Luke 12 is the twelfth chapter of the Gospel of Luke in the New Testament of the Christian Bible. It records a number of teachings and parables told by Jesus Christ when "an innumerable multitude of people had gathered together", but addressed "first of all" to his disciples. The book containing this chapter is anonymous, but early Christian tradition uniformly affirmed that Luke the Evangelist composed this Gospel as well as the Acts of the Apostles. Text The original text was written in Koine Greek. This chapter is divided into 59 verses. Textual witnesses Some early manuscripts containing the text of this chapter are: Papyrus 75 (AD 175-225) Papyrus 45 (~250) Codex Vaticanus (325-350) Codex Sinaiticus (330-360) Codex Bezae (~400) Codex Washingtonianus (~400) Codex Alexandrinus (400-440) Codex Ephraemi Rescriptus (~450; extant verses 1-3) Hypocrisy and the fear of God Scottish minister William Robertson Nicoll calls this passage (verses 1-12) an "exhortation to fearless utterance". Henry Alford suggests that this discourse consists "for the most part of sayings repeated from other occasions". An innumerable multitude In 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 leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. Nicoll suggests that this is "the largest crowd mentioned anywhere in the Gospels" but Jesus speaks "first of all" to his disciples, only turning to the multitude in verses 14-21, in response to a question from someone in the crowd, and again in verses 54-59. Peter asks (at verse 41) whether the parable of the faithful servant is addressed solely to the disciples or to the wider multitude (παντας, pantas: everyone). The Jerusalem Bible notes that an alternative reading would connect the word "first" with the succeeding statement: First of all, be on your guard ... (, proton prosechete eautois). Protestant commentator Heinrich Meyer likewise argues that "πρῶτον, before all, is to be taken with προσέχετε"; it does not belong to what precedes". Verse 2 For there is nothing covered that will not be revealed, nor hidden that will not be known. This verse matches : For nothing is secret that will not be revealed, nor anything hidden that will not be known and come to light. David Robert Palmer translates the initial words of this verse, οὐδὲν δέ, ouden de, as "But there is nothing ...", arguing