“ Again, the Kingdom of Heaven can be illustrated by the story of a man going on a long trip. He called together his servants and entrusted his money to them while he was gone.

“天国又好比一个人要往外国去，就叫了仆人来，把他的家业交给他们，

“天国又好比一个人要出外远行，就叫了仆人来，把他的家业交给他们。

“天国又好比一个人要出外远行，就叫了仆人来，把他的家业交给他们。

“天国就像一个人即将远行，他召来自己的奴仆，把产业托付给他们，

“天国又像一个人要出外远行，就叫自己的仆人来，把产业交给他们。

“天国又好比一个人要出外旅行，就叫来自己的奴仆们，把他所拥有的交托给他们。

「天國又好比一個人要往外國去，就叫了僕人來，把他的家業交給他們，

「天國又好比一個人要出外遠行，就叫了僕人來，把他的家業交給他們。

「天國又好比一個人要出外遠行，就叫了僕人來，把他的家業交給他們。

「天國就像一個人即將遠行，他召來自己的奴僕，把產業託付給他們，

“天國又像一個人要出外遠行，就叫自己的僕人來，把產業交給他們。

『就像一個人要出外去，叫了他的奴僕來，把資財交給他們；

「天國又好比一個人要出外旅行，就叫來自己的奴僕們，把他所擁有的交託給他們。

又如一人將往他方、召其僕以家資付之、

又如一人、將往異地、召僕以所有者予之、

又如一人將往異地、召僕、以家貲付之、

昔有人焉、將遠行、召其諸僕、託以家貲、

“ Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his wealth to them.

“ Again, here is what the kingdom of heaven will be like. A man was going on a journey. He sent for his slaves and put them in charge of his money.

“ For it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted to them his property.

“ For it is just like a man about to go on a journey. He called his own servants and entrusted his possessions to them.

“ For it is just like a man about to go on a journey, who called his own slaves and entrusted his possessions to them.

“ For the kingdom of heaven is like a man traveling to a far country, who called his own servants and delivered his goods to them.

For it is as when a man, going into another country, called his own servants, and delivered unto them his goods.

“ For it is just like a man going on a journey. He called his own slaves and turned over his possessions to them.

For[ the kingdom of heaven is] as a man travelling into a far country,[ who] called his own servants, and delivered unto them his goods.

“ For it is like a man going on a journey, who summoned his slaves and entrusted his property to them.

“ For it is like a man, going into another country, who called his own servants, and entrusted his goods to them.

Cheerfully share your home with those who need a meal or a place to stay.God has given each of you a gift from his great variety of spiritual gifts. Use them well to serve one another.Do you have the gift of speaking? Then speak as though God himself were speaking through you. Do you have the gift of helping others? Do it with all the strength and energy that God supplies. Then everything you do will bring glory to God through Jesus Christ. All glory and power to him forever and ever! Amen.

“ The coming of the Son of Man can be illustrated by the story of a man going on a long trip. When he left home, he gave each of his slaves instructions about the work they were to do, and he told the gatekeeper to watch for his return.

He said,“ A nobleman was called away to a distant empire to be crowned king and then return.Before he left, he called together ten of his servants and divided among them ten pounds of silver, saying,‘ Invest this for me while I am gone.’But his people hated him and sent a delegation after him to say,‘ We do not want him to be our king.’“ After he was crowned king, he returned and called in the servants to whom he had given the money. He wanted to find out what their profits were.The first servant reported,‘ Master, I invested your money and made ten times the original amount!’“‘ Well done!’ the king exclaimed.‘ You are a good servant. You have been faithful with the little I entrusted to you, so you will be governor of ten cities as your reward.’“ The next servant reported,‘ Master, I invested your money and made five times the original amount.’“‘ Well done!’ the king said.‘ You will be governor over five cities.’“ But the third servant brought back only the original amount of money and said,‘ Master, I hid your money and kept it safe.I was afraid because you are a hard man to deal with, taking what isn’t yours and harvesting crops you didn’t plant.’“‘ You wicked servant!’ the king roared.‘ Your own words condemn you. If you knew that I’m a hard man who takes what isn’t mine and harvests crops I didn’t plant,why didn’t you deposit my money in the bank? At least I could have gotten some interest on it.’“ Then, turning to the others standing nearby, the king ordered,‘ Take the money from this servant, and give it to the one who has ten pounds.’“‘ But, master,’ they said,‘ he already has ten pounds!’“‘ Yes,’ the king replied,‘ and to those who use well what they are given, even more will be given. But from those who do nothing, even what little they have will be taken away.And as for these enemies of mine who didn’t want me to be their king— bring them in and execute them right here in front of me.’”

Now these are the gifts Christ gave to the church: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers.

There are different kinds of spiritual gifts, but the same Spirit is the source of them all.

