Dear L. Mertes, I guess you are reading out of the New International Version or the Amplified Bible or the Men\'s or Women\'s Study Bible, which were translated from Greek texts missing the letters Tau and Epsilon to finish the word \"eklipe^te\" ([when] ye fail, that is, leave fallen out, or bankrupt, or otherwise lose your homes) in Luke 16 : 9 . The shorter text seems to date from the late sixteenth or early seventeenth century CE. Without the second person plural personal ending \"-te\" we have the third person singular form, whose final \"-i\" was habitually left out. Without \"-te\" the interpretation becomes \"[when] it [the mammon of unrighteousness] fails, that is, is gone.\" Precisely! In the NIV we read for Luke 16 : 9 \"I tell you, use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves, so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings.\" In addition to the third person \"when it is gone,\" readers of these versions have elaborately explained the word \"aio^nious\" as eternal, for heaven, rather than everlasting, perhaps in the earthly sense as age-old and secure even when Christians lose their own homes through persecutions. To wealthy readers of the NIV who see the dwellings as eternal in heaven, \"when it is gone\" seems to mean when we are in heaven and cannot take our earthly possessions with us. From these erroneous texts comes the belief that there will be houses in heaven for which we must earn welcomes on earth through befriending many poor people. Now what should we do if these conclusions turn out to be human mistakes? My faith is in the original Greek text with \"eklipe^te\": the source for Tyndale\'s Bible, the King James Version, and the New KJV. In these true versions, \"when it is gone\" appears properly as \"when ye fail,\" and \"aio^nious\" appears as \"everlasting\" because no mention is made here concerning heaven. The KJV is translated word-for-word without emendation in many places, even where it is needed (Matt. 7 : 7 ), where the NIV and the Amplified Bible and so on show modified meanings. Let us examine Jesus\' words in translation from Luke 16 : 9 (KJV): \"And I say unto you, Make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness; that, when ye fail, they may receive you into everlasting habitations.\" And thus said our Lord that we His followers should befriend people [chosen out] of the mammon of unrighteousness, which is to say, lost people of wealth. This sets the context for verses 10 through 13. The word \"of\" should not be misread as \"with.\" We are not to seek friendship with the mammon of unrighteousness per se which would come with its source, the Devil; it is the people of it, the rich mission field, which Jesus has commanded us to befriend. Furthermore, I hold that the \"everlasting habitations\" are the age-old quarters available from rich landowners, surest refuge amid persecution. Thus, there are no welcomes in heaven to earn or forfeit by befriending the poor; the welcomes involved are those from the rich folk of this world for us to turn to in times of need. A corrupt text has cause many, however, to preach or publish false promises about heaven. Those saved among them will find the truth in heaven instead of the popularity for which they sacrificed on earth! Because I know that truth already on earth, I cannot be deceived anymore by the NIV. Yes, Luke 16 : 9 (KJV) is for bringing money into the church. This is so because many other commands from Jesus will make us let wealth go (Matt. 5 : 42, 6 : 24 & 18 : 5 - 7, 7 : 7 ). The commands in the Sermon on the Mount (Matt. 5 : 3 - 7 : 27 ) absolutely must be obeyed in general practice in order to be like the wise builder in the Parable of the Wise / Foolish Builders. As for \"picking pockets\": Jesus Christ actually commanded His followers to continue to ask, seek, and knock expecting to receive, find, and benefit from newly open doors (Matt. 7 : 7, Greek ) and backed this teaching up with passages to give freely (Matt. 5 : 42 ). How does asking without receiving get called stealing? This untrue rebuke is an insult of the Modern English language. It is in the context of a tight budget in which such insults are invoked. For this reason, we have Luke 16 : 13, in which we are warned that no one can serve both God, with His commands to give, and Mammon (wealth), with its impulses to save wealth for the future through stinginess. If Wrongpastor of Wrongchurch dare call his beggars thieves or question them for stealing, a threat of prosecution, when they only ask, we can substitute the truth, \"You arsehole!\"-- for his actually false insult and translating that into Hebrew and back, we get the following \"You fool!\" (a morally deficient person), and Wrongpastor is in danger of hellfire (Matt. 5 : 22 ); we are to treat him as lost. This is even more certainly the case if he has invoked claims of \"mental illness\" or that \"a counselor could help\": persons called \"mentally ill\" or \"in need of psychiatric help\" (intervention, treatment) are those who got called the Modern English equivalents of \"fool\" in the original language. Let us consider Christians who have been forcibly hospitalized through testimonies of church staff as martyrs indeed for continuing to ask, seek, and knock. We have not only a right to ask, but a command. We have not stolen from Tightwad when we merely annoy people with our requests. I conclude that those among us who have ever made requests or statements only to be forcibly removed from church or church events by police summoned by surprise or only to be subjected to psychiartic hospitalization are true martyrs for continuing to ask, seek, and knock (Matt. 7 : 7 ). Rise up, I yearn to tell my fellow lonsuffering comrades in Christ, our time has come! The evil servants shall be deposed soon! (Matt. 24 : 45 - 51 ; considered with the Parable of the Ten Virgins) Yours in Christ, +++ Kevin D. Rosenberg a martyr in Christ Jesus for continuing to ask, seek, and knock