Matthew12

¹At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath. And His disciples were hungry, and began to pluck heads of grain and to eat.

²And when the Pharisees saw it, they said to Him, “Look, Your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath!”

³But He said to them, “Have you not read what David did when he was hungry, he and those who were with him:

⁴how he entered the house of God and ate the showbread which was not lawful for him to eat, nor for those who were with him, but only for the priests?

⁵Or have you not read in the law that on the Sabbath the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath, and are blameless?

⁶Yet I say to you that in this place there is One greater than the temple.

⁷But if you had known what this means, ‘I desire mercy and not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the guiltless.

⁸For the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.”

⁹Now when He had departed from there, He went into their synagogue.

¹⁰And behold, there was a man who had a withered hand. And they asked Him, saying, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?”—that they might accuse Him.

¹¹Then He said to them, “What man is there among you who has one sheep, and if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will not lay hold of it and lift it out?

¹²Of how much more value then is a man than a sheep? Therefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.”

¹³Then He said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” And he stretched it out, and it was restored as whole as the other.

¹⁴Then the Pharisees went out and plotted against Him, how they might destroy Him.

¹⁵But when Jesus knew it, He withdrew from there. And great multitudes followed Him, and He healed them all.

¹⁶Yet He warned them not to make Him known,

¹⁷that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying:

¹⁸“Behold! My Servant whom I have chosen, My Beloved in whom My soul is well pleased! I will put My Spirit upon Him, And He will declare justice to the Gentiles.

¹⁹He will not quarrel nor cry out, Nor will anyone hear His voice in the streets.

²⁰A bruised reed He will not break, And smoking flax He will not quench, Till He sends forth justice to victory;

²¹And in His name Gentiles will trust.”

²²Then one was brought to Him who was demon-possessed, blind and mute; and He healed him, so that the blind and mute man both spoke and saw.

²³And all the multitudes were amazed and said, “Could this be the Son of David?”

²⁴Now when the Pharisees heard it they said, “This fellow does not cast out demons except by Beelzebub, the ruler of the demons.”

²⁵But Jesus knew their thoughts, and said to them: “Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and every city or house divided against itself will not stand.

²⁶If Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then will his kingdom stand?

²⁷And if I cast out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore they shall be your judges.

²⁸But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, surely the kingdom of God has come upon you.

²⁹Or how can one enter a strong man’s house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man? And then he will plunder his house.

³⁰He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters abroad.

³¹“Therefore I say to you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven men.

³²Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the age to come.

³³“Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or else make the tree bad and its fruit bad; for a tree is known by its fruit.

³⁴Brood of vipers! How can you, being evil, speak good things? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.

³⁵A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things, and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things.

³⁶But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment.

³⁷For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.”

³⁸Then some of the scribes and Pharisees answered, saying, “Teacher, we want to see a sign from You.”

³⁹But He answered and said to them, “An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah.

⁴⁰For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.

⁴¹The men of Nineveh will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and indeed a greater than Jonah is here.

⁴²The queen of the South will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and indeed a greater than Solomon is here.

⁴³“When an unclean spirit goes out of a man, he goes through dry places, seeking rest, and finds none.

⁴⁴Then he says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ And when he comes, he finds it empty, swept, and put in order.

⁴⁵Then he goes and takes with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter and dwell there; and the last state of that man is worse than the first. So shall it also be with this wicked generation.”

⁴⁶While He was still talking to the multitudes, behold, His mother and brothers stood outside, seeking to speak with Him.

⁴⁷Then one said to Him, “Look, Your mother and Your brothers are standing outside, seeking to speak with You.”

⁴⁸But He answered and said to the one who told Him, “Who is My mother and who are My brothers?”

⁴⁹And He stretched out His hand toward His disciples and said, “Here are My mother and My brothers!

⁵⁰For whoever does the will of My Father in heaven is My brother and sister and mother.”