Luke 12:13-53

Covetousness Denounced

13 Someone in the crowd said to Him, "Teacher, tell my brother to divide the family inheritance with me."

14 But He said to him, "¹Man, who appointed Me a judge or arbitrator over you?"

15 Then He said to them, "²Beware, and be on your guard against every form of greed; for not even when one has an abundance does his life consist of his possessions."

16 And He told them a parable, saying, "The land of a rich man was very productive.

17 "And he began reasoning to himself, saying, 'What shall I do, since I have no place to store my crops?'

18 "Then he said, 'This is what I will do: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods.

19 'And I will say to my soul, "Soul, ³you have many goods laid up for many years to come; take your ease, eat, drink and be merry."'

20 "But God said to him, '⁴You fool! This very night ⁵your soul is required of you; and ⁶now who will own what you have prepared?'

21 "So is the man who ⁷stores up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God."

22 And He said to His disciples, "⁸For this reason I say to you, do not worry about your life, as to what you will eat; nor for your body, as to what you will put on.

23 "For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing.

24 "Consider the ⁹ravens, for they neither sow nor reap; they have no storeroom nor ¹⁰barn, and yet God feeds them; how much more valuable you are than the birds!

25 "And which of you by worrying can add a single ¹¹hour to his life's span?

26 "If then you cannot * do even a very little thing, why do you worry about other matters?

27 "Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; but I tell you, not even ¹²Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these.

28 "But if God so clothes the grass in the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, how much more will He clothe you? ¹³You men of little faith!

29 "And do not seek what you will eat and what you will drink, and do not ¹⁴keep worrying.

30 "For all these things the nations of the world eagerly seek; but your Father knows that you need these things.

31 "But seek His kingdom, and ¹⁵these things will be added to you.

32 "¹⁶Do not be afraid, ¹⁷little flock, for ¹⁸your Father has chosen gladly to give you the kingdom.

33 "¹⁹Sell your possessions and give to charity; make yourselves money belts which do not wear out, ²⁰an unfailing treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near nor moth destroys.

34 "For ²¹where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Be in Readiness

35 "²²Be dressed in ²³readiness, and keep your lamps lit.

36 "Be like men who are waiting for their master when he returns from the wedding feast, so that they may immediately open the door to him when he comes and knocks.

37 "Blessed are those slaves whom the master will find ²⁴on the alert when he comes; truly I say to you, that ²⁵he will gird himself to serve, and have them recline at the table, and will come up and wait on them.

38 "²⁶Whether he comes in the second watch, or even in the third, and finds them so, blessed are those slaves.

39 "²⁷But be sure of this, that if the head of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have allowed his house to be ²⁸broken into.

40 "²⁹You too, be ready; for the Son of Man is coming at an hour that you do not expect."

41 Peter said, "Lord, are You addressing this parable to us, or ³⁰to everyone else as well?"

42 And ³¹the Lord said, "³²Who then is the faithful and sensible ³³steward, whom his master will put in charge of his servants, to give them their rations at the proper time?

43 "Blessed is that ³⁴slave whom his master finds so doing when he comes.

44 "Truly I say to you that he will put him in charge of all his possessions.

45 "But if that slave says in his heart, 'My master will be a long time in coming,' and begins to beat the slaves *, both men and women, and to eat and drink and get drunk;

46 the master of that slave will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know, and will cut him in pieces, and assign him a place with the unbelievers.

47 "And that slave who knew his master's will and did not get ready or act in accord with his will, will ³⁵receive many lashes,

48 but the one who did not ³⁶know it, and committed deeds worthy of a flogging, will receive but few. ³⁷From everyone who has been given much, much will be required; and to whom they entrusted much, of him they will ask all the more.

Christ Divides Men

49 "I have come to cast fire upon the earth; and how I wish it were already kindled!

50 "But I have a ³⁸baptism to undergo, and how distressed I am until it is accomplished!

51 "³⁹Do you suppose that I came to grant peace on earth? I tell you, no, but rather division;

52 for from now on five members in one household will be divided, three against two and two against three.

53 "They will be divided, ⁴⁰father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law."

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