Luke 12:20
New International Version
“But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’

New Living Translation
“But God said to him, ‘You fool! You will die this very night. Then who will get everything you worked for?’

English Standard Version
But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’

Berean Standard Bible
But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be required of you. Then who will own what you have accumulated?’

Berean Literal Bible
And God said to him, 'Fool! This night, your soul is required of you; and what you did prepare--to whom will it be?'

King James Bible
But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided?

New King James Version
But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have provided?’

New American Standard Bible
But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your soul is demanded of you; and as for all that you have prepared, who will own it now?

NASB 1995
“But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your soul is required of you; and now who will own what you have prepared?’

NASB 1977
“But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your soul is required of you; and now who will own what you have prepared?’

Legacy Standard Bible
But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your soul is required of you; and now who will own what you prepared?’

Amplified Bible
But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your soul is required of you; and now who will own all the things you have prepared?’

Christian Standard Bible
“But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life is demanded of you. And the things you have prepared—whose will they be? ’

Holman Christian Standard Bible
“But God said to him, You fool! This very night your life is demanded of you. And the things you have prepared—whose will they be?’

American Standard Version
But God said unto him, Thou foolish one, this night is thy soul required of thee; and the things which thou hast prepared, whose shall they be?

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
“Then God said to him, 'Fool, in this night your soul will be required from you, and whose will these things be which you have prepared?' “

Contemporary English Version
But God said to him, "You fool! Tonight you will die. Then who will get what you have stored up?"

Douay-Rheims Bible
But God said to him: Thou fool, this night do they require thy soul of thee: and whose shall those things be which thou hast provided?

English Revised Version
But God said unto him, Thou foolish one, this night is thy soul required of thee; and the things which thou hast prepared, whose shall they be?

GOD'S WORD® Translation
"But God said to him, 'You fool! I will demand your life from you tonight! Now who will get what you've accumulated?'

Good News Translation
But God said to him, 'You fool! This very night you will have to give up your life; then who will get all these things you have kept for yourself?'"

International Standard Version
But God told him, 'You fool! This very night your life will be demanded back from you. Now who will get the things you've accumulated?'

Literal Standard Version
And God said to him, Unthinking [one]! This night your life is required of you, and what things you prepared—to whom will they be [given]?

Majority Standard Bible
But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be required of you. Then who will own what you have accumulated?’

New American Bible
But God said to him, ‘You fool, this night your life will be demanded of you; and the things you have prepared, to whom will they belong?’

NET Bible
But God said to him, 'You fool! This very night your life will be demanded back from you, but who will get what you have prepared for yourself?'

New Revised Standard Version
But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life is being demanded of you. And the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’

New Heart English Bible
"But God said to him, 'You foolish one, tonight your soul is required of you. The things which you have prepared--whose will they be?'

Webster's Bible Translation
But God said to him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be which thou hast provided?

Weymouth New Testament
"But God said to him, "'Foolish man, this night your life is demanded from you; and these preparations--for whom shall they be?'

World English Bible
“But God said to him, ‘You foolish one, tonight your soul is required of you. The things which you have prepared—whose will they be?’

Young's Literal Translation
'And God said to him, Unthinking one! this night thy soul they shall require from thee, and what things thou didst prepare -- to whom shall they be?

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
The Parable of the Rich Fool
19Then I will say to myself, “You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take it easy. Eat, drink, and be merry!” ’ 20But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be required of you. Then who will own what you have accumulated?’ 21This is how it will be for anyone who stores up treasure for himself but is not rich toward God.”…

Cross References
Job 27:8
For what is the hope of the godless when he is cut off, when God takes away his life?

Psalm 39:6
Surely every man goes about like a phantom; surely he bustles in vain; he heaps up riches not knowing who will haul them away.

Psalm 49:10
For it is clear that wise men die, and the foolish and the senseless both perish and leave their wealth to others.

