Luke 12:20
Translations
King James Version (KJV)
But God said to him, You fool, this night your soul shall be required of you: then whose shall those things be, which you have provided?
American King James Version (AKJV)
But God said to him, You fool, this night your soul shall be required of you: then whose shall those things be, which you have provided?
American Standard Version (ASV)
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?
Basic English Translation (BBE)
But God said to him, You foolish one, tonight I will take your soul from you, and who then will be the owner of all the things which you have got together?
Webster's Revision
But God said to him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be which thou hast provided?
World English Bible
"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?'
English Revised Version (ERV)
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?
Clarke's Luke 12:20 Bible Commentary
Thou fool! - To imagine that a man's comfort and peace can depend upon temporal things; or to suppose that these can satisfy the wishes of an immortal spirit!
This night - How awful was this saying! He had just made the necessary arrangements for the gratification of his sensual appetites; and, in the very night in which he had finally settled all his plans, his soul was called into the eternal world! What a dreadful awakening of a soul, long asleep in sin! He is now hurried into the presence of his Maker; none of his worldly goods can accompany him, and he has not a particle of heavenly treasure! There is a passage much like this in the book of Ecclesiasticus, 11:18, 19. There is that waxeth rich by his wariness and pinching, and this is the portion of his reward: Whereas he saith, I have found rest, and now will eat continually of my goods; and yet he knoweth not what time shall come upon him; and that he must leave those things to others, and die. We may easily see whence the above is borrowed.
Barnes's Luke 12:20 Bible Commentary
Thou fool - If there is any supreme folly, it is this. As though riches could prolong life, or avert for a moment the approach of pain and death.
This night ... - What an awful sentence to a man who, as he thought, had got just ready to live and enjoy himself! In a single moment all his hopes were blasted, and his soul summoned to the bar of his long-forgotten God. So, many are surprised as suddenly and as unprepared. They are snatched from their pleasures, and hurried to a world where there is no pleasure, and where all their wealth cannot purchase one moment's ease from the gnawings of the worm that never dies.
Shall be required of thee - Thou shalt be required to die, to go to God, and to give up your account.
Then whose ... - Whose they may be is of little consequence to the man that lost his soul to gain them; but they are often left to heirs that dissipate them much sooner than the father procured them, and thus they secure "their" ruin as well as his own. See Psalm 39:6; Ecclesiastes 2:18-19.
Wesley's Luke 12:20 Bible Commentary
12:20 Thou fool - To think of satisfying thy soul with earthly goods!To depend on living many years! Yea, one day! They - The messengers of death, commissioned by God, require thy soul of thee!