Luke 12:54 (DRB)

Passage

And he said also to the multitudes: When you see a cloud rising from the west, presently you say: A shower is coming. And so it happeneth.

Nearby Context

Luke 12:52 For there shall be from henceforth five in one house divided: three against two, and two against three.

Luke 12:53 The father shall be divided against the son and the son against his father: the mother against the daughter and the daughter against her mother: the mother-in-law against the daughter-in-law and the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.

Luke 12:54 And he said also to the multitudes: When you see a cloud rising from the west, presently you say: A shower is coming. And so it happeneth.

Luke 12:55 And when ye see the south wind blow, you say: There will heat. And it cometh to pass.

Luke 12:56 You hypocrites, you know how to discern the face of the heaven and of the earth: but how is it that you do not discern this time?

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "said", "multitudes", "cloud", "rising", "west", "presently", "shower", and "coming". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "said" and "multitudes", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 53's "The father shall be divided against the..." into verse 55's "And when ye see the south wind...", so "said" and "multitudes" 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 "said" and "multitudes" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.