Luke 12:13-25

Modern English Version

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 said to him, “Man, who appointed Me a judge or an arbitrator between you?” ¹⁵ Then He said to them, “Take heed and beware of covetousness. For a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.”

¹⁶ And He told a parable to them, saying, “The land of a rich man produced plentifully. ¹⁷ He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do, for I have no room to store my crops?’

¹⁸ “Then he said, ‘This I will do: I will pull down my barns and build greater ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. ¹⁹ And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years. Take rest. Eat, drink, and be merry.’

²⁰ “But God said to him, ‘You fool! This night your soul will be required of you. Then whose will those things be which you have provided?’

²¹ “So is he who stores up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.”

Care and Anxiety^(A)

²² Then He said to His disciples, “Therefore I say to you, do not be anxious for your life, what you will eat, nor for your body, what you will wear. ²³ Life is more than food, and the body is more than clothes. ²⁴ Consider the ravens: They neither sow nor reap, they have neither storehouses nor barns. Yet God feeds them. How much more valuable are you than birds? ²⁵ Who of you by worrying can add one cubit^[a] to his height?