Luk 12 | NASB1995 | STEP | Under these circumstances , after so many thousands of people had gathered together that they were stepping on one another , He began saying to His disciples first of all , “ Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees , which is hypocrisy .

1 Under these circumstances, after ^{▼▼ Lit myriads}so many thousands of ^{▼▼ Lit the crowd}people had gathered together that they were stepping on one another, He began saying to His disciples first of all, ^c“Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. 2 ^d“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 ^{▼▼ Lit spoken in the ear}whispered in the inner rooms will be proclaimed upon ^fthe housetops.

4 “I say to you, ^gMy 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 ^{▼▼ Or show}warn you whom to fear: ⁱfear the One who, after He has killed, has authority to cast into ^{▼▼ Gr Gehenna
,} ^khell; yes, I tell you, fear Him! 6 “Are not ^lfive sparrows sold for two ^{▼▼ Gr assaria, the smallest of copper coins}cents? Yet not one of them is forgotten before God. 7 ⁿ“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 ^oconfesses Me before men, the Son of Man will confess him also before the angels of God; 9 but ^phe who denies Me before men will be denied ^qbefore the angels of God. 10 ^r“And everyone who ^{▼▼ Lit will speak}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 ^tthe synagogues and the rulers and the authorities, do not ^uworry about how or what you are to speak in your defense, or what you are to say; 12 for ^vthe Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say.”

Covetousness Denounced

13 Someone ^{▼▼ Lit out of}in the crowd said to Him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the family inheritance with me.” 14 But He said to him, ^x“Man, who appointed Me a judge or arbitrator over you?” 15 Then He said to them, ^y“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, ^zyou have many goods laid up for many years to come; take your ease, eat, drink and be merry.”’ 20 “But God said to him, ‘ ^aaYou fool! This very night ^{▼▼ Lit they are demanding your soul from you
,} ^acyour soul is required of you; and ^ad now who will own what you have prepared?’ 21 “So is the man who ^aestores up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.”

22 And He said to His disciples, ^af“For this reason I say to you, ^{▼▼ Or stop being worried}do not worry about your ^{▼▼ Lit soul}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 ^airavens, for they neither sow nor reap; they have no storeroom nor ^ajbarn, 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 ^{▼▼ Lit cubit (approx 18 in.)
,} ^alhour to his ^{▼▼ Or height}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 ^anSolomon 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? ^aoYou men of little faith! 29 “And do not seek what you will eat and what you will drink, and do not ^apkeep worrying. 30 “For ^{▼▼ Or these things all the nations of the world}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 ^arthese things will be added to you. 32 ^as“Do not be afraid, ^atlittle flock, for ^auyour Father has chosen gladly to give you the kingdom.

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

Be in Readiness

35 ^{▼▼ Lit Let your loins be girded
,} ^az“Be dressed in ^bareadiness, 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 ^bbon the alert when he comes; truly I say to you, that ^bche will gird himself to serve, and have them recline at the table, and will come up and wait on them. 38 ^bd“Whether he comes in the ^{▼▼ I.e. 9 p.m. to midnight}second watch, or even in the ^{▼▼ I.e. midnight to 3 a.m.}third, and finds them so, blessed are those slaves.

39 ^bg“But ^{▼▼ Lit know}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 ^{▼▼ Lit dug through
,} ^bjbroken into. 40 ^bk“You too, be ready; for the Son of Man is coming at an hour that you do not ^{▼▼ Lit think, suppose}expect.”

41 Peter said, “Lord, are You addressing this parable to us, or ^bmto everyone else as well?” 42 And ^bnthe Lord said, ^bo“Who then is the faithful and sensible ^bpsteward, whom his master will put in charge of his ^{▼▼ Lit service}servants, to give them their rations at the proper time? 43 “Blessed is that ^brslave whom his ^{▼▼ Or lord}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 ^{▼▼ Lit is delaying to come}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 ^bureceive many lashes, 48 but the one who did not ^bvknow it, and committed deeds worthy of ^{▼▼ Lit blows}a flogging, will receive but few. ^bxFrom 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 ^{▼▼ Or came}have come to cast fire upon the earth; and ^{▼▼ Lit what do I wish if...?}how I wish it were already kindled! 50 “But I have a ^cabaptism to ^{▼▼ Lit be baptized with}undergo, and how distressed I am until it is accomplished! 51 ^cc“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, ^cdfather 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, ^ce“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 ^cfhot day,’ and it turns out that way. 56 “You hypocrites! ^cgYou know how to analyze the appearance of the earth and the sky, but ^{▼▼ Lit how}why do you not analyze this present time?

57 “And ^ciwhy do you not even on your own initiative judge what is right? 58 “For ^cjwhile you are going with your opponent to appear before the magistrate, on your way there make an effort to ^{▼▼ Lit be released from him}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 ^{▼▼ Gr lepton; i.e. 1/128 of a denarius
,} ^cmcent.”