Luke 12:13-21

The Parable of the Rich Fool

13 ¹Someone in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me. ”

14 But he said to him, ²“Man, ³who made me a judge or arbitrator over you? ”

15 And he said to them, ⁴“Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions. ”

16 And he told them a parable, saying, ⁵“The land of a rich man produced plentifully,

17 and he thought to himself, ⁶‘What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops? ’

18 And he said, ‘I will do this: I will tear down my ⁷barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods.

19 And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have ample goods laid up ⁸for many years; relax, ⁹eat, drink, be merry. ”’

20 But God said to him, ¹⁰‘Fool! ¹¹This night ¹²your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, ¹³whose will they be? ’

21 So is the one ¹⁴who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God. ”

Cross References

• 1. 12:13 ch. 11:27
• 2. 12:14 Mic. 6:8; Rom. 2:1, 3; 9:20
• 3. 12:14 [Ex. 2:14; Acts 7:27]
• 4. 12:15 1 Tim. 6:6-11; [Heb. 13:5]
• 5. 12:16 [Ps. 49:16-20]
• 6. 12:17 [Eccles. 5:10]
• 7. 12:18 ver. 24
• 8. 12:19 [Prov. 27:1; James 4:13-15]
• 9. 12:19 Eccles. 2:24; 11:9; 1 Cor. 15:32; [ch. 15:23]
• 10. 12:20 Jer. 17:11; [Matt. 16:26]
• 11. 12:20 [See ver. 19 above]
• 12. 12:20 Job 27:8
• 13. 12:20 Ps. 39:6; [Job 27:17-22; Eccles. 2:18, 21]
• 14. 12:21 Matt. 6:19, 20