And he said unto them, Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth.

And he said unto them, Take heed, and keep yourselves from all covetousness: for a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth.

And he said to them: Take heed and beware of all covetousness; for a man's life doth not consist in the abundance of things which he possesseth.

And he said to them, Take heed and keep yourselves from all covetousness, for it is not because a man is in abundance that his life is in his possessions.

And he said unto them, 'Observe, and beware of the covetousness, because not in the abundance of one's goods is his life.'

And he said to them, Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man's life consists not in the abundance of the things which he possesses.

And to the people He said, "Take care, be on your guard against all covetousness, for no one's life consists in the superabundance of his possessions."

And he said to them, Take care to keep yourselves free from the desire for property; for a man's life is not made up of the number of things which he has.

He said to them, 'Beware. Keep yourselves from all covetousness, for a man's life does not consist of the abundance of the things which he possesses.'

So he said to them: "Be cautious and wary of all avarice. For a person's life is not found in the abundance of the things that he possesses."

And then he added, "Take care to keep yourselves free from every form of covetousness; for even in the height of their prosperity a person's true life does not depend on what they have."

Take heed and beware of covetousness. Christ first guards his followers against covetousness, and next, in order to cure their minds entirely of this disease, he declares, that our life consisteth not in abundance. These words point out the inward fountain and source, from which flows the mad eagerness for gain. It is because the general belief is, that a man is happy in proportion as he possesses much, and that the happiness of life is produced by riches. Hence arise those immoderate desires, which, like a fiery furnace, send forth their flames, and yet cease not to burn within. If we were convinced that riches, and any kind of abundance, are evils of the present life, which the Lord bestows upon us with his own hand, and the use of which is accompanied by his blessing, this single consideration would have a powerful influence in restraining all wicked desires; and this is what believers have come to learn from their own experience. [1] For whence comes it, that they moderate their wishes, and depend on God alone, but because they do not look upon their life as necessarily connected with abundance, or dependent upon it, but rely on the providence of God, who alone upholds us by his power, and supplies us with whatever is necessary?

Footnotes

1 - "Ce que les fideles experimentent ton les iours en eux-mesmes estre vray;" -- "which believers every day experience in themselves to be true."

Beware of covetousness - One of these brothers, no doubt, was guilty of this sin; and our Saviour, as was his custom, took occasion to warn his disciples of its danger.
Covetousness - An unlawful desire of the property of another; also a desire of gain or riches beyond what is necessary for our wants. It is a violation of the tenth commandment Exodus 20:17, and is expressly called idolatry Colossians 3:5. Compare, also, Ephesians 5:3, and Hebrews 13:5.
A man's life - The word "life" is sometimes taken in the sense of happiness or felicity, and some have supposed this to be the meaning here, and that Jesus meant to say that a man's comfort does not depend on affluence - that is, on more than is necessary for his daily wants; but this meaning does not suit the parable following, which is designed to show that property will not lengthen out a man's life, and therefore is not too ardently to be sought, and is of little value. The word "life," therefore, is to be taken "literally."
Consisteth not - Rather, "dependeth" not on his possessions. His possessions will not prolong it. The passage, then, means: Be not anxious about obtaining wealth, for, however much you may obtain, it will not prolong your life. "That" depends on the will of God, and it requires something besides wealth to make us ready to meet him. This sentiment he proceeds to illustrate by a beautiful parable.

Beware of covetousness - Or rather, Beware of all inordinate desires. I add πασης, all, on the authority of ABDKLM-Q, twenty-three others, both the Syriac, all the Persic, all the Arabic, Coptic, Ethiopic, Armenian, Vulgate, all the Itala, and several of the primitive fathers.
Inordinate desires. Πλεονεξιας, from πλειον, more, and εχειν, to have; the desire to have more and more, let a person possess whatever he may. Such a disposition of mind is never satisfied; for, as soon as one object is gained, the heart goes out after another.
Consisteth not in the abundance - That is, dependeth not on the abundance. It is not superfluities that support man's life, but necessaries. What is necessary, God gives liberally; what is superfluous, he has not promised. Nor can a man's life be preserved by the abundance of his possessions: to prove this he spoke the following parable.

And he said unto them, Take heed, and beware of (c) covetousness: for a man's life (d) consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth.
(c) By covetousness is meant that greedy desire to get, commonly causing hurt to other men.
(d) God is the author and preserver of man's life; goods are not.

And he said unto them,.... Either to the two brethren, or to his disciples, as the Syriac and Persic versions read, or to the whole company:
take heed, and beware of covetousness; of all covetousness, as read the Vulgate Latin, Syriac, Arabic, and Ethiopic versions, and some copies; that is, of all sorts of covetousness, and every degree of it, which of all vices is to be avoided and guarded against, being the root of all evil; and as the Persic version renders it, is worse than all evil, and leads into it:
for a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth; of flocks and beasts, as the Persic version renders it: a man's natural life cannot be prolonged by all the good things of the world he is possessed of; they cannot prevent diseases nor death; nor do the comfort and happiness of life, lie in these things; which are either not enjoyed by them, but kept for the hurt of the owners of them, or are intemperately used, or some way or other imbittered to them, so that they have no peace nor pleasure in them: and a man's spiritual life is neither had nor advantaged hereby, and much less is eternal life to be acquired by any of these things; which a man may have, and be lost for ever, as the following parable shows.

unto them--the multitude around Him (Luke 12:1).
of covetousness--The best copies have "all," that is, "every kind of covetousness"; because as this was one of the more plausible forms of it, so He would strike at once at the root of the evil.
a man's life, &c.--a singularly weighty maxim, and not less so because its meaning and its truth are equally evident.

Keep yourselves from covetousness. A greedy desire for the goods of this world. A sin of all ages and a besetting sin of our times.
A man's life consisteth not, etc. Comfort, happiness, and, above all, eternal interests, do not depend on the abundance of our goods. Why then should a man give his life to a greedy chase after wealth?

He said to them - Perhaps to the two brothers, and through them to the people. A man's life - That is, the comfort or happiness of it.