Luke 12
12
A Warning Against Hypocrisy
1#Jas 3:17; 1Co 5:7–8Meanwhile, when thousands of the crowd were assembled, so as to trample on one another, He began to say to His disciples first, “Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. 2#Mk 4:22; Lk 8:17For there is nothing covered that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known. 3#Mt 10:27Therefore what you have said in the darkness will be heard in the light. And what you have whispered in the ear in private rooms will be proclaimed on the housetops.
Whom to Fear
Mt 10:28–31
4#Jer 1:8; 1Pe 3:14“I say to you, My friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body, and after that can do no more. 5#Ps 9:17; Mt 10:28But I will warn you whom you shall fear: Fear Him who, after He has killed, has power to cast into hell. Yes, I say to you, fear Him. 6#Mt 10:29Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies#Gk. 2 assaria. An assarion was worth 1/16 of a denarius, which was a day’s wage.? Yet not one of them is forgotten by God. 7#1Sa 14:45; Mt 6:26Indeed, even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Therefore do not fear. You are more valuable than many sparrows.
Confessing Christ Before Men
Mt 10:19–20, 32–33; 12:32
8#Lk 15:10; Ro 10:9–10“I say to you, whoever confesses Me before men, him will the Son of Man also confess before the angels of God. 9#Mk 8:38; 2Ti 2:12But he who denies Me before men will be denied before the angels of God. 10#Mt 12:31–32; 1Jn 5:16; 1Ti 1:13And everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but he who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven.
11#Mt 23:34“When they bring you to the synagogues, rulers, and authorities, do not be anxious how you will answer or what you will say. 12#Lk 21:15; Mt 10:20For the Holy Spirit will teach you at that time what you should say.”
The Parable of the Rich Fool
13Someone in the crowd said to Him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.”
14#Ro 2:1; 2:3Jesus said to him, “Man, who appointed Me a judge or an arbitrator between you?” 15#1Ti 6:6–10; Heb 13:5Then He said to them, “Take heed and beware of covetousness. For a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.”
16And He told a parable to them, saying, “The land of a rich man produced plentifully. 17He 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#Ecc 11:9; Pr 27:1And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years. Take rest. Eat, drink, and be merry.’
20#Jer 17:11; Job 27:8; Ps 39:6“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#Lk 12:33; Mt 6:19–20“So is he who stores up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.”
Care and Anxiety
Mt 6:25–34, 19–21
22#Lk 12:29; 1Co 7:32Then 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. 23Life is more than food, and the body is more than clothes. 24#Job 38:41; Ps 147:9Consider 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? 25Who of you by worrying can add one cubit#A cubit is about half a meter. to his height? 26If you then cannot do what is least, why are you anxious about the other things?
27“Consider how the lilies grow. They neither spin nor weave. Yet I say to you that Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 28#Mt 8:26; 14:31If God so clothes the grass, which today is in the field and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will He clothe you, O you of little faith? 29#Mt 6:31And do not seek what you will eat or what you will drink, nor be of an anxious mind. 30#Mt 6:8; 6:32For the nations of the world seek all these things, and your Father knows that you need them. 31#1Ki 3:11–13; Mt 6:33But seek the kingdom of God, and all these things shall be given to you.
32#Isa 40:11; 41:14“Do not be afraid, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. 33#Mt 19:21; Lk 16:9Sell your possessions and give alms. Provide yourselves purses that do not grow old, an unfailing treasure in the heavens, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. 34#Mt 6:21For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
Watchful Servants
Mt 24:45–51
35#Eph 6:14; 1Pe 1:13“Let your waist be girded and your lights be burning, 36#Rev 3:20and you be like men waiting for their master to return from the wedding banquet, so that they may open the door immediately for him when he comes and knocks. 37#Mt 24:42Blessed are those servants whom the master will find watching when he comes. Truly I say to you, he will dress himself and have them sit down to dine, and he will come and serve them. 38If he comes in the second watch, or comes in the third watch, and finds them so, blessed are those servants. 39#Mt 24:43–44; 2Pe 3:10But know this: If the owner of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would have watched and not have allowed his house to be broken into. 40Therefore be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.”
41#Mk 13:37Peter said to Him, “Lord, are You telling this parable to us, or to everyone?”
42#Mt 24:45–46; Lk 19:15–19The Lord said, “Who then is the faithful and wise steward, whom his master will make ruler over his house servants, to give them their portion of food at the proper time? 43Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes. 44Truly, I say to you, he will appoint him over all his possessions. 45But if that servant says in his heart, ‘My master delays his coming,’ and begins to beat the house servants, both men and women, and to eat and drink and get drunk, 46#Lk 12:40the master of that servant will come on a day when he does not look for him, and at an hour when he is not aware, and will cut him to pieces and will appoint him his portion with the unbelievers.
47#Jas 4:17; Dt 25:2–3“That servant who knew his master’s will, but did not prepare himself or do according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes. 48#Lev 5:17; 1Ti 1:13But he who unknowingly committed acts worthy of punishment shall be beaten with few stripes. For to whom much is given, of him much shall be required. And from him to whom much was entrusted, much will be asked.
Jesus the Cause of Division
Mt 10:34–36
49“I have come to send fire upon the earth and wish that it were already kindled! 50#Jn 19:30But I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how pressed I am until it is accomplished! 51#Mt 10:34–36Do you suppose that I have come to give peace on earth? No, I tell you, but rather division. 52For there will be from now on five divided in one house, three against two and two against three. 53#Mic 7:6They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, and mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.”
Discerning the Appointed Time
Mt 16:2–3
54Then He said to the crowd: “When you see a cloud rise out of the west, immediately you say, ‘A shower is coming,’ and so it is. 55And when a south wind blows, you say, ‘There will be heat,’ and it happens. 56#Mt 16:3You hypocrites! You can discern the face of the sky and of the earth. But why do you not know how to discern this time?
Settling With Your Accuser
Mt 5:25–26
57“Why even among yourselves do you not judge what is right? 58#Mt 5:23–26; 18:30When you go with your adversary to the magistrate, as you are on the way, diligently try to settle matters with him, lest he drag you to the judge, and the judge will hand you over to the officer, and the officer will throw you into prison. 59#Mk 12:42; Mt 18:34I tell you, you shall not come out from there until you have paid the very last penny.”#Gk. lepton, the smallest coin circulated, means “small” or “thin.”
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Luke 12: MEV
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Military Bible Association
Luke 12
12
1In those times, the myriads of the crowd being gathered together, so that they trod one on another, he began to say to his disciples first, Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy; 2but there is nothing covered up which shall not be revealed, nor secret that shall not be known; 3therefore whatever ye have said in the darkness shall be heard in the light, and what ye have spoken in the ear in chambers shall be proclaimed upon the housetops. 4But I say to you, my friends, Fear not those who kill the body and after this have no more that they can do. 5But I will shew you whom ye shall fear: Fear him who after he has killed has authority to cast into hell; yea, I say to you, Fear him. 6Are not five sparrows sold for two assaria? and one of them is not forgotten before God. 7But even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not therefore, ye are better than many sparrows. 8But I say to you, Whosoever shall confess me before men, the Son of man will confess him also before the angels of God; 9but he that shall have denied me before men shall be denied before the angels of God; 10and whoever shall say a word against the Son of man it shall be forgiven him; but to him that speaks injuriously against the Holy Spirit it shall not be forgiven. 11But when they bring you before the synagogues and rulers and the authorities, be not careful how or what ye shall answer, or what ye shall say; 12for the Holy Spirit shall teach you in the hour itself what should be said.
13And a person said to him out of the crowd, Teacher, speak to my brother to divide the inheritance with me. 14But he said to him, Man, who established me as a judge or a divider over you? 15And he said to them, Take heed and keep yourselves from all covetousness, for it is not because a man is in abundance that his life is in his possessions. 16And he spoke a parable to them, saying, The land of a certain rich man brought forth abundantly. 17And he reasoned within himself saying, What shall I do? for I have not a place where I shall lay up my fruits. 18And he said, This will I do: I will take away my granaries and build greater, and there I will lay up all my produce and my good things; 19and I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much good things laid by for many years; repose thyself, eat, drink, be merry. 20But God said to him, Fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee; and whose shall be what thou hast prepared? 21Thus is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.
