Luke 12

¹In the meantime, when an innumerable multitude of people had gathered together, so that they trampled one another, He began to say to His disciples first of all, “Beware of the

²For there is nothing covered that will not be revealed, nor hidden that will not be known.

³Therefore whatever you have spoken in the dark will be heard in the light, and what you have spoken in the ear in inner rooms will be proclaimed on the housetops.

⁴“And I say to you,

⁵But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear Him who, after He has killed, has power to cast into hell; yes, I say to you,

⁶“Are not five sparrows sold for two

⁷But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not fear therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.

⁸“Also I say to you, whoever confesses Me

⁹But he who

¹⁰“And

¹¹“Now when they bring you to the synagogues and magistrates and authorities, do not worry about how or what you should answer, or what you should say.

¹²For the Holy Spirit will

¹³Then one from the crowd said to Him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.”

¹⁴But He said to him, “Man, who made Me a judge or an arbitrator over you?”

¹⁵And He said to them, “Take heed and beware of

¹⁶Then He spoke a parable to them, saying: “The ground of a certain rich man yielded plentifully.

¹⁷And he thought within himself, saying, ‘What shall I do, since I have no room to store my crops?’

¹⁸So he said, ‘I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build greater, and there I will store all my crops and my goods.

¹⁹And I will say to my soul,

²⁰But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night

²¹“So is he who lays up treasure for himself,

²²Then He said to His disciples, “Therefore I say to you,

²³Life is more than food, and the body is more than clothing.

²⁴Consider the ravens, for they neither sow nor reap, which have neither storehouse nor barn; and

²⁵And which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?

²⁶If you then are not able to do the least, why

²⁷Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; and yet I say to you, even

²⁸If then God so clothes the grass, which today is in the field and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will He clothe you, O you of

²⁹“And do not seek what you should eat or what you should drink, nor have an anxious mind.

³⁰For all these things the nations of the world seek after, and your Father

³¹But seek

³²“Do not fear, little flock, for

³³Sell what you have and give

³⁴For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

³⁵“Let your waist be girded and

³⁶and you yourselves be like men who wait for their master, when he will return from the wedding, that when he comes and knocks they may open to him immediately.

³⁷Blessed are those servants whom the master, when he comes, will find watching. Assuredly, I say to you that he will gird himself and have them sit down to eat, and will come and serve them.

³⁸And if he should come in the second watch, or come in the third watch, and find them so, blessed are those servants.

³⁹But know this, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would

⁴⁰Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.”

⁴¹Then Peter said to Him, “Lord, do You speak this parable only to us, or to all people?”

⁴²And the Lord said, “Who then is that faithful and wise steward, whom his master will make ruler over his household, to give them their portion of food

⁴³Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes.

⁴⁴Truly, I say to you that he will make him ruler over all that he has.

⁴⁵But if that servant says in his heart, ‘My master is delaying his coming,’ and begins to beat the male and female servants, and to eat and drink and be drunk,

⁴⁶the master of that servant will come on a

⁴⁷And

⁴⁸But he who did not know, yet committed things deserving of stripes, shall be beaten with few. For everyone to whom much is given, from him much will be required; and to whom much has been committed, of him they will ask the more.

⁴⁹“I came to send fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled!

⁵⁰But

⁵¹Do you suppose that I came to give peace on earth? I tell you, not at all,

⁵²For from now on five in one house will be divided: three against two, and two against three.

⁵³Father will be divided against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.”

⁵⁴Then He also said to the multitudes, “Whenever you see a cloud rising out of the west, immediately you say, ‘A shower is coming’; and so it is.

⁵⁵And when you see the

⁵⁶Hypocrites! You can discern the face of the sky and of the earth, but how is it you do not discern

⁵⁷“Yes, and why, even of yourselves, do you not judge what is right?

⁵⁸When you go with your adversary to the magistrate, make every effort

⁵⁹I tell you, you shall not depart from there till you have paid the very last mite.”