Luke 12 - New American Standard Bible 1995 (NASB1995)

God Knows and Cares

12 Under these circumstances, after ^[a]so many thousands of ^[b]people had gathered together that they were stepping on one another, He began saying to His disciples first of all, “^(A)Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. ^{2 (B)}But there is nothing covered up that will not be revealed, and hidden that will not be known. ³ Accordingly, whatever you have said in the dark will be heard in the light, and what you have ^[c]whispered in the inner rooms will be proclaimed upon ^(C)the housetops.

⁴ “I say to you, ^(D)My friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that have no more that they can do. ⁵ But I will ^[d]warn you whom to fear: ^(E)fear the One who, after He has killed, has authority to cast into ^[e](F)hell; yes, I tell you, fear Him! ⁶ Are not ^(G)five sparrows sold for two ^[f]cents? Yet not one of them is forgotten before God. ^{7 (H)}Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not fear; you are more valuable than many sparrows.

⁸ “And I say to you, everyone who ^(I)confesses Me before men, the Son of Man will confess him also before the angels of God; ⁹ but ^(J)he who denies Me before men will be denied ^(K)before the angels of God. ^{10 (L)}And everyone who ^[g]speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; but he who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him. ¹¹ When they bring you before ^(M)the synagogues and the rulers and the authorities, do not ^(N)worry about how or what you are to speak in your defense, or what you are to say; ¹² for ^(O)the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say.”

Covetousness Denounced

¹³ Someone ^[h]in the crowd said to Him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the family inheritance with me.” ¹⁴ But He said to him, “^(P)Man, who appointed Me a judge or arbitrator over you?” ¹⁵ Then He said to them, “^(Q)Beware, and be on your guard against every form of greed; for not even when one has an abundance does his life consist of his possessions.” ¹⁶ And He told them a parable, saying, “The land of a rich man was very productive. ¹⁷ And he began reasoning to himself, saying, ‘What shall I do, since I have no place to store my crops?’ ¹⁸ Then he said, ‘This is what I will do: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. ¹⁹ And I will say to my soul, “Soul, ^(R)you have many goods laid up for many years to come; take your ease, eat, drink and be merry.”’ ²⁰ But God said to him, ‘^(S)You fool! This very night ^[i](T)your soul is required of you; and ^(U)now who will own what you have prepared?’ ²¹ So is the man who ^(V)stores up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.”

²² And He said to His disciples, “^(W)For this reason I say to you, ^[j]do not worry about your ^[k]life, as to what you will eat; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. ²³ For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing. ²⁴ Consider the ^(X)ravens, for they neither sow nor reap; they have no storeroom nor ^(Y)barn, and yet God feeds them; how much more valuable you are than the birds! ²⁵ And which of you by worrying can add a single ^[l](Z)hour to his ^[m]life’s span? ²⁶ If then you cannot do even a very little thing, why do you worry about other matters? ²⁷ Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; but I tell you, not even ^(AA)Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these. ²⁸ But if God so clothes the grass in the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, how much more will He clothe you? ^(AB)You men of little faith! ²⁹ And do not seek what you will eat and what you will drink, and do not ^(AC)keep worrying. ³⁰ For ^[n]all these things the nations of the world eagerly seek; but your Father knows that you need these things. ³¹ But seek His kingdom, and ^(AD)these things will be added to you. ^{32 (AE)}Do not be afraid, ^(AF)little flock, for ^(AG)your Father has chosen gladly to give you the kingdom.

³³ “^(AH)Sell your possessions and give to charity; make yourselves money belts which do not wear out, ^(AI)an unfailing treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near nor moth destroys. ³⁴ For ^(AJ)where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Be in Readiness

³⁵ “^[o](AK)Be dressed in ^(AL)readiness, and keep your lamps lit. ³⁶ Be like men who are waiting for their master when he returns from the wedding feast, so that they may immediately open the door to him when he comes and knocks. ³⁷ Blessed are those slaves whom the master will find ^(AM)on the alert when he comes; truly I say to you, that ^(AN)he will gird himself to serve, and have them recline at the table, and will come up and wait on them. ^{38 (AO)}Whether he comes in the ^[p]second watch, or even in the ^[q]third, and finds them so, blessed are those slaves.

