Luke 12:20
Parallel Verses
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?'


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?’


New American 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 have prepared?'


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?


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?'


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?'


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?


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?


Darby Bible Translation
But God said to him, Fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee; and whose shall be what thou hast prepared?


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?


Cross References
Job 27:8
For what is the hope of the hypocrite, though he has gained, when God takes away his soul?


Psalm 39:6
Surely every man walks in a vain show: surely they are disquieted in vain: he heaps up riches, and knows not who shall gather them.


Psalm 49:10
For he sees that wise men die, likewise the fool and the brutish person perish, and leave their wealth to others.


Proverbs 10:2
Treasures of wickedness profit nothing: but righteousness delivers from death.


Proverbs 13:7
There is that makes himself rich, yet has nothing: there is that makes himself poor, yet has great riches.


Proverbs 27:1
Boast not yourself of to morrow; for you know not what a day may bring forth.


Isaiah 56:12
Come you, say they, I will fetch wine, and we will fill ourselves with strong drink; and to morrow shall be as this day, and much more abundant.


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


Amos 6:13
You which rejoice in a thing of nothing, which say, Have we not taken to us horns by our own strength?


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


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Commentaries
12:13-21 Christ's kingdom is spiritual, and not of this world. Christianity does not meddle with politics; it obliges all to do justly, but wordly dominion is not founded in grace. It does not encourage expectations of worldly advantages by religion. The rewards of Christ's disciples are of another nature. Covetousness is a sin we need constantly to be warned against; for happiness and comfort do not depend on the wealth of this world. The things of the world will not satisfy the desires of a soul. Here is a parable, which shows the folly of carnal worldling while they live, and their misery when they die. The character drawn is exactly that of a prudent, worldly man, who has no grateful regard to the providence of God, nor any right thought of the uncertainty of human affairs, the worth of his soul, or the importance of eternity. How many, even among professed Christians, point out similar characters as models for imitation, and proper persons to form connexions with! We mistake if we think that thoughts are hid, and thoughts are free. When he saw a great crop upon his ground, instead of thanking God for it, or rejoicing to be able to do more good, he afflicts himself. What shall I do now? The poorest beggar in the country could not have said a more anxious word. The more men have, the more perplexity they have with it. It was folly for him to think of making no other use of his plenty, than to indulge the flesh and gratify the sensual appetites, without any thought of doing good to others. Carnal worldlings are fools; and the day is coming when God will call them by their own name, and they will call themselves so. The death of such persons is miserable in itself, and terrible to them. Thy soul shall be required. He is loth to part with it; but God shall require it, shall require an account of it, require it as a guilty soul to be punished without delay. It is the folly of most men, to mind and pursue that which is for the body and for time only, more than that for the soul and eternity.

20, 21. this night, &c.—This sudden cutting short of his career is designed to express not only the folly of building securely upon the future, but of throwing one's whole soul into what may at any moment be gone. "Thy soul shall be required of thee" is put in opposition to his own treatment of it, "I will say to my soul, Soul," &c.

whose shall those things be, &c.—Compare Ps 39:6, "He heapeth up riches and knoweth not who shall gather them."

Luke 12:19
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