Matthew 12:1–31

Jesus Is Lord of the Sabbath

12At that time Jesus was walking through some fields of grain on a Sabbath day. His followers were hungry, so they began to pick the grain and eat it. ²When the Pharisees saw this, they said to Jesus, “Look! Your followers are doing what is unlawful to do on the Sabbath day.”

³Jesus answered, “Have you not read what David did when he and the people with him were hungry? ⁴He went into God’s house, and he and those with him ate the holy bread, which was lawful only for priests to eat. ⁵And have you not read in the law of Moses that on every Sabbath day the priests in the Temple break this law about the Sabbath day? But the priests are not wrong for doing that. ⁶I tell you that there is something here that is greater than the Temple. ⁷The Scripture says, ‘I want kindness more than I want animal sacrifices.’ ⁿ You don’t really know what those words mean. If you understood them, you would not judge those who have done nothing wrong.

⁸“So the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath day.”

Jesus Heals a Man’s Hand

⁹Jesus left there and went into their synagogue, ¹⁰where there was a man with a crippled hand. They were looking for a reason to accuse Jesus, so they asked him, “Is it right to heal on the Sabbath day?” ⁿ

¹¹Jesus answered, “If any of you has a sheep, and it falls into a ditch on the Sabbath day, you will help it out of the ditch. ¹²Surely a human being is more important than a sheep. So it is lawful to do good things on the Sabbath day.”

¹³Then Jesus said to the man with the crippled hand, “Hold out your hand.” The man held out his hand, and it became well again, like the other hand. ¹⁴But the Pharisees left and made plans to kill Jesus.

Jesus Is God’s Chosen Servant

¹⁵Jesus knew what the Pharisees were doing, so he left that place. Many people followed him, and he healed all who were sick. ¹⁶But Jesus warned the people not to tell who he was. ¹⁷He did these things to bring about what Isaiah the prophet had said:

¹⁸“Here is my servant whom I have chosen.

I love him, and I am pleased with him.

I will put my Spirit upon him,

and he will tell of my justice to all people.

¹⁹He will not argue or cry out;

no one will hear his voice in the streets.

²⁰He will not break a crushed blade of grass

or put out even a weak flame

until he makes justice win the victory.

²¹In him will the non-Jewish people find hope.”

Jesus’ Power Is from God

²²Then some people brought to Jesus a man who was blind and could not talk, because he had a demon. Jesus healed the man so that he could talk and see. ²³All the people were amazed and said, “Perhaps this man is the Son of David!”

²⁴When the Pharisees heard this, they said, “Jesus uses the power of Beelzebul, the ruler of demons, to force demons out of people.”

²⁵Jesus knew what the Pharisees were thinking, so he said to them, “Every kingdom that is divided against itself will be destroyed. And any city or family that is divided against itself will not continue. ²⁶And if Satan forces out himself, then Satan is divided against himself, and his kingdom will not continue. ²⁷You say that I use the power of Beelzebul to force out demons. If that is true, then what power do your people use to force out demons? So they will be your judges. ²⁸But if I use the power of God’s Spirit to force out demons, then the kingdom of God has come to you.

²⁹“If anyone wants to enter a strong person’s house and steal his things, he must first tie up the strong person. Then he can steal the things from the house.

³⁰“Whoever is not with me is against me. Whoever does not work with me is working against me. ³¹So I tell you, people can be forgiven for every sin and everything they say against God. But whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven.