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Complete Jewish Bible

Luke 16:3

"‘What am I to do?' said the manager to himself. ‘My boss is firing me, I'm not strong enough to dig ditches, and I'm ashamed to go begging.

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Beggars;   Covetousness;   Dishonesty;   Embezzlement;   Jesus, the Christ;   Jesus Continued;   Malfeasance in Office;   Probation;   Servant;   Steward;   Worldliness;   Scofield Reference Index - Parables;   Thompson Chain Reference - Dilemma, Worldly;   Worldly;   Torrey's Topical Textbook - Agriculture or Husbandry;   Parables;  

Dictionaries:

- American Tract Society Bible Dictionary - Parable;   Bridgeway Bible Dictionary - Parables;   Baker Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology - Christ, Christology;   Heaven, Heavens, Heavenlies;   Wealth;   Holman Bible Dictionary - Dispensation;   Luke, Gospel of;   Parables;   Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament - Almsgiving ;   Asceticism (2);   Beggar;   Circumstantiality in the Parables;   Common Life;   Discourse;   Foolishness;   Friendship;   Honesty ;   Labour (2);   Laughter;   Mammon;   Paradox;   Premeditation;   Property (2);   Shame;   Spiritualizing of the Parables;   Steward, Stewardship;   Trade and Commerce;   Trades;   Wealth (2);   Winter ;   Morrish Bible Dictionary - Lord;   People's Dictionary of the Bible - Chief parables and miracles in the bible;  

Encyclopedias:

- Condensed Biblical Cyclopedia - Jesus of Nazareth;   International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Beg;   Lazarus;   Steward;   Trade;  

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
“Then the manager said to himself, ‘What will I do since my master is taking the management away from me? I’m not strong enough to dig; I’m ashamed to beg.
King James Version (1611)
Then the Steward said within himselfe, What shall I doe, for my lord taketh away from mee the Stewardship? I cannot digge, to begge I am ashamed.
King James Version
Then the steward said within himself, What shall I do? for my lord taketh away from me the stewardship: I cannot dig; to beg I am ashamed.
English Standard Version
And the manager said to himself, ‘What shall I do, since my master is taking the management away from me? I am not strong enough to dig, and I am ashamed to beg.
New American Standard Bible
"And the manager said to himself, 'What am I to do, since my master is taking the management away from me? I am not strong enough to dig; I am ashamed to beg.
New Century Version
The manager thought to himself, ‘What will I do since my master is taking my job away from me? I am not strong enough to dig ditches, and I am ashamed to beg.
Amplified Bible
"The manager [of the estate] said to himself, 'What will I do, since my master is taking the management away from me? I am not strong enough to dig [for a living], and I am ashamed to beg.
New American Standard Bible (1995)
"The manager said to himself, 'What shall I do, since my master is taking the management away from me? I am not strong enough to dig; I am ashamed to beg.
Legacy Standard Bible
And the steward said to himself, ‘What shall I do, since my master is taking the stewardship away from me? I am not strong enough to dig; I am ashamed to beg.
Berean Standard Bible
The manager said to himself, 'What shall I do, now that my master is taking away my position? I am too weak to dig and too ashamed to beg.
Contemporary English Version
The manager said to himself, "What shall I do now that my master is going to fire me? I can't dig ditches, and I'm ashamed to beg.
Darby Translation
And the steward said within himself, What shall I do; for my lord is taking the stewardship from me? I am not able to dig; I am ashamed to beg.
Easy-to-Read Version
"So, the manager thought to himself, ‘What will I do? My master is taking my job away from me. I am not strong enough to dig ditches. I am too proud to beg.
Geneva Bible (1587)
Then the stewarde saide within himselfe, What shall I doe? for my master taketh away from me the stewardship. I cannot digge, and to begge I am ashamed.
George Lamsa Translation
Then the steward said to himself, What will I do? for my lord will take away from me the stewardship? I cannot dig, and I am ashamed to beg.
Good News Translation
The servant said to himself, ‘My master is going to dismiss me from my job. What shall I do? I am not strong enough to dig ditches, and I am ashamed to beg.
Lexham English Bible
And the manager said to himself, ‘What should I do, because my master is taking away the management from me? I am not strong enough to dig; I am ashamed to beg.
Literal Translation
And the steward said within himself, What shall I do, for my lord is taking away the stewardship from me? I am not able to dig, and I am ashamed to beg.
American Standard Version
And the steward said within himself, What shall I do, seeing that my lord taketh away the stewardship from me? I have not strength to dig; to beg I am ashamed.
Bible in Basic English
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.
Hebrew Names Version
"The manager said within himself, 'What will I do, seeing that my lord is taking away the management position from me? I don't have strength to dig. I am ashamed to beg.
International Standard Version
"Then the manager said to himself, 'What should I do? My master is taking my position away from me. I'm not strong enough to dig, and I'm ashamed to beg.
Etheridge Translation
And the house-chief said within himself, What shall I do ? for my lord taketh from me the house-headship. I cannot dig, and to beg I am ashamed.
Murdock Translation
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.
Bishop's Bible (1568)
The stewarde sayde within hymselfe: What shall I do, for my maister taketh away from me the stewardshyppe? I can not digge, & to begge I am ashamed.
English Revised Version
And the steward said within himself, What shall I do, seeing that my lord taketh away the stewardship from me? I have not strength to dig; to beg I am ashamed.
World English Bible
"The steward said within himself, 'What will I do, seeing that my lord is taking away the management position from me? I don't have strength to dig. I am ashamed to beg.
Wesley's New Testament (1755)
And the steward said in himself, What shall I do? For my lord taketh away the stewardship from me. I cannot dig, to beg I am ashamed.
Weymouth's New Testament
"Then the steward said within himself, "`What am I to do? For my master is taking away the stewardship from me. I am not strong enough for field labour: to beg, I should be ashamed.
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
And the baili seide with ynne him silf, What schal Y do, for my lord takith awei fro me the baili? delfe mai Y not, I schame to begge.
Update Bible Version
And the steward said to himself, What shall I do, seeing that my lord takes away the stewardship from me? I don't have strength to dig; I am ashamed to beg.
Webster's Bible Translation
Then the steward said within himself, What shall I do? for my lord taketh from me the stewardship: I cannot dig; I am ashamed to beg.
New English Translation
Then the manager said to himself, ‘What should I do, since my master is taking my position away from me? I'm not strong enough to dig, and I'm too ashamed to beg.
New King James Version
"Then the steward said within himself, "What shall I do? For my master is taking the stewardship away from me. I cannot dig; I am ashamed to beg.
New Living Translation
"The manager thought to himself, ‘Now what? My boss has fired me. I don't have the strength to dig ditches, and I'm too proud to beg.
New Life Bible
"The boss said to himself, ‘What will I do now? The owner of the houses and lands is taking my work away from me. I cannot dig in the ground for a living. I am too proud to ask for help.
New Revised Standard
Then the manager said to himself, ‘What will I do, now that my master is taking the position away from me? I am not strong enough to dig, and I am ashamed to beg.
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
And the steward said within himself - What shall I do, because my lord taketh away the stewardship from me? Dig, I cannot: to beg, I am ashamed.
Douay-Rheims Bible
And the steward said within himself: What shall I do, because my lord taketh away from me the stewardship? To dig I am not able; to beg I am ashamed.
Revised Standard Version
And the steward said to himself, 'What shall I do, since my master is taking the stewardship away from me? I am not strong enough to dig, and I am ashamed to beg.
Tyndale New Testament (1525)
The stewarde sayd wt in him selfe: what shall I do? for my master will take awaye fro me ye stewarde shippe. I canot digge and to begge I am ashamed.
Young's Literal Translation
`And the steward said in himself, What shall I do, because my lord doth take away the stewardship from me? to dig I am not able, to beg I am ashamed: --
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
The stewarde sayde within himself: What shal I do? My lorde wil take awaye the stewardshipe fro me. I ca not dygge, and to begg I am ashamed.
Mace New Testament (1729)
upon which the steward said in himself, what shall I do, now my master strips me of my employment? dig I cannot: and 'tis shameful to beg: I see it now,
THE MESSAGE
"The manager said to himself, ‘What am I going to do? I've lost my job as manager. I'm not strong enough for a laboring job, and I'm too proud to beg.... Ah, I've got a plan. Here's what I'll do... then when I'm turned out into the street, people will take me into their houses.'
Simplified Cowboy Version
"The bean counter was beside himself with worry. He said to himself, 'My boss is firing me, and I don't know what to do. I'm not strong enough to be a cowboy, and I've got too much pride to beg.

