God’s Word Translation
Luke 12:21
21That’s how it is when a person has material riches but is not rich in his relationship with God.”
Luke 12:21 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.
- New International Version (NIV)“This is how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich toward God.”
- English Standard Version (ESV)So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God."
- New King James Version (NKJV)“So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.”
Context of Luke 12:21
19Then I’ll say to myself, “You’ve stored up a lot of good things for years to come. Take life easy, eat, drink, and enjoy yourself.” ’ 20“But God said to him, ‘You fool! I will demand your life from you tonight! Now who will get what you’ve accumulated?’ That’s how it is when a person has material riches but is not rich in his relationship with God.” 22Then Jesus said to his disciples, “So I tell you to stop worrying about what you will eat or wear. 23Life is more than food, and the body is more than clothes.
Read all of Luke 12Luke 12:21 word by word
οὕτως ὁ θησαυρίζων ἑαυτῷ καὶ μὴ εἰς θεὸν πλουτῶν.Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Luke 12:21
- Luke 12:33“Sell your material possessions, and give the money to the poor. Make yourselves wallets that don’t wear out! Make a treasure for yourselves in heaven that never loses its value! In heaven thieves and moths can’t get close enough to destroy your treasure.
- Luke 6:24“But how horrible it will be for those who are rich. They have had their comfort.
- Hosea 10:1The people of Israel are like vines that used to produce fruit. The more fruit they produced, the more altars they built. The more their land produced, the more stone markers they set up ⌞to honor other gods⌟.
- Habakkuk 2:9“ ‘How horrible it will be for the one who uses violence to get things for his own household in order to set his nest up high and save himself from disaster.’
- Matthew 6:19“Stop storing up treasures for yourselves on earth, where moths and rust destroy and thieves break in and steal.
- Romans 2:5Since you are stubborn and don’t want to change the way you think and act, you are adding to the anger that God will have against you on that day when God vents his anger. At that time God will reveal that his decisions are fair.
- 1 Timothy 6:19By doing this they store up a treasure for themselves which is a good foundation for the future. In this way they take hold of what life really is.
- James 5:1Pay attention to this if you’re rich. Cry and moan about the misery that is coming to you.
- Luke 16:11Therefore, if you can’t be trusted with wealth that is often used dishonestly, who will trust you with wealth that is real?
- 2 Corinthians 6:10People think we are sad although we’re always glad, that we’re beggars although we make many people spiritually rich, that we have nothing although we possess everything.
- 1 Timothy 6:18Tell them to do good, to do a lot of good things, to be generous, and to share.
- James 2:5Listen, my dear brothers and sisters! Didn’t God choose poor people in the world to become rich in faith and to receive the kingdom that he promised to those who love him?
- Revelation 2:9I know how you are suffering, how poor you are—but you are rich. I also know that those who claim to be Jews slander you. They are the synagogue of Satan.
Commentaries on Luke 12:21
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 21So is he - That is, thus will it be. This is not an individual case; all who make this life their portion, and who are destitute of the peace and salvation of God, shall, sooner or later, be surprised in the same way. Layeth up treasure for himself - This is the essential characteristic of a covetous man: he desires riches; he gets them; he lays them up, not for the necessary uses to which they might be devoted, but for himself; to please himself, and to…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 21So is he - This is the portion or the doom. Layeth up treasure for himself - Acquires riches for his own use - for “himself.” This is the characteristic of the covetous man. It is all for “himself.” His plans terminate there. He lives only for himself, and acts only with regard to his own interest. Rich toward God - Has no inheritance in the kingdom of God - no riches laid up in heaven. His affections are all fixed on this world, and he has none for God…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. 13-21This parable shows the danger of trusting in riches instead of in God.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 12:21
In the dictionaries
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
God’s Word Translation — © 1995 God’s Word to the Nations Bible Society
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