³⁹ “^(AP)But ^[r]be sure of this, that if the head of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have allowed his house to be ^[s](AQ)broken into. ^{40 (AR)}You too, be ready; for the Son of Man is coming at an hour that you do not ^[t]expect.”

⁴¹ Peter said, “Lord, are You addressing this parable to us, or ^(AS)to everyone else as well?” ⁴² And ^(AT)the Lord said, “^(AU)Who then is the faithful and sensible ^(AV)steward, whom his master will put in charge of his ^[u]servants, to give them their rations at the proper time? ⁴³ Blessed is that ^(AW)slave whom his ^[v]master finds so doing when he comes. ⁴⁴ Truly I say to you that he will put him in charge of all his possessions. ⁴⁵ But if that slave says in his heart, ‘My master ^[w]will be a long time in coming,’ and begins to beat the slaves, both men and women, and to eat and drink and get drunk; ⁴⁶ the master of that slave will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know, and will cut him in pieces, and assign him a place with the unbelievers. ⁴⁷ And that slave who knew his master’s will and did not get ready or act in accord with his will, will ^(AX)receive many lashes, ⁴⁸ but the one who did not ^(AY)know it, and committed deeds worthy of ^[x]a flogging, will receive but few. ^(AZ)From everyone who has been given much, much will be required; and to whom they entrusted much, of him they will ask all the more.

Christ Divides Men

⁴⁹ “I ^[y]have come to cast fire upon the earth; and ^[z]how I wish it were already kindled! ⁵⁰ But I have a ^(BA)baptism to ^[aa]undergo, and how distressed I am until it is accomplished! ^{51 (BB)}Do you suppose that I came to grant peace on earth? I tell you, no, but rather division; ⁵² for from now on five members in one household will be divided, three against two and two against three. ⁵³ They will be divided, ^(BC)father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.”

⁵⁴ And He was also saying to the crowds, “^(BD)When you see a cloud rising in the west, immediately you say, ‘A shower is coming,’ and so it turns out. ⁵⁵ And when you see a south wind blowing, you say, ‘It will be a ^(BE)hot day,’ and it turns out that way. ⁵⁶ You hypocrites! ^(BF)You know how to analyze the appearance of the earth and the sky, but ^[ab]why do you not analyze this present time?

⁵⁷ “And ^(BG)why do you not even on your own initiative judge what is right? ⁵⁸ For ^(BH)while you are going with your opponent to appear before the magistrate, on your way there make an effort to ^[ac]settle with him, so that he may not drag you before the judge, and the judge turn you over to the officer, and the officer throw you into prison. ⁵⁹ I say to you, you will not get out of there until you have paid the very last ^[ad](BI)cent.”

Footnotes

1. Luke 12:1 Lit myriads
2. Luke 12:1 Lit the crowd
3. Luke 12:3 Lit spoken in the ear
4. Luke 12:5 Or show
5. Luke 12:5 Gr Gehenna
6. Luke 12:6 Gr assaria, the smallest of copper coins
7. Luke 12:10 Lit will speak
8. Luke 12:13 Lit out of
9. Luke 12:20 Lit they are demanding your soul from you
10. Luke 12:22 Or stop being worried
11. Luke 12:22 Lit soul
12. Luke 12:25 Lit cubit (approx 18 in.)
13. Luke 12:25 Or height
14. Luke 12:30 Or these things all the nations of the world
15. Luke 12:35 Lit Let your loins be girded
16. Luke 12:38 I.e. 9 p.m. to midnight
17. Luke 12:38 I.e. midnight to 3 a.m.
18. Luke 12:39 Lit know
19. Luke 12:39 Lit dug through
20. Luke 12:40 Lit think, suppose
21. Luke 12:42 Lit service
22. Luke 12:43 Or lord
23. Luke 12:45 Lit is delaying to come
24. Luke 12:48 Lit blows
25. Luke 12:49 Or came
26. Luke 12:49 Lit what do I wish if...?
27. Luke 12:50 Lit be baptized with
28. Luke 12:56 Lit how
29. Luke 12:58 Lit be released from him
30. Luke 12:59 Gr lepton; i.e. 1/128 of a denarius