Contextual Overview

1 Speaking to the talmidim, Yeshua said: "There was a wealthy man who employed a general manager. Charges were brought to him that his manager was squandering his resources. 2 So he summoned him and asked him, ‘What is this I hear about you? Turn in your accounts, for you can no longer be manager.' 3 "‘What am I to do?' said the manager to himself. ‘My boss is firing me, I'm not strong enough to dig ditches, and I'm ashamed to go begging. 4 Aha! I know what I'll do — something that will make people welcome me into their homes after I've lost my job here!' 5 "So, after making appointments with each of his employer's debtors, he said to the first, ‘How much do you owe my boss?' 6 ‘Eight hundred gallons of olive oil,' he replied. ‘Take your note back,' he told him. ‘Now, quickly! Sit down and write one for four hundred!' 7 To the next he said, ‘And you, how much do you owe?' ‘A thousand bushels of wheat,' he replied. ‘Take your note back and write one for eight hundred.' 8 "And the employer of this dishonest manager applauded him for acting so shrewdly! For the worldly have more sekhel than those who have received the light — in dealing with their own kind of people! 9 "Now what I say to you is this: use worldly wealth to make friends for yourselves, so that when it gives out, you may be welcomed into the eternal home. 10 Someone who is trustworthy in a small matter is also trustworthy in large ones, and someone who is dishonest in a small matter is also dishonest in large ones.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

said: Luke 18:4, Esther 6:6

What: Luke 12:17, Isaiah 10:3, Jeremiah 5:31, Hosea 9:5, Acts 9:6

I cannot: Proverbs 13:4, Proverbs 15:19, Proverbs 18:9, Proverbs 19:15, Proverbs 21:25, Proverbs 21:26, Proverbs 24:30-34, Proverbs 26:13-16, Proverbs 27:23-27, Proverbs 29:21, 2 Thessalonians 3:11

to beg: Luke 16:20, Luke 16:22, Proverbs 20:4, Mark 10:46, John 9:8, Acts 3:2

Reciprocal: Luke 7:39 - he spake Luke 19:26 - and from

Cross-References

Genesis 16:1
Now Sarai Avram's wife had not borne him a child. But she had an Egyptian slave-girl named Hagar;
Genesis 16:4
Avram had sexual relations with Hagar, and she conceived. But when she became aware that she was pregnant, she looked on her mistress with contempt.
Genesis 16:5
Sarai said to Avram, "This outrage being done to me is your fault! True, I gave my slave-girl to you to sleep with; but when she saw that she was pregnant, she began holding me in contempt. May Adonai decide who is right — I or you!"
Genesis 25:6
But to the sons of the concubines he made grants while he was still living and sent them off to the east, to the land of Kedem, away from Yitz'chak his son.
Genesis 28:9
So ‘Esav went to Yishma‘el and took, in addition to the wives he already had, Machalat the daughter of Yishma‘el Avraham's son, the sister of N'vayot, to be his wife. Haftarah Tol'dot: Mal'akhi (Malachi) 1:1–2:7 B'rit Hadashah suggested readings for Parashah Tol'dot: Romans 9:6–16; Messianic Jews (Hebrews) 11:20; 12:14–17 Ya‘akov went out from Be'er-Sheva and traveled toward Haran. He came to a certain place and stayed the night there, because the sun had set. He took a stone from the place, put it under his head and lay down there to sleep. He dreamt that there before him was a ladder resting on the ground with its top reaching to heaven, and the angels of Adonai were going up and down on it. Then suddenly Adonai was standing there next to him; and he said, "I am Adonai , the God of Avraham your [grand]father and the God of Yitz'chak. The land on which you are lying I will give to you and to your descendants. Your descendants will be as numerous as the grains of dust on the earth. You will expand to the west and to the east, to the north and to the south. By you and your descendants all the families of the earth will be blessed. Look, I am with you. I will guard you wherever you go, and I will bring you back into this land, because I won't leave you until I have done what I have promised you." Ya‘akov awoke from his sleep and said, "Truly, Adonai is in this place — and I didn't know it!" Then he became afraid and said, "This place is fearsome! This has to be the house of God! This is the gate of heaven!" Ya‘akov got up early in the morning, took the stone he had put under his head, set it up as a standing-stone, poured olive oil on its top and named the place Beit-El [house of God]; but the town had originally been called Luz. Ya‘akov took this vow: "If God will be with me and will guard me on this road that I am traveling, giving me bread to eat and clothes to wear, so that I return to my father's house in peace, then Adonai will be my God; and this stone, which I have set up as a standing-stone, will be God's house; and of everything you give me, I will faithfully return one-tenth to you."
Genesis 30:4
So she gave him Bilhah her slave-girl as his wife, and Ya‘akov went in and slept with her.
Genesis 30:9
When Le'ah saw that she had stopped having children, she took Zilpah her slave-girl and gave her to Ya‘akov as his wife.
Genesis 32:22
So the present crossed over ahead of him, and he himself stayed that night in the camp.
Genesis 35:22
It was while Isra'el was living in that land that Re'uven went and slept with Bilhah his father's concubine, and Isra'el heard about it. Ya‘akov had twelve sons.
2 Samuel 5:13
David took for himself more concubines and wives in Yerushalayim after coming from Hevron, so that still more sons and daughters were born to David.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Then the steward said within himself,.... As the Scribes and Pharisees were wont to do, Matthew 3:9

