Matthew 12

¹At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbaths, and His disciples were hungry, and they began to pluck the heads of grain and to eat.

²And the Pharisees, having seen, said to Him, “Behold, Your disciples do what it is not lawful to do on a Sabbath.”

³And He said to them, “Did you not read what David did when he was hungry, and those with him—

⁴how he entered into the house of God, and they ate the loaves of the presentation, which it was not lawful for him to eat, nor for those with him, except for the priests only?

⁵Or did you not read in the Law that on the Sabbath the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath and are guiltless?

⁶But I say to you that a greater One than the temple is here.

⁷But if you had known what is ‘I desire mercy and not sacrifice,’ then you would not have condemned the guiltless.

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

⁹And having departed from there, He went into their synagogue.

¹⁰And behold, a man having a withered hand, and they asked Him, saying, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbaths?” so that they might accuse Him.

¹¹And He said to them, “What man will there be of you who will have one sheep, and if this one should fall into a pit on the Sabbaths, will not take hold of it and will raise it up?

¹²How much more valuable, therefore, is a man than a sheep! Therefore it is lawful on the Sabbaths to do good.”

¹³Then He says to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” And he stretched it out, and it was restored, sound as the other.

¹⁴And the Pharisees, having gone out, took counsel against Him, how they might destroy Him.

¹⁵And Jesus, having known, withdrew from there. And many crowds followed Him, and He healed them all,

¹⁶and He warned them that they should not make Him known,

¹⁷so that it might be fulfilled, that having been spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying:

¹⁸“Behold My servant, whom I chose, My Beloved, in whom My soul was well pleased. I will put My Spirit upon Him, and He will proclaim judgment to the nations.

¹⁹He will not quarrel, nor will He cry out; nor will anyone hear His voice in the streets.

²⁰A bruised reed He will not break, and a smoldering wick He will not quench, until He should put forth judgment to victory.

²¹And in His name the nations will hope.”

²²Then was brought to Him one possessed by a demon, blind and mute, and He healed him, in order for the mute man to speak and to see.

²³And all the crowds were amazed and were saying, “Is this the Son of David?”

²⁴And the Pharisees, having heard, said, “This man does not cast out the demons except by Beelzebul, ruler of the demons.”

²⁵And knowing their thoughts, He said to them, “Every kingdom having been divided against itself is brought to desolation, and every city or house having been divided against itself will not stand.

²⁶And if Satan casts out Satan, he was divided against himself. How then will his kingdom stand?

²⁷And if I cast out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your sons cast them out? Because of this, they will be your judges.

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

²⁹Or how is anyone able to enter into the house of the strong man and to plunder his goods, unless first he should bind the strong man? And then he will plunder his house.

³⁰The one not being with Me is against Me, and the one not gathering with Me scatters.

³¹Because of this I say to you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men; but the blasphemy of the Spirit will not be forgiven.

³²And whoever may speak a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; but whoever may speak against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him—neither in this age nor in the coming one.

³³Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree rotten and its fruit rotten. For by the fruit, the tree is known.

³⁴Offspring of vipers, how are you able to speak good things, being evil? For out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks.

³⁵The good man out of his good treasure puts forth good things, and the evil man out of his evil treasure puts forth evil things.

³⁶And I say to you that every careless word that men will speak, they will give an account concerning it in the day of judgment.

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

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

³⁹And answering, He said to them, “An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah the prophet.

⁴⁰For just as Jonah was in the belly of the great fish three days and three nights, 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 in the judgment with this generation and will condemn it; for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and behold, One greater than Jonah is here.

⁴²The Queen of the South will rise up in the judgment with this generation and will condemn it; for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and behold, One greater than Solomon is here.

⁴³Now when the unclean spirit may go out from the man, it passes through waterless places seeking rest and does not find it.

⁴⁴Then it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came out.’ And having come, it finds it being unoccupied, and swept, and put in order.

⁴⁵Then it goes and takes along with itself seven other spirits more evil than itself, and having entered, they dwell there; and the last of that man becomes worse than the first. So also will it be to this evil generation.”

⁴⁶Now in His still speaking to the crowds, behold, His mother and brothers had stood outside, seeking to speak to Him.

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

⁴⁸And answering, He said to the one speaking to Him, “Who is My mother, and who are My brothers?”

⁴⁹And having stretched out His hand to His disciples, He said, “Behold, My mother and My brothers.

⁵⁰For whoever shall do the will of My Father who is in the heavens, he is My brother and sister and mother.”