A spiritual gift is given to each of us so we can help each other.To one person the Spirit gives the ability to give wise advice; to another the same Spirit gives a message of special knowledge.The same Spirit gives great faith to another, and to someone else the one Spirit gives the gift of healing.He gives one person the power to perform miracles, and another the ability to prophesy. He gives someone else the ability to discern whether a message is from the Spirit of God or from another spirit. Still another person is given the ability to speak in unknown languages, while another is given the ability to interpret what is being said.It is the one and only Spirit who distributes all these gifts. He alone decides which gift each person should have.The human body has many parts, but the many parts make up one whole body. So it is with the body of Christ.Some of us are Jews, some are Gentiles, some are slaves, and some are free. But we have all been baptized into one body by one Spirit, and we all share the same Spirit.Yes, the body has many different parts, not just one part.If the foot says,“ I am not a part of the body because I am not a hand,” that does not make it any less a part of the body.And if the ear says,“ I am not part of the body because I am not an eye,” would that make it any less a part of the body?If the whole body were an eye, how would you hear? Or if your whole body were an ear, how would you smell anything?But our bodies have many parts, and God has put each part just where he wants it.How strange a body would be if it had only one part!Yes, there are many parts, but only one body.The eye can never say to the hand,“ I don’t need you.” The head can’t say to the feet,“ I don’t need you.”In fact, some parts of the body that seem weakest and least important are actually the most necessary.And the parts we regard as less honorable are those we clothe with the greatest care. So we carefully protect those parts that should not be seen,while the more honorable parts do not require this special care. So God has put the body together such that extra honor and care are given to those parts that have less dignity.This makes for harmony among the members, so that all the members care for each other.If one part suffers, all the parts suffer with it, and if one part is honored, all the parts are glad.All of you together are Christ’s body, and each of you is a part of it.Here are some of the parts God has appointed for the church: first are apostles, second are prophets, third are teachers, then those who do miracles, those who have the gift of healing, those who can help others, those who have the gift of leadership, those who speak in unknown languages.Are we all apostles? Are we all prophets? Are we all teachers? Do we all have the power to do miracles?

Jesus told this story to his disciples:“ There was a certain rich man who had a manager handling his affairs. One day a report came that the manager was wasting his employer’s money.So the employer called him in and said,‘ What’s this I hear about you? Get your report in order, because you are going to be fired.’“ 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.Ah, I know how to ensure that I’ll have plenty of friends who will give me a home when I am fired.’“ So he invited each person who owed money to his employer to come and discuss the situation. He asked the first one,‘ How much do you owe him?’The man replied,‘ I owe him 800 gallons of olive oil.’ So the manager told him,‘ Take the bill and quickly change it to 400 gallons.’“‘ And how much do you owe my employer?’ he asked the next man.‘ I owe him 1,000 bushels of wheat,’ was the reply.‘ Here,’ the manager said,‘ take the bill and change it to 800 bushels.’“ The rich man had to admire the dishonest rascal for being so shrewd. And it is true that the children of this world are more shrewd in dealing with the world around them than are the children of the light.Here’s the lesson: Use your worldly resources to benefit others and make friends. Then, when your possessions are gone, they will welcome you to an eternal home.“ If you are faithful in little things, you will be faithful in large ones. But if you are dishonest in little things, you won’t be honest with greater responsibilities.And if you are untrustworthy about worldly wealth, who will trust you with the true riches of heaven?And if you are not faithful with other people’s things, why should you be trusted with things of your own?

So look at Apollos and me as mere servants of Christ who have been put in charge of explaining God’s mysteries.Now, a person who is put in charge as a manager must be faithful.

“ Again, the Kingdom of Heaven can be illustrated by the story of a man going on a long trip. He called together his servants and entrusted his money to them while he was gone.He gave five bags of silver to one, two bags of silver to another, and one bag of silver to the last— dividing it in proportion to their abilities. He then left on his trip.“ The servant who received the five bags of silver began to invest the money and earned five more.The servant with two bags of silver also went to work and earned two more.But the servant who received the one bag of silver dug a hole in the ground and hid the master’s money.“ After a long time their master returned from his trip and called them to give an account of how they had used his money.The servant to whom he had entrusted the five bags of silver came forward with five more and said,‘ Master, you gave me five bags of silver to invest, and I have earned five more.’“ The master was full of praise.‘ Well done, my good and faithful servant. You have been faithful in handling this small amount, so now I will give you many more responsibilities. Let’s celebrate together!’“ The servant who had received the two bags of silver came forward and said,‘ Master, you gave me two bags of silver to invest, and I have earned two more.’“ The master said,‘ Well done, my good and faithful servant. You have been faithful in handling this small amount, so now I will give you many more responsibilities. Let’s celebrate together!’“ Then the servant with the one bag of silver came and said,‘ Master, I knew you were a harsh man, harvesting crops you didn’t plant and gathering crops you didn’t cultivate.I was afraid I would lose your money, so I hid it in the earth. Look, here is your money back.’“ But the master replied,‘ You wicked and lazy servant! If you knew I harvested crops I didn’t plant and gathered crops I didn’t cultivate,why didn’t you deposit my money in the bank? At least I could have gotten some interest on it.’“ Then he ordered,‘ Take the money from this servant, and give it to the one with the ten bags of silver.To those who use well what they are given, even more will be given, and they will have an abundance. But from those who do nothing, even what little they have will be taken away.Now throw this useless servant into outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

“ Now listen to another story. A certain landowner planted a vineyard, built a wall around it, dug a pit for pressing out the grape juice, and built a lookout tower. Then he leased the vineyard to tenant farmers and moved to another country.

In his grace, God has given us different gifts for doing certain things well. So if God has given you the ability to prophesy, speak out with as much faith as God has given you.If your gift is serving others, serve them well. If you are a teacher, teach well.If your gift is to encourage others, be encouraging. If it is giving, give generously. If God has given you leadership ability, take the responsibility seriously. And if you have a gift for showing kindness to others, do it gladly.

After all, who is Apollos? Who is Paul? We are only God’s servants through whom you believed the Good News. Each of us did the work the Lord gave us.

Now Jesus turned to the people again and told them this story:“ A man planted a vineyard, leased it to tenant farmers, and moved to another country to live for several years.