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, ‘I will do this: I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. 19And I will say to myself, “You have plenty of goods stored up for many years; relax, eat, drink, celebrate!”’ 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?’ 21So it is with the one who stores up riches 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

Words taken from the KJV.

• Butδέde · thenG1161
• Godὁho hē to · the/this/whoG3588
• Godθεόςtheos · GodG2316
• saidλέγωlegō · to sayG3004
• unto himαὐτόςautos · it/s/heG846
• foolἄφρωνaphrōn · foolishG878
• thisοὗτοςhoutos houtoi hautē hautai · this/he/she/itG3778
• nightνύξnux · nightG3571
• thyσύsu · youG4771
• soulψυχήpsuchē · soulG5590
• shall be requiredἀπαιτέωapaiteō · to demandG523
• ofἀπόapo · away fromG575
• whoseτίςtis · which?G5101
• shallεἰμίeimi · to beG1510
• those thingsὅςhos hē ho · whichG3739
• thou hast providedἑτοιμάζωhetoimazō · to make readyG2090

Cross-references for Luke 12:20

• Luke 16:22“Now the poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried.
• Exodus 16:9Then Moses said to Aaron, “Tell the whole community of the Israelites, ‘Come before the Lord, because he has heard your murmurings.’”
• 1 Samuel 25:36When Abigail went back to Nabal, he was holding a banquet in his house like that of the king. Nabal was having a good time and was very intoxicated. She told him absolutely nothing until morning’s light.
• 2 Samuel 13:28Absalom instructed his servants, “Look! When Amnon is drunk and I say to you, ‘Strike Amnon down,’ kill him then and there. Don’t fear! Is it not I who have given you these instructions? Be strong and courageous!”
• 1 Kings 16:9His servant Zimri, a commander of half of his chariot force, conspired against him. While Elah was drinking heavily at the house of Arza, who supervised the palace in Tirzah,
• Job 20:20For he knows no satisfaction in his appetite; he does not let anything he desires escape.
• Job 27:8For what hope does the godless have when he is cut off, when God takes away his life?
• Psalms 73:19How desolate they become in a mere moment! Terrifying judgments make their demise complete!
• Psalms 78:30They were not yet filled up, their food was still in their mouths,
• Daniel 5:1King Belshazzar prepared a great banquet for a thousand of his nobles, and he was drinking wine in front of them all.
• Nahum 1:10Surely they will be totally consumed like entangled thorn bushes, like the drink of drunkards, like very dry stubble.
• Matthew 24:48But if that evil slave should say to himself, ‘My master is staying away a long time,’
• 1 Thessalonians 5:3Now when they are saying, “There is peace and security,” then sudden destruction comes on them, like labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will surely not escape.
• Luke 11:40You fools! Didn’t the one who made the outside make the inside as well?
• Jeremiah 17:11The person who gathers wealth by unjust means is like the partridge that broods over eggs but does not hatch them. Before his life is half over he will lose his ill-gotten gains. At the end of his life it will be clear he was a fool.”
• James 4:14You do not know about tomorrow. What is your life like? For you are a puff of smoke that appears for a short time 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