Matthew 12

1At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry and began to pick heads of grain and eat them.

2When the Pharisees saw this, they said to him, “Look, your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath.”

3He said to them, “Have you not read what David did when he and those with him were hungry,

4how he entered the house of God and they ate the bread of the Presence, which was not lawful for him or those with him to eat, but only for the priests?

5Or have you not read in the Law that on the Sabbath the priests in the temple desecrate the Sabbath and yet are innocent?

6I tell you that something greater than the temple is here.

7If you had known what this means, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the innocent.

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

9Going on from there, he went into their synagogue.

10A man with a withered hand was there. And they asked Jesus, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?” so that they might accuse him.

11He said to them, “If any of you has one 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 a person is than a sheep! So it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.”

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

14But the Pharisees went out and plotted against him, how they might destroy him.

15Jesus knew this and withdrew from there. Large crowds followed him, and he healed them all,

16and he warned them not to make him known.

17This was to fulfill what was spoken through Isaiah the prophet:

18“Here is my servant whom I have chosen, my beloved, in whom my soul delights. I will put my Spirit on him, and he will proclaim justice to the nations.

19He will not quarrel or cry out, and no one will hear his voice in the streets.

20A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not put out, until he brings justice to victory.

21And in his name the nations will put their hope.”

22Then a demon-possessed man who was blind and mute was brought to him, and he healed him, so that the man could speak and see.

23All the crowds were astonished and said, “Could this be the Son of David?”

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

25Jesus knew their thoughts and said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and every city or household divided against itself will not stand.

26If Satan 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 own people drive them out? So 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.

29Or how can anyone go into a strong man’s house and carry off his possessions unless he first ties up the strong man? Then he can plunder his house.

30Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters.

31So I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven people, but blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven.

32Whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come.

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

34You brood of vipers! How can you say good things when you are evil? For the mouth speaks out of what fills the heart.

35The good person brings good things out of a good treasure, and the evil person brings evil things out of an evil treasure.

36I tell you that on the day of judgment people will give an account for every careless word they speak.

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

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

39He answered them, “An evil and adulterous generation demands a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah.

40For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.

41The people of Nineveh will stand up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and now something greater than Jonah is here.

42The queen of the South 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 now something greater than Solomon is here.

43When an unclean spirit goes out of a person, it wanders through waterless places looking for rest, but it does not find any.

44Then it says, ‘I will go back to my house that I came out of.’ When it arrives, it finds the house unoccupied, swept clean, and put in order.

45Then it goes and brings along seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they go in and live there. And the final condition of that person becomes worse than the first. That is how it will be with this evil generation too.”

46While Jesus was still speaking to the crowds, his mother and brothers were standing outside, wanting to speak to him.

47Someone told him, “Look, your mother and your brothers are standing outside, wanting to speak to you.”

48He replied to the man who told him, “Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?”

49Stretching out his hand toward 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.”