New International Version
Luke 12:21
21“This is how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich toward 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.
- 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.”
- New Living Translation (NLT)“Yes, a person is a fool to store up earthly wealth but not have a rich relationship with God.”
Context of Luke 12:21
19And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of grain laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.” ’ 20“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?’ “This is how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves 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. 23For life is more than food, and the body 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 12:33Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will never fail, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys.
- Luke 6:24“But woe to you who are rich, for you have already received your comfort.
- Hosea 10:1Israel was a spreading vine; he brought forth fruit for himself. As his fruit increased, he built more altars; as his land prospered, he adorned his sacred stones.
- Habakkuk 2:9“Woe to him who builds his house by unjust gain, setting his nest on high to escape the clutches of ruin!
- Matthew 6:19“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal.
- Romans 2:5But because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of God’s wrath, when his righteous judgment will be revealed.
- 1 Timothy 6:19In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life.
- James 5:1Now listen, you rich people, weep and wail because of the misery that is coming on you.
- Luke 16:11So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches?
- 2 Corinthians 6:10sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; poor, yet making many rich; having nothing, and yet possessing everything.
- 1 Timothy 6:18Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share.
- James 2:5Listen, my dear brothers and sisters: Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom he promised those who love him?
- Revelation 2:9I know your afflictions and your poverty—yet you are rich! I know about the slander of those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a 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
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