Proverbs 10:2
Ill-gotten treasures profit nothing, but righteousness brings deliverance from death.

Proverbs 13:7
One pretends to be rich, but has nothing; another pretends to be poor, yet has great wealth.

Proverbs 27:1
Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring.

Isaiah 56:12
"Come, let me get the wine, let us imbibe the strong drink, and tomorrow will be like today, only far better!"


Treasury of Scripture

But God said to him, You fool, this night your soul shall be required of you: then whose shall those things be, which you have provided?

God.

Luke 16:22,23
And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried; …

Exodus 16:9,10
And Moses spake unto Aaron, Say unto all the congregation of the children of Israel, Come near before the LORD: for he hath heard your murmurings…

1 Samuel 25:36-38
And Abigail came to Nabal; and, behold, he held a feast in his house, like the feast of a king; and Nabal's heart was merry within him, for he was very drunken: wherefore she told him nothing, less or more, until the morning light…

Thou fool.

Luke 11:40
Ye fools, did not he that made that which is without make that which is within also?

Jeremiah 17:11
As the partridge sitteth on eggs, and hatcheth them not; so he that getteth riches, and not by right, shall leave them in the midst of his days, and at his end shall be a fool.

James 4:14
Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.

thy soul shall be required of thee.

Esther 5:11
And Haman told them of the glory of his riches, and the multitude of his children, and all the things wherein the king had promoted him, and how he had advanced him above the princes and servants of the king.

Esther 8:1,2
On that day did the king Ahasuerus give the house of Haman the Jews' enemy unto Esther the queen. And Mordecai came before the king; for Esther had told what he was unto her…

Job 27:16,17
Though he heap up silver as the dust, and prepare raiment as the clay; …

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Demanded Fool Foolish Life Night Owner Preparations Prepare Prepared Provided Require Required Soul Together Tonight Unthinking
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Demanded Fool Foolish Life Night Owner Preparations Prepare Prepared Provided Require Required Soul Together Tonight Unthinking
Luke 12
1. Jesus preaches to his apostles to avoid hypocrisy
13. and warns against covetousness, by the parable of the man who set up greater barns.
22. We must not worry about earthly things,
31. but seek the kingdom of God;
33. give alms;
35. be ready at a knock to open to our Lord whensoever he comes.
41. Jesus' disciples are to see to their charges,
49. and look for persecution.
54. The people must take this time of grace;
57. because it is a fearful thing to die without reconciliation.














(20) But God said unto him.--The bold anthropomorphic language seems intended to suggest the thought not only that death came suddenly, but that the man felt that it came from God as the chastisement of his folly.

Thy soul shall be required.--Literally, they require thy soul of thee. The idiom, as in Luke 12:48, and Luke 14:35, is impersonal, and does not require us to supply any definite nominative. We may compare "that when ye fail, they may receive you . . ." (Luke 16:9) as a possibly analogous instance; but see Note there.

Then whose shall those things be?--The words indicate one of the disturbing thoughts that vex the souls of the wealthy, "He heapeth up riches, and knoweth not who shall gather them" (Psalm 39:6).

Verse 20. - But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee. The literal rendering of the Greek here is more solemn and impressive in its awful vagueness: This night they require thy soul of thee. Who are meant by they? Most likely the angels: not necessarily "avenging," as Trench would suggest; simply those angels whose special function it was to conduct the souls of the departed to their own place. So we read in the parable of Lazarus and Dives how angels carried the soul of Lazarus into Abraham's bosom. On the words, "they require," Theophylact writes, "For, like pitiless exactors of tribute, terrible angels shall require thy soul from thee unwilling, and through love of life resisting. For from the righteous his soul is not required, but he commits it to God and the Father of spirits, pleased and rejoicing; nor finds it hard to lay it down, for the body lies upon it as a light burden. But the sinner who has enfleshed his soul, and embodied it, and made it earthy, has so prepared it to render its divulsion from the body most hard; wherefore it is said to be required of him, as a disobedient debtor that is delivered to exactors." Then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided? Our Lord here reproduced the thought contained in passages with which no doubt he had been familiar from his boyhood. "Yea, I hated all my labor which I had taken under the sun: because I should leave it unto the man that shall be after me. And who knoweth whether he shall be a wise man or a fool?" (Ecclesiastes 2:18, 19). "He heapeth up riches, and knoweth not who shall gather them" (Psalm 39:6). The parallel in the apocryphal book, Ecclus. 11:18, 19, is very close.

