ON RICHES
15 1Then he said to them, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed. Life does not consist in an abundance of possessions.”
2And he told them this parable: “The ground of a certain rich man yielded an abundant harvest. 3He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops!’ 4Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones! And there I’ll store all my surplus. And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of grain laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.” 5But Nature said to the man, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’
6So do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and animals destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 7For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
8No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.”
9Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the realm of Spirit! It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God!
10For what good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? What can anyone give in exchange for their soul?
11Do not conform to the pattern of this world, then, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. 12A reverential attitude with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. 13But if we have food and clothing, we can be content with that.
14Those who scheme to become rich fall into a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. 15For the root of all evil is greed.”
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16So everyone devoted themselves to his teaching—to community, and to the breaking of bread, and to prayer. 17And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being revivified.
18In this way, all the believers were in harmony, and all shared what they had in common. They sold property and their possessions to give to anyone who was in need. 19And every day they continued to meet together. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all people.
ON RICHES
15 1Εἶπεν δὲ πρὸς αὐτούς· Ὁρᾶτε καὶ φυλάσσεσθε ἀπὸ πάσης πλεονεξίας, ὅτι οὐκ ἐν τῷ περισσεύειν τινὶ ἡ ζωὴ αὐτοῦ ἐστιν ἐκ τῶν ὑπαρχόντων αὐτῷ. 2εἶπεν δὲ παραβολὴν πρὸς αὐτοὺς λέγων· Ἀνθρώπου τινὸς πλουσίου εὐφόρησεν ἡ χώρα. 3καὶ διελογίζετο ἐν ἑαυτῷ λέγων· Τί ποιήσω, ὅτι οὐκ ἔχω ποῦ συνάξω τοὺς καρπούς μου; 4καὶ εἶπεν· Τοῦτο ποιήσω, καθελῶ μου τὰς ἀποθήκας καὶ μείζονας οἰκοδομήσω καὶ συνάξω ἐκεῖ πάντα τὸν σῖτον καὶ τὰ ἀγαθά μου καὶ ἐρῶ τῇ ψυχῇ μου· Ψυχή, ἔχεις πολλὰ ἀγαθὰ κείμενα εἰς ἔτη πολλά· ἀναπαύου, φάγε, πίε, εὐφραίνου. 5εἶπεν δὲ αὐτῷ ἡ φύσις· Ἄφρων, ταύτῃ τῇ νυκτὶ τὴν ψυχήν σου ἀπαιτοῦσιν ἀπὸ σοῦ· ἃ δὲ ἡτοίμασας, τίνι ἔσται;
6Μὴ θησαυρίζετε ὑμῖν θησαυροὺς ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς, ὅπου σὴς καὶ βρῶσις ἀφανίζει καὶ ὅπου κλέπται διορύσσουσιν καὶ κλέπτουσιν· 7ὅπου γάρ ἐστιν ὁ θησαυρός σου, ἐκεῖ ἔσται καὶ ἡ καρδία σου.
8οὐδεὶς δύναται δυσὶ κυρίοις δουλεύειν· ἢ γὰρ τὸν ἕνα μισήσει καὶ τὸν ἕτερον ἀγαπήσει, ἢ ἑνὸς ἀνθέξεται καὶ τοῦ ἑτέρου καταφρονήσει. οὐ δύνασθε θεῷ δουλεύειν καὶ μαμωνᾷ.
9καὶ περιβλεψάμενος ὁ Ἰησοῦς λέγει τοῖς μαθηταῖς αὐτοῦ· Πῶς δυσκόλως οἱ τὰ χρήματα ἔχοντες εἰς τὴν βασιλείαν τοῦ πνεύματος εἰσελεύσονται. εὐκοπώτερόν ἐστιν κάμηλον διὰ τῆς τρυμαλιᾶς τῆς ῥαφίδος διελθεῖν ἢ πλούσιον εἰς τὴν βασιλείαν τοῦ θεοῦ εἰσελθεῖν.
10Τί γὰρ ὠφελεῖ ἄνθρωπον κερδῆσαι τὸν κόσμον ὅλον καὶ ζημιωθῆναι τὴν ψυχὴν αὐτοῦ; τί γὰρ δοῖ ἄνθρωπος ἀντάλλαγμα τῆς ψυχῆς αὐτοῦ;
11Μὴ συσχηματίζεσθε τῷ αἰῶνι τούτῳ, ἀλλὰ μεταμορφοῦσθε τῇ ἀνακαινώσει τοῦ νοὸς. 12ἔστιν δὲ πορισμὸς μέγας ἡ εὐσέβεια μετὰ αὐταρκείας· οὐδὲν γὰρ εἰσηνέγκαμεν εἰς τὸν κόσμον, ὅτι οὐδὲ ἐξενεγκεῖν τι δυνάμεθα· 13ἔχοντες δὲ διατροφὰς καὶ σκεπάσματα, τούτοις ἀρκεσθησόμεθα.
14Οἱ δὲ βουλόμενοι πλουτεῖν ἐμπίπτουσιν εἰς παγίδα καὶ ἐπιθυμίας πολλὰς ἀνοήτους καὶ βλαβεράς, αἵτινες βυθίζουσιν τοὺς ἀνθρώπους εἰς ὄλεθρον καὶ ἀπώλειαν. 15ῥίζα γὰρ πάντων τῶν κακῶν ἐστιν ἡ φιλαργυρία.
16Ἦσαν δὲ πάντες προσκαρτεροῦντες τῇ διδαχῇ καὶ τῇ κοινωνίᾳ, τῇ κλάσει τοῦ ἄρτου καὶ ταῖς προσευχαῖς. 17ὁ δὲ κύριος προσετίθει τοὺς σῳζομένους καθ’ ἡμέραν ἐπὶ τὸ αὐτό.
18πάντες δὲ οἱ πιστεύοντες ἦσαν ἐπὶ τὸ αὐτὸ καὶ εἶχον ἅπαντα κοινὰ καὶ τὰ κτήματα καὶ τὰς ὑπάρξεις ἐπίπρασκον καὶ διεμέριζον αὐτὰ πᾶσιν καθότι ἄν τις χρείαν εἶχεν· 19καθ’ ἡμέραν τε προσκαρτεροῦντες ὁμοθυμαδὸν, κλῶντές τε κατ’ οἶκον ἄρτον, μετελάμβανον τροφῆς ἐν ἀγαλλιάσει καὶ ἀφελότητι καρδίας αἰνοῦντες τὸν θεὸν καὶ ἔχοντες χάριν πρὸς ὅλον τὸν λαόν.