ⁴  and bring in the poor, ⁵  the crippled, ⁶  the blind, and the lame.’

It is enough for the disciple to become like his teacher, and the slave like his master. If they have called the head of the house ‘Beelzebul,’ how much more will they defame the members of his household!

“Who then is the faithful and wise slave, ¹  whom the master has put in charge of his household, to give the other slaves ²  their food at the proper time?

be like people ¹  waiting for their master to come back from the wedding celebration, ²  so that when he comes and knocks they can immediately open the door for him.

Blessed are those slaves ¹  whom their master finds alert ²  when he returns! I tell you the truth, ³  he will dress himself to serve, ⁴  have them take their place at the table, ⁵  and will come ⁶  and wait on them! ⁷ 

The Lord replied, ¹  “Who then is the faithful and wise manager, ²  whom the master puts in charge of his household servants, ³  to give them their allowance of food at the proper time?

But if ¹  that ²  slave should say to himself, ³  ‘My master is delayed ⁴  in returning,’ and he begins to beat ⁵  the other ⁶  slaves, both men and women, ⁷  and to eat, drink, and get drunk,

then the master of that slave will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not foresee, and will cut him in two, ¹  and assign him a place with the unfaithful. ² 

Then ¹  the manager said to himself, ‘What should I do, since my master is taking my position ²  away from me? I’m not strong enough to dig, ³  and I’m too ashamed ⁴  to beg.

The ¹  master commended the dishonest ²  manager because he acted shrewdly. ³  For the people ⁴  of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their contemporaries ⁵  than the people ⁶  of light.

Won’t ¹  the master ²  instead say to him, ‘Get my dinner ready, and make yourself ready ³  to serve me while ⁴  I eat and drink. Then ⁵  you may eat and drink’?

I tell you the solemn truth, ¹  the slave ²  is not greater than his master, nor is the one who is sent as a messenger ³  greater than the one who sent him.

I no longer call you slaves, ¹  because the slave does not understand ²  what his master is doing. But I have called you friends, because I have revealed to you everything ³  I heard ⁴  from my Father.

Remember what ¹  I told you, ‘A slave ²  is not greater than his master.’ ³  If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they obeyed ⁴  my word, they will obey ⁵  yours too.

When they heard this, they raised their voices to God with one mind ¹  and said, “Master of all, ²  you who made the heaven, the earth, ³  the sea, and everything that is in them,

Who are you to pass judgment on another’s servant? Before his own master he stands or falls. And he will stand, for the Lord ¹  is able to make him stand.

According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled master-builder I laid a foundation, but someone else builds on it. And each one must be careful how he builds.