The Parable of the Rich Fool

13 ^sSomeone in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.” 14 But he said to him, ^t“Man, ^uwho made me a judge or arbitrator over you?” 15 And he said to them, ^v“Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” 16 And he told them a parable, saying, ^w“The land of a rich man produced plentifully, 17 and he thought to himself, ^x‘What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?’ 18 And he said, ‘I will do this: I will tear down my ^ybarns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. 19 And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have ample goods laid up ^zfor many years; relax, ^aeat, drink, be merry.”’ 20 But God said to him, ^b‘Fool! ^zThis night ^cyour soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, ^dwhose will they be?’ 21 So is the one ^ewho lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.”

11 “Take care lest you forget the Lord your God by not keeping his commandments and his rules and his statutes, which I command you today, 12 ^hlest, when you have eaten and are full and have built good houses and live in them, 13 and when your herds and flocks multiply and your silver and gold is multiplied and all that you have is multiplied, 14 ⁱthen your heart be lifted up, and you ^jforget the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery, 15 who ^kled you through the great and terrifying wilderness, ^lwith its fiery serpents and scorpions ^mand thirsty ground where there was no water, ⁿwho brought you water out of the flinty rock, 16 who fed you in the wilderness with ^omanna that your fathers did not know, that he might humble you and test you, ^pto do you good in the end. 17 Beware ^qlest you say in your heart, ‘My power and the might of my hand have gotten me this wealth.’ 18 You shall remember the Lord your God, for ^rit is he who gives you power to get wealth, ^sthat he may confirm his covenant that he swore to your fathers, as it is this day.

Do Not Be Anxious

25 ^e“Therefore I tell you, ^fdo not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? 26 ^gLook at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. ^hAre you not of more value than they? 27 And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his ⁱspan of life?¹ 28 And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, 29 yet I tell you, ^jeven Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30 But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, ^kO you of little faith? 31 Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For ^lthe Gentiles seek after all these things, and ^myour heavenly Father knows that you need them all. 33 But ⁿseek first ^othe kingdom of God and his righteousness, ^pand all these things will be added to you.

34 ^q“Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.