Cross references

1. Luke 12:1 : Matt 16:6, 11f; Mark 8:15
2. Luke 12:2 : Luke 12:2-9: Matt 10:26-33; Matt 10:26; Mark 4:22; Luke 8:17
3. Luke 12:3 : Matt 10:27; 24:17
4. Luke 12:4 : John 15:13-15
5. Luke 12:5 : Heb 10:31
6. Luke 12:5 : Matt 5:22
7. Luke 12:6 : Matt 10:29
8. Luke 12:7 : Matt 10:30
9. Luke 12:8 : Matt 10:32; Luke 15:10; Rom 10:9
10. Luke 12:9 : Matt 10:33; Luke 9:26
11. Luke 12:9 : Luke 15:10
12. Luke 12:10 : Matt 12:31, 32; Mark 3:28-30
13. Luke 12:11 : Matt 10:17
14. Luke 12:11 : Matt 6:25; 10:19; Mark 13:11; Luke 12:22; 21:14
15. Luke 12:12 : Matt 10:20; Luke 21:15
16. Luke 12:14 : Mic 6:8; Rom 2:1, 3; 9:20
17. Luke 12:15 : 1 Tim 6:6-10
18. Luke 12:19 : Eccl 11:9
19. Luke 12:20 : Jer 17:11; Luke 11:40
20. Luke 12:20 : Job 27:8
21. Luke 12:20 : Ps 39:6
22. Luke 12:21 : Luke 12:33
23. Luke 12:22 : Luke 12:22-31: Matt 6:25-33
24. Luke 12:24 : Job 38:41
25. Luke 12:24 : Luke 12:18
26. Luke 12:25 : Ps 39:5
27. Luke 12:27 : 1 Kin 10:4-7; 2 Chr 9:3-6
28. Luke 12:28 : Matt 6:30
29. Luke 12:29 : Matt 6:31
30. Luke 12:31 : Matt 6:33
31. Luke 12:32 : Matt 14:27
32. Luke 12:32 : John 21:15-17
33. Luke 12:32 : Eph 1:5, 9
34. Luke 12:33 : Matt 19:21; Luke 11:41; 18:22
35. Luke 12:33 : Matt 6:20; Luke 12:21
36. Luke 12:34 : Matt 6:21
37. Luke 12:35 : Matt 25:1ff
38. Luke 12:35 : Eph 6:14; 1 Pet 1:13
39. Luke 12:37 : Matt 24:42
40. Luke 12:37 : Luke 17:8; John 13:4
41. Luke 12:38 : Matt 24:43
42. Luke 12:39 : Luke 12:39-40: Matt 24:43, 44
43. Luke 12:39 : Matt 6:19
44. Luke 12:40 : Mark 13:33; Luke 21:36
45. Luke 12:41 : Luke 12:47, 48
46. Luke 12:42 : Luke 7:13
47. Luke 12:42 : Luke 12:42-46: Matt 24:45-51
48. Luke 12:42 : Matt 24:45; Luke 16:1ff
49. Luke 12:43 : Luke 12:42
50. Luke 12:47 : Deut 25:2; James 4:17
51. Luke 12:48 : Lev 5:17; Num 15:29f
52. Luke 12:48 : Matt 13:12
53. Luke 12:50 : Mark 10:38
54. Luke 12:51 : Luke 12:51-53: Matt 10:34-36
55. Luke 12:53 : Mic 7:6; Matt 10:21
56. Luke 12:54 : Matt 16:2f
57. Luke 12:55 : Matt 20:12
58. Luke 12:56 : Matt 16:3
59. Luke 12:57 : Luke 21:30
60. Luke 12:58 : Luke 12:58-59: Matt 5:25, 26
61. Luke 12:59 : Mark 12:42