Luke 12:1–21

Beware of Religious Hypocrisy

12In these circumstances, ^la crowd of many thousands came together, so that they were trampling ^mon one another. He began to say to His disciples first: ⁿ“Be on your guard ^oagainst the yeast ^pqof the ^•Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. ^r2There is nothing covered that won’t be uncovered, ^snothing hidden that won’t be made known. ^t3Therefore, whatever you have said in the dark will be heard in the light, and what you have whispered in an ear in private rooms ^uwill be proclaimed on the housetops. ^v

Fear God

⁴“And I say to you, My friends, ^wdon’t fear ^xthose who kill the body, and after that can do nothing more. ⁵But I will show you the One to fear: Fear ^yHim who has authority to throw people into ^•hell ^zafter death. Yes, I say to you, this is the One to fear! ⁶Aren’t five sparrows sold for two pennies? ^aYet not one of them is forgotten in God’s sight. ^b7Indeed, the hairs of your head are all counted. Don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows!

Acknowledging Christ

⁸“And I say to you, anyone who acknowledges ^cMe before men, the ^•Son of Man ^dwill also acknowledge him before the angels of God, ^e9but whoever denies Me before men will be denied before the angels of God. ^f10Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, ^gbut the one who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit ^hwill not be forgiven. ¹¹Whenever ⁱthey bring you before ^•synagogues and rulers and authorities, ^jdon’t worry ^kabout how you should defend ^lyourselves or what you should say. ¹²For the Holy Spirit will teach you at that very hour what must be said.” ^m

The Parable of the Rich Fool

¹³Someone from the crowd said to Him, “Teacher, ⁿtell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.”

¹⁴“Friend,” ^oHe said to him, “who appointed Me a judge or arbitrator over you?” ¹⁵He then told them, “Watch out and be on guard ^pagainst all greed ^qbecause one’s life is not in the abundance of his possessions.” ^r

¹⁶Then He told them a parable: ^s“A rich ^tman’s land was very productive. ¹⁷He thought to himself, ‘What should I do, since I don’t have anywhere to store my crops? ¹⁸I will do this,’ he said. ‘I’ll tear down my barns and build bigger ones and store all my grain and my goods there. ¹⁹Then I’ll say to myself, “You ^uhave many goods stored up for many years. Take it easy; ^veat, drink, and enjoy yourself.” ’ ^w

²⁰“But God said to him, ‘You fool! ^xThis very night your ^•life is demanded of you. And the things you have prepared—whose will they be?’ ^y

²¹“That’s how it is with the one who stores up treasure ^zfor himself and is not rich toward God.” ^a