Luke 12 20

Luke 12:20 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?

Luke 12:20 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?'

Luke 12:20 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?'

Luke 12:20 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?'

Luke 12:20 nlt

"But God said to him, 'You fool! You will die this very night. Then who will get everything you worked for?'

Luke 12 verses

Luke 12 20 Meaning

Luke 12:20 vividly portrays a divine indictment against a man consumed by earthly riches, emphasizing the sudden, inescapable reality of death and the utter futility of accumulating material wealth without a spiritual dimension. It serves as a stern warning against the self-deception of materialistic pursuits, highlighting God's ultimate sovereignty over life, death, and all possessions. The core message is that life is a transient gift, and true wisdom lies not in amassing worldly goods for oneself, but in being spiritually rich towards God.

Luke 12 20 Context

Luke 12:20 is found within a broader section of Jesus' teachings to His disciples and a large crowd, delivered as He journeys towards Jerusalem. The immediate context begins in Luke 12:13, where a man from the crowd requests Jesus to intervene in an inheritance dispute. Jesus rebukes this demand, cautioning against covetousness, and then proceeds to tell the Parable of the Rich Fool (Luke 12:16-21). This parable illustrates the foolishness of a life driven by self-centered accumulation and an unwillingness to acknowledge God's sovereignty over possessions and life itself. Historically and culturally, accumulating large harvests was seen as a blessing, but the parable pivots on the man's attitude—his complete self-reliance, gluttony for more, and disregard for God or others. The parable directly challenges contemporary Jewish beliefs that wealth was always a sign of divine blessing, arguing that ungodly accumulation reveals a fundamental spiritual blindness.

Luke 12 20 Word analysis

• But God said to him: This phrase introduces a dramatic and authoritative divine intervention. It signifies that God is not a distant observer but an active participant who directly confronts human folly. It contrasts the man's self-congratulatory monologue with an ultimate, irrefutable declaration.
• ‘Fool!’ (Greek: Aphron - ἄφρων): This word does not denote a lack of intelligence, but rather a lack of spiritual discernment, moral wisdom, and practical prudence concerning ultimate reality. It describes someone who acts as if God does not exist, ignores divine wisdom, or is spiritually senseless, prioritizing transient pleasures and material gains over eternal truths. This folly is a willful blindness to divine reality and the brevity of life, reminiscent of Psa 14:1 ("The fool says in his heart, 'There is no God.'").
• This night: The phrase emphasizes suddenness, urgency, and the complete unexpectedness of the divine demand. There is no warning, no opportunity for repentance or preparation. The man's meticulous planning for many years is abruptly canceled by an immediate divine decree.
• your soul: (Greek: Psychē - ψυχὴ): This refers to one's life force, inner being, spirit, or self. It is not merely the spiritual component, but the whole animating principle of existence. God demands back the very life He lent to the man, highlighting that life itself is a gift on loan, not an inherent possession.
• is required of you: (Greek: Apaitousin - ἀπαιτοῦσιν, from apaiteō meaning to ask back, demand back). The verb is in the impersonal plural, often understood as referring to "they" (angels, divine agents) or simply a polite or common way in Greek to indicate a divine passive—meaning God Himself is the ultimate demander. It suggests that life is a debt to be repaid, or a loaned item being recalled. God is the sovereign Giver and Taker of life.
• and the things you have prepared: This refers to all the man's accumulated wealth—the produce, the larger barns, and his plans for a future of ease and self-enjoyment. It encompasses his entire life's investment and future security as he perceived it.
• whose will they be?: This is a poignant rhetorical question. It underscores the complete futility and utter irrelevance of earthly wealth at the moment of death. All that was accumulated with such effort and focus becomes useless to the owner and is immediately transferred to others, often strangers or those who did not toil for it (Ecc 2:18-19). This highlights the vanity of human ambition when it disregards eternity.

Luke 12 20 Bonus section

The Parable of the Rich Fool (Luke 12:16-21) has parallels with themes found in wisdom literature like the book of Ecclesiastes, which repeatedly stresses the vanity (hebel, emptiness or futility) of earthly endeavors and riches without acknowledging God (Ecc 2:1-23; Ecc 5:13-17). The man's soliloquy is one of self-glorification, without a single thought of gratitude to God for the bountiful harvest or consideration for those in need. This absence of God from his thoughts, not his wealth itself, defines his foolishness. The parable indirectly warns against the dangers of an egocentric worldview, which fails to recognize that life and all its provisions are ultimately gifts from God, demanding faithful stewardship, not greedy consumption. The swift divine judgment also underscores the Christian doctrine of God's omnipresent oversight and ultimate accountability for how one lives and uses one's resources.

Luke 12 20 Commentary

Luke 12:20 powerfully punctuates Jesus' parable of the Rich Fool, serving as its climactic and judgment-delivering core. The rich man's vision of decades of leisure and self-indulgence is shattered by a direct, authoritative divine voice, transforming his carefully laid plans into tragic folly. His declaration of security based on material abundance ("I will say to my soul, Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.") is ironically countered by God's decree concerning that very soul.

The "fool" here is not an imbecile, but one whose life reflects a spiritual senselessness, ignoring God in his prosperity. He planned as if God did not exist, or as if eternity was irrelevant. The divine demand, "this night," conveys the stark reality that life is fleeting and can be snatched away at any unforeseen moment, making human foresight and preparation utterly powerless against God's sovereign will. The phrase "your soul is required of you" emphasizes that life is a precious, loaned possession from God, not something one inherently owns or can control indefinitely. The implied recall serves as a divine audit of one's stewardship.

Finally, the cutting question, "whose will they be?", strips away the illusion of control and highlights the inherent insecurity and ultimate uselessness of all worldly possessions at death's door. All the man's cherished "things" — his barns, his wealth, his plans — instantly cease to be "his" in any meaningful way. This stark truth serves as a profound caution against making material accumulation the central purpose of one's life. Instead, true wisdom, as Jesus immediately clarifies (Lk 12:21), lies in being "rich toward God" through faith, righteous living, and good works, treasures that death cannot reclaim. The parable’s warning remains evergreen: living only for oneself and this temporal world is a dangerous, "foolish" path with eternal consequences.