what shall I do? he does not say, what will become of me? I am undone, and what shall I do to be saved? or what shall I do for my Lord and Master I have so much injured? or what shall I do to make up matters with him? or what account shall I give? but what shall I do for a maintenance? how shall I live? what shall I do to please men, and gain their opinion and good will, and so be provided for by them? of this cast were the Pharisees, men pleasers, and self-seekers:

for my Lord taketh away from me the stewardship: the priesthood was changed, and there was a change also of the law; the ceremonial law was abrogated, and the ordinances of the former dispensation were shaken and removed; so that these men must of course turn out of their places and offices:

I cannot dig; or "plough", as the Arabic version renders it; or do any part of husbandry, particularly that which lies in manuring and cultivating the earth; not but that he was able to do it; but he could not tell how to submit to such a mean, as well as laborious way of life; for nothing was meaner among the Jews than husbandry: they have a saying, that אין לך אומנות פחותה מן הקרקע, "you have no trade", or business, "lesser", or meaner "than husbandry" g:

and to beg I am ashamed; for nothing could be more disagreeable, to one who had lived so well in his master's house, and in so much fulness and luxury, as the Scribes and Pharisees did. The Jews have a saying, that h

"want of necessaries, טוב משאלתו, "is better than begging": (and says one) I have tasted the bitterness of all things, and I have not found any thing more bitter "than begging:"''

and which was literally true of the Jews, after the destruction of Jerusalem; when multitudes of them were condemned to work in the mines; and vast numbers were scattered about every where as vagabonds, begging their bread; both which were very irksome to that people: though both these phrases may be mystically understood: and "digging" may intend a laborious searching into the Scriptures, and a diligent performance of good works: neither of which the Pharisees much cared for, though they made large pretensions to both; nor did they dig deep to lay a good foundation whereon to build eternal life and happiness: nor could they attain to the law of righteousness by all their toil and labour, they would be thought to have taken: and for "begging", they were above that: read the Pharisee's prayer in

Luke 18:11 and you will not find one petition in it. To ask any thing at the throne of grace, in a way of mere grace and favour, and not merit: or to beg any thing at the hands of Christ, as life, righteousness, pardon, cleansing, healing, food, &c. they were ashamed of, and cared not for.

g T. Bab. Yebamot, fol. 63. 1. h Mischar Hapeninim apud Buxtorf. Florileg, Heb. p. 262.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Said within himself - Thought, or considered.

My lord - My master, my employer.

I cannot dig - This may mean either that his employment had been such that he could not engage in agriculture, not having been acquainted with the business, or that he was “unwilling” to stoop to so low an employment as to work daily for his support. “To dig,” here, is the same as to till the earth, to work at daily labor.

To beg - These were the only two ways that presented themselves for a living - either to work for it, or to beg.

I am ashamed - He was too proud for that. Besides, he was in good health and strength, and there was no good reason “why” he should beg - nothing which he could give as a cause for it. It is proper for the sick, the lame, and the feeble to beg; but it is “not” well for the able-bodied to do it, nor is it well to aid them, except by giving them employment, and compelling them to work for a living. He does a beggar who is able to work the most real kindness who sets him to work, and, as a general rule, we should not aid an able-bodied man or woman in any other way. Set them to work, and pay them a fair compensation, and you do them good in two ways, for the habit of labor may be of more value to them than the price you pay them.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Luke 16:3. I cannot dig — He could not submit to become a common day-labourer, which was both a severe and base employment: To beg I am ashamed. And as these were the only honest ways left him to procure a morsel of bread, and he would not submit to either, he found he must continue the system of knavery, in order to provide for his idleness and luxury, or else starve. Wo to the man who gets his bread in this way! The curse of the Lord must be on his head, and on his heart; in his basket, and is his store.


 
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