Luke 12:20

Luke 12:20 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)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 International Version (NIV)“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 (ESV)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 King James Version (NKJV)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?’

Context of Luke 12:20

18Then he said, ‘This is what I will do: I will tear down my barns and will build bigger ones, and there I will store up all my grain and my goods. 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!”’ 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?’ 21This is how it will be for anyone who stores up treasure for himself but is not rich toward God.” 22Then Jesus said to His disciples, “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat, or about your body, what you will wear.

Luke 12:20 word by word

εἶπεν δὲ αὐτῷ ὁ θεός· ἄφρων, ταύτῃ τῇ νυκτὶ τὴν ψυχήν σου ἀπαιτοῦσιν ἀπὸ σοῦ. ἃ δὲ ἡτοίμασας, τίνι ἔσται;Read the interlinear

• Butδέde · thenG1161
• ·ὁho hē to · the/this/whoG3588
• Godθεόςtheos · GodG2316
• saidεἶπονepō · to sayG2036
• to himαὐτόςautos · it/s/heG846
• foolἄφρωνaphrōn · foolishG878
• Thisοὗτοςhoutos houtoi hautē hautai · this/he/she/itG3778
• nightνύξnux · nightG3571
• yourσύsu · youG4771
• lifeψυχήpsuchē · soulG5590
• will be requiredἀπαιτέωapaiteō · to demandG523
• ofἀπόapo · away fromG575
• whoτίςtis · which?G5101
• will ownεἰμίeimi · to beG1510
• whatὅςhos hē ho · whichG3739
• you have accumulatedἑτοιμάζωhetoimazō · to make readyG2090

Cross-references for Luke 12:20

• Luke 16:22One day the beggar died and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s side. And the rich man also died and was buried.
• Exodus 16:9Then Moses said to Aaron, “Tell the whole congregation of Israel, ‘Come before the LORD, for He has heard your grumbling.’”
• 1 Samuel 25:36When Abigail returned to Nabal, there he was in the house, holding a feast fit for a king, in high spirits and very drunk. So she told him nothing until morning light.
• 2 Samuel 13:28Now Absalom had ordered his young men, “Watch Amnon until his heart is merry with wine, and when I order you to strike Amnon down, you are to kill him. Do not be afraid. Have I not commanded you? Be courageous and valiant!”
• 1 Kings 16:9However, while Elah was in Tirzah getting drunk in the house of Arza the steward of his household there, Elah’s servant Zimri, the commander of half his chariots, conspired against him.
• Job 20:20Because his appetite is never satisfied, he cannot escape with his treasure.
• Job 27:8For what is the hope of the godless when he is cut off, when God takes away his life?
• Psalms 73:19How suddenly they are laid waste, completely swept away by terrors!
• Psalms 78:30Yet before they had filled their desire, with the food still in their mouths,
• Daniel 5:1Later, King Belshazzar held a great feast for a thousand of his nobles, and he drank wine with them.
• Nahum 1:10For they will be entangled as with thorns and consumed like the drink of a drunkard— like stubble that is fully dry.
• Matthew 24:48But suppose that servant is wicked and says in his heart, ‘My master will be away a long time.’
• 1 Thessalonians 5:3While people are saying, “Peace and security,” destruction will come upon them suddenly, like labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.
• Luke 11:40You fools! Did not the One who made the outside make the inside as well?
• Jeremiah 17:11Like a partridge hatching eggs it did not lay is the man who makes a fortune unjustly. In the middle of his days his riches will desert him, and in the end he will be the fool.”
• James 4:14You do not even know what will happen tomorrow! What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.

Commentaries on Luke 12:20

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 20Thou fool! - To imagine that a man's comfort and peace can depend upon temporal things; or to suppose that these can satisfy the wishes of an immortal spirit! This night - How awful was this saying! He had just made the necessary arrangements for the gratification of his sensual appetites; and, in the very night in which he had finally settled all his plans, his soul was called into the eternal world! What a dreadful awakening of a soul, long asleep in…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 20Thou fool - If there is any supreme folly, it is this. As though riches could prolong life, or avert for a moment the approach of pain and death. This night … - What an awful sentence to a man who, as he thought, had got just ready to live and enjoy himself! In a single moment all his hopes were blasted, and his soul summoned to the bar of his long-forgotten God. So, many are surprised as suddenly and as unprepared. They are snatched from their pleasures…Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 13-21Verses 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…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 19-20myself (Literally soul): The man was speaking to himself. You fool! In Scripture, a fool is not someone with low intelligence, but someone who dishonors and disobeys God (Psalm 14:1–5). your life will be required of you: The man believed his soul was secure, but God was not pleased with him.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 20-2120-21. 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 Psa 39:6, "He heapeth up riches and knoweth not who shall gather them."Read the comment

Topics related to Luke 12:20

• Commandments
• Confidence
• Covetousness
• Death
• Fool
• Gluttony
• Happiness
• Jesus Continued
• Jesus, the Christ
• Presumption
• Rich, the
• Self-Delusion
• Self-Indulgence
• Sensuality

In the dictionaries

• God
• god, false god, goddess, idol, idolater, idolatrous, idolatry
• Ask
• Beat
• Divide
• Divider
• Forewarn
• Hell
• Hypocrisy
• Teach

Commentaries on Luke 12

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Calvin’s Commentaries
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Catena Aurea
• Illustrated New Testament
• Burkitt’s Expository Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Family Bible Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• John Lightfoot Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• The People’s New Testament
• Robertson’s Word Pictures
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• The Fourfold Gospel and Commentary on Acts
• Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings