Classic Poem

PARABLE XXV

The Unjust Steward

This parable, as he convers'd
With his disciples, Christ rehears'd.—
A certain man of wealth maintain'd
A steward, and he was arraign'd,
That he had of his goods made waste;
He therefore call'd him up in haste,
And said, ‘What is this thing I hear?
‘Let your accounts be stated clear:
‘Thou from thine office must depart.’—
Then said the steward in his heart,
‘Thus stripp'd, how grievous is my task?
‘I cannot dig, and scorn to ask.
‘I am resolv'd what step to take,
‘That when my post I must forsake,
‘I somewhere may reception win.’
On which he call'd one debtor in,
And ask'd, how much he was in debt
In that he had not settled yet?
‘An hundred measures, I confess,
‘I owe, sir, from the olive-press’
Then haste (he said) and sit thee still,
And write down fifty in thy bill.—
He of a second next would know,
How much? ‘An hundred bowls I owe
‘Of wheat from out the threshing-floor.’
Then take thy bill and write fourscore.—
The Lord moreover in the end
Did this same man of guile commend
For acting of a prudent part:
Since all the race, that set their heart
On worldly things, are wiser far,
In what concerns them, where they are,
Than children of the light can be,
Train'd in the Lord's simplicity.
Then, (in griev'd irony he spake)
Friends of unrighteous mammon make
That when you fail, from wealth and pride,
You heav'nly mansions may provide.
?This lecture seems to have been read
After the twelve the Lord had fled,
And went about with carnal eyes
In quest of temporalities;
Perhaps indulging vice her way;
Perhaps remitting sins for pay;
With Judas selling Christ his worth;
With Peter sav'ring things on earth:
But Christ explicitly declares
Against the world and its affairs.
?Two lords no minister can serve:
For or of one he'll well deserve,
The other hate in servile fear;
Or else he will to this adhere,
And that will disobey and scorn:
You're not for God and mammon born.