Parallel Commentaries ...


Greek
But
δὲ (de)
Conjunction
Strong's 1161: A primary particle; but, and, etc.

God
Θεός (Theos)
Noun - Nominative Masculine Singular
Strong's 2316: A deity, especially the supreme Divinity; figuratively, a magistrate; by Hebraism, very.

said
Εἶπεν (Eipen)
Verb - Aorist Indicative Active - 3rd Person Singular
Strong's 2036: Answer, bid, bring word, command. A primary verb; to speak or say.

to him,
αὐτῷ (autō)
Personal / Possessive Pronoun - Dative Masculine 3rd Person Singular
Strong's 846: He, she, it, they, them, same. From the particle au; the reflexive pronoun self, used of the third person, and of the other persons.

‘[You] fool!
Ἄφρων (Aphrōn)
Adjective - Vocative Masculine Singular
Strong's 878: Senseless, foolish, inconsiderate. Properly, mindless, i.e. Stupid, ignorant, egotistic, rash, or unbelieving.

This
ταύτῃ (tautē)
Demonstrative Pronoun - Dative Feminine Singular
Strong's 3778: This; he, she, it.

very
τῇ (tē)
Article - Dative Feminine Singular
Strong's 3588: The, the definite article. Including the feminine he, and the neuter to in all their inflections; the definite article; the.

night
νυκτὶ (nykti)
Noun - Dative Feminine Singular
Strong's 3571: The night, night-time. A primary word; 'night'.

your
σου (sou)
Personal / Possessive Pronoun - Genitive 2nd Person Singular
Strong's 4771: You. The person pronoun of the second person singular; thou.

life
ψυχήν (psychēn)
Noun - Accusative Feminine Singular
Strong's 5590: From psucho; breath, i.e. spirit, abstractly or concretely.

will be required
ἀπαιτοῦσιν (apaitousin)
Verb - Present Indicative Active - 3rd Person Plural
Strong's 523: To ask back, ask what is my due, demand back. From apo and aiteo; to demand back.

of
ἀπὸ (apo)
Preposition
Strong's 575: From, away from. A primary particle; 'off, ' i.e. Away, in various senses.

you.
σοῦ (sou)
Personal / Possessive Pronoun - Genitive 2nd Person Singular
Strong's 4771: You. The person pronoun of the second person singular; thou.

Then
δὲ (de)
Conjunction
Strong's 1161: A primary particle; but, and, etc.

who
τίνι (tini)
Interrogative / Indefinite Pronoun - Dative Masculine Singular
Strong's 5101: Who, which, what, why. Probably emphatic of tis; an interrogative pronoun, who, which or what.

will own
ἔσται (estai)
Verb - Future Indicative Middle - 3rd Person Singular
Strong's 1510: I am, exist. The first person singular present indicative; a prolonged form of a primary and defective verb; I exist.

what
(ha)
Personal / Relative Pronoun - Accusative Neuter Plural
Strong's 3739: Who, which, what, that.

you have accumulated?’
ἡτοίμασας (hētoimasas)
Verb - Aorist Indicative Active - 2nd Person Singular
Strong's 2090: To make ready, prepare. From hetoimos; to prepare.


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NT Gospels: Luke 12:20 But God said to him 'You foolish (Luke Lu Lk)
Luke 12:19
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