22And he said to his disciples, For this cause I say unto you, Be not careful for life, what ye shall eat, nor for the body, what ye shall put on. 23The life is more than food, and the body than raiment. 24Consider the ravens, that they sow not nor reap; which have neither storehouse nor granary; and God feeds them. How much better are ye than the birds? 25But which of you by being careful can add to his stature one cubit? 26If therefore ye cannot do even what is least, why are ye careful about the rest? 27Consider the lilies how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; but I say unto you, Not even Solomon in all his glory was clothed as one of these. 28But if God thus clothe the grass, which to-day is in the field and to-morrow is cast into the oven, how much rather you, O ye of little faith? 29And ye, seek not what ye shall eat or what ye shall drink, and be not in anxiety; 30for all these things do the nations of the world seek after, and your Father knows that ye have need of these things; 31but seek his kingdom, and all these things shall be added to you. 32Fear not, little flock, for it has been the good pleasure of your Father to give you the kingdom. 33Sell what ye possess and give alms; make to yourselves purses which do not grow old, a treasure which does not fail in the heavens, where thief does not draw near nor moth destroy. 34For where your treasure is, there also will your heart be. 35Let your loins be girded about, and lamps burning; 36and ye like men who wait their own lord whenever he may leave the wedding, that when he comes and knocks, they may open to him immediately. 37Blessed are those bondmen whom the lord on coming shall find watching; verily I say unto you, that he will gird himself and make them recline at table, and coming up will serve them. 38And if he come in the second watch, and come in the third watch, and find them thus, blessed are those bondmen. 39But this know, that if the master of the house had known in what hour the thief was coming, he would have watched, and not have suffered his house to be dug through. 40And ye therefore, be ye ready, for in the hour in which ye do not think it, the Son of man comes.
41And Peter said to him, Lord, sayest thou this parable to us, or also to all? 42And the Lord said, Who then is the faithful and prudent steward, whom his lord will set over his household, to give the measure of corn in season? 43Blessed is that bondman whom his lord on coming shall find doing thus; 44verily I say unto you, that he will set him over all that he has. 45But if that bondman should say in his heart, My lord delays to come, and begin to beat the menservants and the maidservants, and to eat and to drink and to be drunken, 46the lord of that bondman shall come in a day when he does not expect it, and in an hour he knows not of, and shall cut him in two and appoint his portion with the unbelievers. 47But that bondman who knew his own lord's will, and had not prepared himself nor done his will, shall be beaten with many stripes; 48but he who knew it not, and did things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few. And to every one to whom much has been given, much shall be required from him; and to whom menhave committed much, they will ask from him the more. 49I have come to cast a fire on the earth; and what will I if already it has been kindled? 50But I have a baptism to be baptised with, and how am I straitened until it shall have been accomplished! 51Think ye that I have come to give peace in the earth? Nay, I say to you, but rather division: 52for from henceforth there shall be five in one house divided; three shall be divided against two, and two against three: 53father against son, and son against father; mother against daughter, and daughter against mother; a mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.
54And he said also to the crowds, When ye see a cloud rising out of the west, straightway ye say, A shower is coming; and so it happens. 55And when ye see the south wind blow, ye say, There will be heat; and it happens. 56Hypocrites, ye know how to judge of the appearance of the earth and of the heaven; how is it then that ye do not discern this time? 57And why even of yourselves judge ye not what is right? 58For as thou goest with thine adverse party before a magistrate, strive in the way to be reconciled with him, lest he drag thee away to the judge, and the judge shall deliver thee to the officer, and the officer cast thee into prison. 59I say unto thee, Thou shalt in no wise come out thence until thou hast paid the very last mite.
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First published in 1890. This edition is maintained by the British and Foreign Bible Society.