Luke 12:20 (WEB)

Passage

“But God said to him, ‘You foolish one, tonight your soul is required of you. The things which you have prepared—whose will they be?’

Nearby Context

Luke 12:18 He said, ‘This is what I will do. I will pull down my barns, and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods.

Luke 12:19 I will tell my soul, “Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years. Take your ease, eat, drink, be merry.”’

Luke 12:20 “But God said to him, ‘You foolish one, tonight your soul is required of you. The things which you have prepared—whose will they be?’

Luke 12:21 So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.”

Luke 12:22 He said to his disciples, “Therefore I tell you, don’t be anxious for your life, what you will eat, nor yet for your body, what you will wear.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "said", "foolish", "tonight", "soul", "required", "things", "prepared", and "whose". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "said" and "foolish", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 19's "I will tell my soul Soul you..." into verse 21's "So is he who lays up treasure...", so "said" and "foolish" 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 "foolish" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.