CHAPTER 12

Lord of the Sabbath

1 aAt that 1time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath, and His disciples became hungry and began to bpick the heads of grain and eat.

2 But when the Pharisees saw this, they said to Him, “Look, Your disciples do what ais not lawful to do on a Sabbath.”

3 But He said to them, “Have you not read what David did when he became hungry, he and his companions,

4 how he entered the house of God, and athey ate the 1consecrated bread, which was not lawful for him to eat nor for those with him, but for the priests alone?

5 “Or have you not read in the Law, that on the Sabbath the priests in the temple 1break the Sabbath and are innocent?

6 “But I say to you that something agreater than the temple is here.

7 “But if you had known what this 1means, ‘aI desire 2compassion, and not a sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the innocent.

8 “For athe Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.”

Jesus Heals a Man on the Sabbath

9 aAnd departing from there, He went into their synagogue.

10 And behold, a man was there whose hand was withered. And they questioned 1Jesus, saying, “aIs it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?”—so that they might accuse Him.

11 And He said to them, “aWhat man 1is there among you who has a sheep, and if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will not take hold of it and lift it out?

12 “aHow much more valuable then is a man than a sheep! So then, it is lawful to do 1good on the Sabbath.”

13 Then He *said to the man, “Stretch out your hand!” aHe stretched it out, and it was restored to 1normal, like the other.

14 But going out, the Pharisees atook counsel together against Him, as to how they might destroy Him.

15 But Jesus, 1aware of this, withdrew from there. Many followed Him, and aHe healed them all,

16 and awarned them not to make Him known,

17 in order that what was spoken through Isaiah the prophet would be fulfilled, saying,

18 “aBehold, My 1Servant whom I 2have chosen;

bMy Beloved in whom My soul 3is well-pleased;

cI will put My Spirit upon Him,

dAnd He shall proclaim 4justice to the 5Gentiles.

19 “aHe will not quarrel, nor cry out;

Nor will anyone hear His voice in the streets.

20 “aA battered reed He will not break off,

And a smoldering wick He will not put out,

Until He 1leads 2justice to victory.

21 “aAnd in His name the 1Gentiles will hope.”

A Kingdom Divided

22 aThen a bdemon-possessed man who was blind and mute was brought to 1Jesus, and He healed him, so that the mute man spoke and saw.

23 And all the crowds were astounded, and were saying, “Can this man really be the aSon of David?”

24 But when the Pharisees heard this, they said, “This man does not acast out demons except by 1Beelzebul the ruler of the demons.”

25 aAnd bknowing their thoughts He said to them, “1Any kingdom divided against itself is laid waste; and 2any city or house divided against itself will not stand.

26 “And if aSatan casts out Satan, he 1is divided against himself; how then will his kingdom stand?

27 “And if I aby 1Beelzebul cast out demons, bby whom do your sons cast them out? For this reason they will be your judges.

28 “But aif I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.

29 “Or how can anyone enter the strong man’s house and carry off his property, unless he first binds the strong man? And then he will plunder his house.

Blasphemy Against the Holy Spirit

30 “aHe who is not with Me is against Me; and he who does not gather with Me scatters.

31 “aTherefore I say to you, any sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven people, but the blasphemy against the Spirit shall not be forgiven.

32 “aAnd whoever 1speaks a word against the Son of Man, it shall be forgiven him; but whoever 2speaks against the Holy Spirit, it shall not be forgiven him, either in bthis age or in the age to come.

The Heart Is Revealed by Words

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

34 “aYou brood of vipers, how can you, being evil, speak 1what is good? bFor the mouth speaks out of that which fills the heart.

35 “aThe good man brings out of his good treasure 1what is good; and the evil man brings out of his evil treasure 2what is evil.

36 “But I tell you that every 1careless word that people 2speak, they shall give an accounting for it in athe day of judgment.

37 “For 1by your words you will be justified, and 2by your words you will be condemned.”

The Sign of Jonah

38 Then some of the scribes and Pharisees answered and said to Him, “Teacher, awe want to see 1a sign from You.”

39 But He answered and said to them, “aAn evil and adulterous generation eagerly seeks for a sign; and yet no sign will be given to it but the sign of Jonah the prophet;

40 for just as aJonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the sea monster, so will bthe Son of Man be cthree days and three nights in the heart of the earth.

41 “aThe men of Nineveh will stand up with this generation at the judgment, and will condemn it because bthey repented at the preaching of Jonah; and behold, csomething greater than Jonah is here.

42 “aThe Queen of the South will rise up with this generation at the judgment and will condemn it, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and behold, bsomething greater than Solomon is here.

43 “aNow when the unclean spirit goes out of a man, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, and does not find it.

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

45 “Then it goes and takes along with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there; and athe last state of that man becomes worse than the first. That is the way it will also be with this evil generation.”

Jesus’ Mother and Brothers

46 aWhile He was still speaking to the crowds, behold, His bmother and cbrothers were standing outside, seeking to speak to Him.

47 1Now someone said to Him, “Behold, Your mother and Your brothers are standing outside seeking to speak to You.”

48 But 1Jesus answered the one who was telling Him and said, “Who is My mother and who are My brothers?”

49 And stretching out His hand toward His disciples, He said, “Behold My mother and My brothers!

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