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

18And he said, ‘Here’s what I’ll do! I’ll tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I’ll store all my grain and my goods. 19And I’ll say to myself, ’O my soul, you have plenty of goods saved up for many years! So take it easy! Eat, drink, and be merry.”’ But God said to him, ‘You fool! Tonight your soul is being demanded back from you! And what you have prepared, whose will that be?’ 21So it is with the one who stores up treasure for himself and is not rich in God.” 22Then Yeshua said to His disciples, “So I say to you, do not worry about life, what you will eat; nor about the 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“It happened that the poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s side. Then the rich man also died and was buried.
• Exodus 16:9Moses said to Aaron, “Say to all the congregation of Bnei-Yisrael, ‘Come near before Adonai, because He has heard your complaining.’”
• 1 Samuel 25:36Then Abigail went to Nabal, and there he was holding a banquet in his house like that of a king—Nabal’s heart was merry within him, for he was quite drunk. So she told him nothing at all until daybreak.
• 2 Samuel 13:28Then Absalom commanded his young men saying, “Now watch Amnon until his heart is merry with wine. When I tell you, ‘Strike Amnon!’ then put him to death! Have no fear! Isn’t it I who commanded you? Be strong! Be sons of valor!”
• 1 Kings 16:9Then his servant Zimri, commander of half his chariotry, conspired against him while he was in Tirzah, making himself drunk in the house of Arza, who was in charge of the palace in Tirzah.
• Job 20:20For he knows no satisfaction from his greed, he cannot save himself by his desires.
• Job 27:8For what hope has the godless, when he is cut off, when God takes his soul?
• Psalms 73:19How suddenly they became a ruin— terminated, consumed by terrors.
• Psalms 78:30No longer a stranger from their desire, while their food was still in their mouths,
• Daniel 5:1King Belshazzar held a great feast for 1,000 of his nobles and was drinking wine in front of the thousand.
• Nahum 1:10For even like tangled thorns they will be consumed, or like drunkards who are drunk, or like stubble that is fully dry.
• Matthew 24:48But if that wicked servant says in his heart, ‘My master is taking a long time,’
• 1 Thessalonians 5:3When they are saying, “Shalom and safety,” sudden destruction comes upon them like a woman having birth pains in the womb—there is no way they will escape.
• Luke 11:40Fools! Didn’t He who created the outside also create the inside?
• Jeremiah 17:11As a partridge that broods over young that she did not lay, so is one who gets wealth, unjustly. In the middle of his days it will abandon him, so at his end he will be a fool.
• James 4:14Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. What is your life? For you are a vapor 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
• Ask
• Beat
• Divide
• Divider
• Forewarn
• Hell
• Hypocrisy
• Teach
• Visit

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