The Parable of the Rich Fool

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

¹⁴ Jesus replied, “Man, who appointed me a judge or an arbiter between you?” ¹⁵ Then he said to them, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions.”^(A)

¹⁶ And he told them this parable: “The ground of a certain rich man yielded an abundant harvest. ¹⁷ He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’

¹⁸ “Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store my surplus grain. ¹⁹ And 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!^(B) This very night your life will be demanded from you.^(C) Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’^(D)

²¹ “This is how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich toward God.”^(E)

⁶ He said to me: “It is done.^(A) I am the Alpha and the Omega,^(B) the Beginning and the End. To the thirsty I will give water without cost^(C) from the spring of the water of life.^{(D) 7} Those who are victorious^(E) will inherit all this, and I will be their God and they will be my children.^{(F) 8} But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars^(G)—they will be consigned to the fiery lake of burning sulfur.^(H) This is the second death.”^(I)