Matthew 12

The Lord of the Sabbath

At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry and began to pick some heads of grain and eat them.a ²When the Pharisees saw this, they said to him, “Look! Your disciples are doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath.” ³He answered, “Haven’t you read what David did when he and his companions were hungry?b

⁴He entered the house of God, and he and his companions ate the consecrated bread—which was not lawful for them to do, but only for the priests. ⁵Or haven’t you read in the Law that the priests on Sabbath duty in the temple desecrate the Sabbath and yet are innocent?c ⁶I tell you that something greater than the temple is here.

⁷If you had known what these words mean, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the innocent.d ⁸For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.”e

Healing on the Sabbath

⁹Going on from that place, he went into their synagogue, ¹⁰and a man with a shriveled hand was there. Looking for a reason to bring charges against Jesus, they asked him, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?” ¹¹He said to them, “If any of you has a sheep and it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will you not take hold of it and lift it out?

¹²How much more valuable is a person than a sheep! Therefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.” ¹³Then he said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” So he stretched it out and it was completely restored, just as sound as the other. ¹⁴But the Pharisees went out and plotted how they might kill Jesus.

The chosen servant

¹⁵Aware of this, Jesus withdrew from that place. A large crowd followed him, and he healed all who were ill. ¹⁶He warned them not to tell others about him. ¹⁷This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah:f ¹⁸“Here is my servant whom I have chosen, the one I love, in whom I delight; I will put my Spirit on him, and he will proclaim justice to the nations.g

¹⁹He will not quarrel or cry out; no one will hear his voice in the streets. ²⁰A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out, till he has brought justice through to victory.h ²¹In his name the nations will put their hope.”

A house divided

²²Then they brought him a demon-possessed man who was blind and mute, and Jesus healed him, so that he could both talk and see. ²³All the people were astonished and said, “Could this be the Son of David?” ²⁴But when the Pharisees heard this, they said, “It is only by Beelzebul, the prince of demons, that this fellow drives out demons.” ²⁵Jesus knew their thoughts and said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and every city or household divided against itself will not stand.i

²⁶If Satan drives out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then can his kingdom stand? ²⁷And if I drive out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your people drive them out? So then, they will be your judges. ²⁸But if it is by the Spirit of God that I drive out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.j

²⁹“Or again, how can anyone enter a strong man’s house and carry off his possessions unless he first ties up the strong man? Then he can plunder his house.k ³⁰“Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters.l

The sin against the Spirit

³¹And so I tell you, every kind of sin and slander can be forgiven, but blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven.m ³²Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come.

The tree and its fruit

³³“Make a tree good and its fruit will be good, or make a tree bad and its fruit will be bad, for a tree is recognized by its fruit.n ³⁴You brood of vipers, how can you who are evil say anything good? For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of.o ³⁵A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in him, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in him.p

³⁶But I tell you that everyone will have to give account on the day of judgment for every empty word they have spoken.q ³⁷For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned.”r

The sign of Jonah

³⁸Then some of the Pharisees and teachers of the law said to him, “Teacher, we want to see a sign from you.”s ³⁹He answered, “A wicked and adulterous generation asks for a sign! But none will be given it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. ⁴⁰For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.t

⁴¹The men of Nineveh will stand up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and now something greater than Jonah is here. ⁴²The Queen of the South will rise at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for she came from the ends of the earth to listen to Solomon’s wisdom, and now something greater than Solomon is here.u

The return of the unclean spirit

⁴³“When an impure spirit comes out of a person, it goes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it.v ⁴⁴Then it says, ‘I will return to the house I left.’ When it arrives, it finds the house unoccupied, swept clean and put in order. ⁴⁵Then it goes and takes with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there. And the final condition of that person is worse than the first. That is how it will be with this wicked generation.”

Who is my mother

⁴⁶While Jesus was still talking to the crowd, his mother and brothers stood outside, wanting to speak to him.w ⁴⁷Someone told him, “Your mother and brothers are standing outside, wanting to speak to you.” ⁴⁸He replied to him, “Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?” ⁴⁹Pointing to his disciples, 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.”x