Matthew 12:18–50

¹⁸Here is my servant whom I have chosen,

my beloved in whom I delight;

I will put my Spirit on him,

and he will proclaim justice to the nations.^e

¹⁹He will not argue or shout,

and no one will hear his voice in the streets.

²⁰He will not break a bruised reed,

and he will not put out a smoldering wick,

until he has led justice to victory.^C

²¹The nations will put their hope in his name.^Df

A HOUSE DIVIDED

²²Then a demon-possessed man^g who was blind and unable to speak was brought to him. He healed him, so that the man^E could both speak and see.^{h 23}All the crowds were astounded and said, “Could this be the Son of David?”ⁱ

²⁴When the Pharisees heard this, they said, “This man drives out demons only by Beelzebul, the ruler of the demons.”^j

²⁵Knowing their thoughts,^k he told them, “Every kingdom divided against itself is headed for destruction, and no city or house divided against itself will stand. ²⁶If Satan^l drives out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then will his kingdom stand? ²⁷And if I drive out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your sons drive them out? For this reason they will be your judges.^{m 28}If I drive out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.^{n 29}How can someone enter a strong man’s house and steal his possessions unless he first ties up^o the strong man? Then he can plunder his house. ³⁰Anyone who is not with me is against me,^p and anyone who does not gather with me scatters. ³¹Therefore,^q I tell you, people will be forgiven every sin and blasphemy,^r but the blasphemy against^A the Spirit will not be forgiven.^{B 32}Whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man,^s 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 one to come.^t

A TREE AND ITS FRUIT

³³“Either make the tree good and its fruit will be good, or make the tree bad^C and its fruit will be bad; for a tree is known by its fruit.^{u 34}Brood of vipers! How can you speak good things when you are evil? For the mouth speaks from the overflow^v of the heart. ³⁵A good person produces good things from his storeroom of good, and an evil person produces evil things from his storeroom of evil.^{w 36}I tell you that on the day of judgment^x people will have to account^y for every careless^D word they speak.^{E 37}For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned.”

THE SIGN OF JONAH

³⁸Then some of the scribes and Pharisees said to him, “Teacher, we want to see a sign from you.”^z

³⁹He answered them,^aa “An evil and adulterous generation demands a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah.^{ab 40}For as Jonah was in the belly of the huge fish^ac three days and three nights,^ad so the Son of Man will be in the heart of the earth three days and three nights. ⁴¹The men of Nineveh will stand up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it,^ae because they repented at Jonah’s preaching; and look—something greater than Jonah is here.^{af 42}The queen of the south^ag will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and look—something greater than Solomon is here.

AN UNCLEAN SPIRIT’S RETURN

⁴³“When an unclean spirit comes out of a person, it roams through waterless places looking for rest but doesn’t find any.^{ah 44}Then it says, ‘I’ll go back to my house that I came from.’ Returning, it finds the house vacant, swept, and put in order. ⁴⁵Then it goes and brings with it seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they enter and settle down there. As a result, that person’s last condition is worse than the first.^a That’s how it will also be with this evil generation.”

TRUE RELATIONSHIPS

⁴⁶While he^b was still speaking with the crowds, his mother and brothers were standing outside wanting to speak to him.^{c 47}Someone told him, “Look, your mother and your brothers are standing outside, wanting to speak to you.”^G

⁴⁸He replied to the one who was speaking to him, “Who is my mother and who are my brothers?” ⁴⁹Stretching out his hand toward his disciples,^d he 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.”^e