Luke 12:19 (ASV)

Passage

And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, be merry.

Nearby Context

Luke 12:17 and he reasoned within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have not where to bestow my fruits?

Luke 12:18 And he said, This will I do: I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow all my grain and my goods.

Luke 12:19 And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, be merry.

Luke 12:20 But God said unto him, Thou foolish one, this night is thy soul required of thee; and the things which thou hast prepared, whose shall they be?

Luke 12:21 So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "soul", "thou", "hast", "much", "goods", "laid", and "years". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "soul" and "thou", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 18's "And he said This will I do..." into verse 20's "But God said unto him Thou foolish...", so "soul" and "thou" belong inside that flow. In Luke context, the local focus is Christ, faith, and discipleship.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "soul" and "thou" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.