Chapter 12

1At that time Jesus walked through the grainfields on the Sabbath. His disciples became hungry and began picking heads of grain and eating them.

2When the Pharisees saw this, they said to Jesus, “Look! Your disciples are doing something that is not permitted on the Sabbath.”

3Jesus answered them, “Haven’t you read what David did when he and his companions were hungry?

4David entered God’s house, and they ate the bread that had been placed before God. Neither David nor his companions were permitted to eat it; only the priests were.

5Or haven’t you read in the Law of Moses that the priests work in the temple on the Sabbath, going against the usual Sabbath restrictions, yet are not guilty?

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

7If you had understood the words, ‘I want compassion, not ritual sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned people who were not guilty.

8For the Son of Man has authority over the Sabbath.”

9Jesus left that place and went into their synagogue, the local Jewish meeting place.

10A man with a shriveled hand was there. Some people asked Jesus, “Is it permitted to heal someone on the Sabbath?” They asked this so they could accuse him of wrongdoing.

11Jesus answered them, “Suppose one of you has a sheep, and it falls into a pit on the Sabbath. Won’t you take hold of it and lift it out?

12A person is worth far more than a sheep! So it is permitted to do good on the Sabbath.”

13Then Jesus said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” The man stretched it out, and it became as healthy as his other hand.

14But the Pharisees went out and made plans to kill Jesus.

15Jesus knew about their plans and left that place. Many people followed him, and he healed them all.

16He firmly warned them not to make his identity widely known.

17In this way, these words that God had spoken through the prophet Isaiah came true:

18“Here is my servant, whom I have chosen, my dearly loved one, who gives me great joy. I will put my Spirit upon him, and he will announce justice to the nations.

19He will not quarrel or shout, and no one will hear him raising his voice in the streets.

20He will not break a crushed reed or put out a smoldering wick. He will continue until he brings justice to victory.

21People of all nations will put their hope in him.”

22Then a man under a demon’s control was brought to Jesus. The man was blind and unable to speak. Jesus healed him, so he could speak and see.

23All the crowds were amazed and asked, “Could this be the promised Son of David?”

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

25Jesus knew what they were thinking and said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself is ruined. No city or household divided against itself can survive.

26If Satan drives out Satan, he is divided against himself. How, then, can his kingdom survive?

27If I drive out demons by Beelzebul’s power, by whose power do your own followers drive them out? Those followers will therefore show that you are wrong.

28But if I drive out demons by God’s Spirit, then God’s rule has reached you.

29How can anyone enter a strong man’s house and seize his possessions without first tying the strong man up? Only then can that person rob 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 every insult against God can be forgiven, but insulting God’s Spirit will not be forgiven.

32Whoever speaks against the Son of Man will be forgiven. But whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in the present age or in the age to come.

33Either recognize that a tree is good and its fruit is good, or recognize that a tree is rotten and its fruit is rotten. A tree is known by its fruit.

34You children of venomous snakes! How can you say anything good when you are evil? The mouth speaks from what fills the heart.

35A good person brings good things out of the good stored within, while an evil person brings evil things out of the evil stored within.

36But I tell you that on the day of judgment, people will have to answer for every careless word they have spoken.

37Your own words will show whether you should be declared innocent or condemned.”

38Then some experts in the Law of Moses and some Pharisees said to Jesus, “Teacher, we want to see you perform a miraculous sign.”

39Jesus answered them, “An evil generation, unfaithful to God like an adulterous spouse, keeps demanding a sign. But it will receive no sign except the sign of the prophet Jonah.

40Just as Jonah was in the belly of the huge sea creature for three days and three nights, so the Son of Man will be in the depths of the earth for three days and three nights.

41At the judgment, the people of Nineveh will rise alongside this generation and condemn it. They changed their ways when Jonah preached to them, but someone greater than Jonah is here.

42At the judgment, the queen of the South will rise alongside this generation and condemn it. She came from the farthest parts of the earth to hear Solomon’s wisdom, but someone greater than Solomon is here.

43When an evil spirit leaves a person, it travels through dry places looking for rest but finds none.

44Then the spirit says, ‘I will return to the home I left.’ When it returns, it finds the place empty, swept clean, and put in order.

45Then it goes and brings back seven other spirits even more evil than itself. They enter and live there, and that person’s final condition becomes worse than before. That is also what will happen to this evil generation.”

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

47Someone told Jesus, “Look, your mother and brothers are standing outside and want to speak with you.”

48Jesus answered the person who told him, “Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?”

49He stretched out his hand toward his disciples and said, “Here are my mother and my brothers.

50Whoever does what my Father in heaven wants is my brother, sister, and mother.”