Luke 12:18-20

12:18 Then ¹  he said, ‘I ²  will do this: I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. 12:19 And I will say to myself, ³  “You have plenty of goods stored up for many years; relax, eat, drink, celebrate!”’ 12:20 But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life ⁴  will be demanded back from ⁵  you, but who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’ ⁶ 

[12:18]  ¹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[12:18]  ² sn Note how often the first person pronoun is present in these verses. The farmer is totally self absorbed.

[12:19]  ³ tn Grk “to my soul,” which is repeated as a vocative in the following statement, but is left untranslated as redundant.

[12:20]  ⁴ tn Grk “your soul,” but ψυχή (yuch) is frequently used of one’s physical life. It clearly has that meaning in this context.

[12:20]  ⁵ tn Or “required back.” This term, ἀπαιτέω (apaitew), has an economic feel to it and is often used of a debt being called in for repayment (BDAG 96 s.v. 1).

[12:20]  ⁶ tn Grk “the things you have prepared, whose will they be?” The words “for yourself” are not in the Greek text, but are implied.