Matthew 12

1 At that season Jesus went on the sabbath day through the grainfields; and his disciples were hungry and began to pluck ears and to eat.2 But the Pharisees, when they saw it, said unto him, Behold, thy disciples do that which it is not lawful to do upon the sabbath.3 But he said unto them, Have ye not read what David did, when he was hungry, and they that were with him;4 how he entered into the house of God, and ate the showbread, which it was not lawful for him to eat, neither for them that were with him, but only for the priests?5 Or have ye not read in the law, that on the sabbath day the priests in the temple profane the sabbath, and are guiltless?6 But I say unto you, that one greater than the temple is here.7 But if ye had known what this meaneth, I desire mercy, and not sacrifice, ye would not have condemned the guiltless.8 For the Son of man is lord of the sabbath.

9 And he departed thence, and went into their synagogue:10 and behold, a man having a withered hand. And they asked him, saying, Is it lawful to heal on the sabbath day? that they might accuse him.11 And he said unto them, What man shall there be of you, that shall have one sheep, and if this fall into a pit on the sabbath day, will he not lay hold on it, and lift it out?12 How much then is a man of more value than a sheep! Wherefore it is lawful to do good on the sabbath day.13 Then saith he to the man, Stretch forth thy hand. And he stretched it forth; and it was restored whole, as the other.14 But the Pharisees went out, and took counsel against him, how they might destroy him.

15 And Jesus perceiving it withdrew from thence: and many followed him; and he healed them all,16 and charged them that they should not make him known:17 that it might be fulfilled which was spoken through 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 shall declare judgment to the Gentiles.

19 He shall not strive, nor cry aloud; Neither shall any one hear his voice in the streets.

20 A bruised reed shall he not break, And smoking flax shall he not quench, Till he send forth judgment unto victory.

21 And in his name shall the Gentiles hope.

22 Then was brought unto him one possessed with a demon, blind and dumb: and he healed him, insomuch that the dumb man spake and saw.23 And all the multitudes were amazed, and said, Can this be the son of David?24 But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, This man doth not cast out demons, but by Beelzebub the prince of the demons.25 And knowing their thoughts he said unto them, Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand:26 and if Satan casteth out Satan, he is divided against himself; how then shall his kingdom stand?27 And if I by Beelzebub cast out demons, by whom do your sons cast them out? therefore shall they be your judges.28 But if I by the Spirit of God cast out demons, then is the kingdom of God come upon you.29 Or how can one enter into the house of the strong man, and spoil his goods, except he first bind the strong man? and then he will spoil his house.30 He that is not with me is against me, and he that gathereth not with me scattereth.31 Therefore I say unto you, Every sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men; but the blasphemy against the Spirit shall not be forgiven.32 And whosoever shall speak a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him; but whosoever shall speak against the Holy Spirit, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, nor in that which is to come.33 Either make the tree good, and its fruit good; or make the tree corrupt, and its fruit corrupt: for the tree is known by its fruit.34 Ye offspring of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.35 The good man out of his good treasure bringeth forth good things: and the evil man out of his evil treasure bringeth forth evil things.36 And I say unto you, that every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment.37 For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.

38 Then certain of the scribes and Pharisees answered him, saying, Teacher, we would see a sign from thee.39 But he answered and said unto them, An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given it but the sign of Jonah the prophet:40 for as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the whale; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.41 The men of Nineveh shall stand up in the judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: for they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and behold, a greater than Jonah is here.42 The queen of the south shall rise up in the judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and behold, a greater than Solomon is here.43 But the unclean spirit, when he is gone out of the man, passeth through waterless places, seeking rest, and findeth it not.44 Then he saith, I will return into my house whence I came out; and when he is come, he findeth it empty, swept, and garnished.45 Then goeth he, and taketh with himself seven other spirits more evil than himself, and they enter in and dwell there: and the last state of that man becometh worse than the first. Even so shall it be also unto this evil generation.

46 While he was yet speaking to the multitudes, behold, his mother and his brethren stood without, seeking to speak to him.47 And one said unto him, Behold, thy mother and thy brethren stand without, seeking to speak to thee.48 But he answered and said unto him that told him, Who is my mother? and who are my brethren?49 And he stretched forth his hand towards his disciples, and said, Behold, my mother and my brethren!50 For whosoever shall do the will of my Father who is in heaven, he is my brother, and sister, and mother.

