Bible verses about "stewardship" | AUV

⁴² And the Lord answered, “Who then is the trustworthy and sensible property manager, to whom his master will assign the management of his household, to provide adequate and timely meals for its members? ⁴³ That servant will be happy when his master returns to find him doing [his job] well. ⁴⁴ Truly I tell you, he will put that slave in charge of his entire estate. ⁴⁵ But if that slave should think to himself, ‘My master will not be back soon,’ and then becomes physically abusive to his men and women servants, and eats and drinks and gets drunk, ⁴⁶ that slave’s master will return on a day that he least expects, and at an hour unknown [to him]. And [that master] will whip him to shreds and will turn him over to suffer the same fate as unfaithful servants receive.

²⁸ For which one of you who wants to build a [lookout] tower will not first sit down and calculate its cost, to see whether he has enough [money and materiel] to complete it?

²⁷ John replied to them, “A person cannot receive anything, unless it has been given to him from [God in] heaven.

⁷ As God’s manager [of the church], an overseer must be free from just blame, not a drunkard, not a fighter [and] not in love with money.

⁷ For we did not bring anything into the world, and we cannot take anything out of it either. ⁸ But if we have [enough] food and clothing, we will [i.e., should] be content with that.

¹⁷ [Solemnly] urge those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant, nor to place their hope in the uncertainty of [their] wealth, but in God, who generously supplies us with everything to enjoy. ¹⁸ [Urge them] to do what is good, to be rich in [the practice of] good deeds, to be generous and willing to share [with others]. ¹⁹ [In that way] they will store up for themselves a treasure [of never ending rewards] for providing a solid foundation for the future, so that they can take hold of the true life [i.e., in heaven].

¹¹ If therefore you have not been trustworthy in worldly wealth, who will put you in charge of the true [spiritual] riches?

¹⁴ “For the kingdom of heaven is similar to a man who planned to go on a trip to a distant country, so called his servants and entrusted to each of them a large sum of money [Note: The narrative that follows suggests that the man was turning over some of his assets to financial managers to invest for him]. ¹⁵ He gave one servant five talents [Note: This ‘talent’ was a large sum of money in the form of a certain weight of silver. It was the equivalent of sixty years of a farm laborer’s wages, or about $750,000 in 1994 income]. He gave two talents to another servant and one talent to another. He gave to each one an amount in keeping with his ability [to invest it wisely], and then left on his trip. ¹⁶ The one with the five talents soon invested the money in business transactions which netted him five more. ¹⁷ In the same way the one who was given two talents made two more. ¹⁸ But the one who was given one talent went and dug a hole in the ground and buried his master’s money. ¹⁹ Now after a long time the master of these servants returned [from his trip] and proceeded to go over his accounts with each of them. ²⁰ The one who had been given five talents came bringing another five and reported, ‘Master, you entrusted me with five talents. Look, I have earned five more with them.’ ²¹ His master replied, ‘Well done, you are a good and trustworthy servant. You have been trustworthy over a [relatively] few things, so I will place you over many things. Come and share in your master’s joy.’ ²² And the one who was given two talents came and reported, ‘Master, you entrusted me with two talents. Look, I have earned two more with them.’ ²³ His master said to him, ‘Well done, you are a good and trustworthy servant. You have been trustworthy over a [relatively] few things, [so] I will place you over many things. Come and share in your master’s joy.’ ²⁴ Then the one who was given [only] one talent came and reported, ‘Master, I knew you were a difficult man who reaped where you had not sown, and gathered a harvest where you had not scattered seed, ²⁵ and I was afraid, so I went away and hid your talent in the ground. Look, you [can] have your own talent [back].’ ²⁶ But his master said to him, ‘You wicked, lazy servant. [Since] you knew that I reaped where I had not sown and gathered where I had not scattered seed, ²⁷ you should have therefore deposited my money in the bank [so] when I returned, [at least] I would have received my own money back, with interest. ²⁸ Take the one talent away from him, therefore, and give it to the servant who had the ten talents. ²⁹ For to every person who has [something], more will be given, so he will have plenty. But from the person who has [virtually] nothing, even that [little bit] he has will be taken away [from him]. ³⁰ Throw out that worthless servant into the [place of] outer darkness, where there will be crying and excruciating pain.

²³ In whatever you do, work wholeheartedly, as though it were for the Lord and not [just] for people,

⁶ But [remember] this: The person who plants only a few seeds will harvest a meager crop. And the one who plants many seeds [Note: The Greek says, “plants with blessings”] will harvest a bumper crop. ⁷ Each person should give what he has decided to in his heart, not grudgingly, nor out of a feeling that he has to, for God loves a cheerful giver.

¹⁰ As each of you has received a gift [from God], you should make use of it [in the body], so that you will be [good] caretakers of the many unearned ways that God favors you.