Matthew 12

The Question about the Sabbath

(Mk 2.23–28; Lk 6.1–5)

1 Not long afterwards Jesus was walking through some cornfields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry, so they began to pick ears of corn and eat the grain.t

2 When the Pharisees saw this, they said to Jesus, “Look, it is against our Law for your disciples to do this on the Sabbath!”
3 Jesus answered, “Have you never read what David did that time when he and his men were hungry?t 4 He went into the house of God, and he and his men ate the bread offered to God, even though it was against the Law for them to eat it — only the priests were allowed to eat that bread.t 5 Or have you not read in the Law of Moses that every Sabbath the priests in the Temple actually break the Sabbath law, yet they are not guilty?t 6 I tell you that there is something here greater than the Temple. 7 The scripture says, ‘It is kindness that I want, not animal sacrifices.’ If you really knew what this means, you would not condemn people who are not guilty;t

8 for the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.”

The Man with a Paralysed Hand

(Mk 3.1–6; Lk 6.6–11)

10 where there was a man who had a paralysed hand. Some people were there who wanted to accuse Jesus of doing wrong, so they asked him, “Is it against our Law to heal on the Sabbath?”
11 Jesus answered, “What if one of you has a sheep and it falls into a deep hole on the Sabbath? Will you not take hold of it and lift it out?t 12 And a human being is worth much more than a sheep! So then, our Law does allow us to help someone on the Sabbath.”

13 Then he said to the man with the paralysed hand, “Stretch out your hand.”
He stretched it out, and it became well again, just like the other one.

14 Then the Pharisees left and made plans to kill Jesus.

God's Chosen Servant

17 He did this so as to make what God had said through the prophet Isaiah come true:

18 “Here is my servant, whom I have chosen,t
the one I love, and with whom I am pleased.
I will send my Spirit upon him,
and he will announce my judgement to the nations.

19 He will not argue or shout,
or make loud speeches in the streets.

20 He will not break off a bent reed,
or put out a flickering lamp.
He will persist until he causes justice to triumph,

21 and in him all peoples will put their hope.”

Jesus and Beelzebul

(Mk 3.20–30; Lk 11.14–23)

23 The crowds were all amazed at what Jesus had done. “Could he be the Son of David?” they asked.

24 When the Pharisees heard this, they replied, “He drives out demons only because their ruler Beelzebul gives him power to do so.”t
25 Jesus knew what they were thinking, so he said to them, “Any country that divides itself into groups which fight each other will not last very long. And any town or family that divides itself into groups which fight each other will fall apart. 26 So if one group is fighting another in Satan's kingdom, this means that it is already divided into groups and will soon fall apart! 27 You say that I drive out demons because Beelzebul gives me the power to do so. Well, then, who gives your followers the power to drive them out? What your own followers do proves that you are wrong!

28 No, it is not Beelzebul, but God's Spirit, who gives me the power to drive out demons, which proves that the Kingdom of God has already come upon you.

29  “No one can break into a strong man's house and take away his belongings unless he first ties up the strong man; then he can plunder his house.
30  “Anyone who is not for me is really against me; anyone who does not help me gather is really scattering. t 31 And so I tell you that people can be forgiven any sin and any evil thing they say;t but whoever says evil things against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven.

32 Anyone who says something against the Son of Man can be forgiven; but whoever says something against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven — now or ever.t

A Tree and its Fruit

(Lk 6.43–45)

35 A good person brings good things out of a treasure of good things; a bad person brings bad things out of a treasure of bad things.
36  “You can be sure that on Judgement Day everyone will have to give account of every useless word he has ever spoken.

37  Your words will be used to judge you — to declare you either innocent or guilty.”

The Demand for a Miracle

(Mk 8.11–12; Lk 11.29–32)

38 Then some teachers of the Law and some Pharisees spoke up. “Teacher,” they said, “we want to see you perform a miracle.”t
39  “How evil and godless are the people of this day!” Jesus exclaimed. “You ask me for a miracle? No! The only miracle you will be given is the miracle of the prophet Jonah. t 40 In the same way that Jonah spent three days and nights in the big fish, so will the Son of Man spend three days and nights in the depths of the earth.t 41 On Judgement Day the people of Nineveh will stand up and accuse you, because they turned from their sins when they heard Jonah preach; and I tell you that there is something here greater than Jonah!t

42 On Judgement Day the Queen of Sheba will stand up and accuse you, because she travelled all the way from her country to listen to King Solomon's wise teaching; and I assure you that there is something here greater than Solomon!t

The Return of the Evil Spirit

(Lk 11.24–26)

45  Then it goes out and brings along seven other spirits even worse than itself, and they come and live there. So when it is all over, that person is in a worse state than he was at the beginning. This is what will happen to the evil people of this day.”

Jesus' Mother and Brothers

(Mk 3.31–35; Lk 8.19–21)

47 So one of the people there said to him, “Look, your mother and brothers are standing outside, and they want to speak with you.”t
48 Jesus answered, “Who is my mother? Who are my brothers?” 49 Then he pointed to his disciples and said, “Look! Here are my mother and my brothers! 50 Whoever does what my Father in heaven wants him to do is my brother, my sister, and my mother.”