12
“The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath”
1 Not long afterwards+ Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath. His disciples, meanwhile, became hungry and began picking some heads of wheat and eating them.+
2 The Pharisees, when they saw this, said to Jesus,+ “Look! Your disciples are doing what is forbidden to be done on the Sabbath!”
3 “Surely ᵖyou’ve read, haven’t you, what David did when he was hungry—and those with him, too?” Jesus+ said to them.
4 “When he entered the house of God, what was it that they ate?+ The very+ Bread of the Presence,+ which was forbidden for him or those with him to eat—forbidden to everyone except the priests.+
5 Or haven’t ᵖyou read in the Torah that even though+ on the Sabbath the priests serving+ in the temple complex are violating+ the Sabbath,+ they are nevertheless innocent+?
6 Well, I tell ᵖyou this: There is in this place something even+ greater than the temple.
7 Now if ᵖyou had understood what this means—‘What+ I desire is mercy, not sacrifice’+—you would not have condemned those who have done nothing wrong.+
8 The Son of Man is Lord,+ you see, of the Sabbath.”
“The Torah Permits People to Do Good on the Sabbath”
9 Then Jesus+ left that place and went into their synagogue.
10 There was a man there whose hand was shrunken and paralyzed,+ and some people+ posed a question to Jesus.+ “Does the Torah permit+ healing on the Sabbath+?” they asked, trying to find something+ of which to accuse him.+
11 “Suppose that one of you, any of you,+ has a sheep, and that this sheep falls, on the Sabbath, into a pit,” Jesus+ said. “Surely he will grab hold of it and lift it out, will he not? Of course!+
12 Well then, of how much truly+ greater worth is a human being+ than a sheep? From this it follows that the Torah permits+ people to do good on the Sabbath.”
13 Then he said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” The man+ did so, and his hand+ was restored, as healthy as the other!
14 At that, the Pharisees went out and formed a plot against him,+ planning+ to have+ him put to death.
“Here Is My Servant, Whom I Have Chosen”
15 Jesus, however, when he found out about this, withdrew from that place. Many people followed him, and he healed them all.
16 Yet he gave them stern orders not to make him widely known.+
17 And so was fulfilled, according to plan,+ what was spoken through Isaiah the prophet:
18 “Here is my Servant, whom I have chosen,
my beloved, with whom I+ am very pleased.+
I will put my Spirit on him,
and it is+ just judgment+ for+ the Gentiles.+ that he will announce.
19 He will not quarrel,+ nor will he shout,
nor will anyone hear in the main streets loud calls+ from him.+
20 He will not break a bruised reed,+
and will not put out a smoldering wick+…
until he brings to victory that just judgment;+
21 and in his name the Gentiles+ will put their hope!”+
“Blasphemy against the Spirit Will Not Be Forgiven”
22 Then some people+ brought to Jesus+ a man who was blind and couldn’t talk because he had a demon. Jesus+ healed the man so that he could talk and see,
23 and all the crowds were in awe. “Surely this man isn’t the Son of David, is he?”+ they kept saying.
24 The Pharisees, however, when they heard this, said, “It is+ only by the power+ of Beelzebul, the ruler in charge+ of demons, that this fellow drives out demons.”
25 Knowing their thoughts, Jesus+ said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself is sure to be turned into a desolate ruin, and any city or household divided against itself will not survive.+
26 If Satan drives out Satan,+ he is divided against himself.+ How, then, can his kingdom survive?
27 And if, in my own case,+ Beelzebul is the one+ by whose power+ I am supposedly+ driving out demons, then what about+ ᵖyour disciples+? By whose power+ do they drive them out? Hence even the actions of your own followers firmly+ refute ᵖyour accusations.+
28 If, however, it is+ by the power+ of the very Spirit of God that I am driving out demons, then the kingdom of God is sure to come against ᵖyou.+
29 Or again,+ how can someone enter the strong one’s+ house and gain control+ of his possessions,+ unless he ties up the strong one first+? Only+ then can he gain thorough control of his property.+
30 If+ someone is not with me, he is against+ me, and if+ someone doesn’t gather the sheep+ with me, he causes the flock+ to scatter.+
31 That is the reason why I tell ᵖyou this: Every kind+ of sin and blasphemy will be forgiven people, but blasphemy against the Spirit+ will not be forgiven.
32 If a person speaks something against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him. If+ someone speaks against the Holy Spirit, however, it will not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the age to come.
33 Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree bad and its fruit bad, because it is+ by its fruit that a tree is recognized.
34 You offspring of vipers!+ How in the world+ can ᵖyou speak things that are good+ if+ what+ you are is wicked? It is+ out of the overflow of the heart, you see, that the mouth speaks.
35 A good person produces good things from where?+ Out of the good+ stored up in him.+ And a wicked person produces wicked things from where?+ Out of the wickedness+ stored up in him.+
36 But I tell ᵖyou this: Every worthless thing that people speak, they will give an account for it in the day of judgment.
37 On the basis of ˢyour words, you see, you will be acknowledged righteous, and on the basis of ˢyour words you will be condemned.”
38 In response some of the Torah-experts and Pharisees said to him, “Teacher, what+ we want to see from you is a definitive+ sign.”
39 “Only+ a wicked and adulterous generation demands a sign,”+ Jesus replied to them, “and yet no sign will be given to it, except one:+ The sign of Jonah the prophet.
40 For just as ‘Jonah was in the belly of the great sea creature three days and three nights,’+ so the Son of Man will be in the heart of the earth three days and three nights.
41 Who will appear+ at the judgment alongside this generation and condemn it?+ The people of Nineveh. Why?+ Because they repented when Jonah proclaimed God’s message to them,+ whereas this generation refuses to repent+ even though+ there+ is something here even greater than Jonah.
42 Who else will appear+ at the judgment alongside this generation and condemn it?+ The Queen of the South. Why?+ Because she came from the ends of the earth to listen to the wisdom of Solomon, whereas this generation refuses to listen+ even though+ there+ is something here that is greater than Solomon.
43 “Now, when an unclean+ spirit comes out of a person, it goes through waterless places+ looking for relief,+ but it doesn’t find any.
44 Then it says, ‘My previous house, from which I came out,+ is where f + τὸν οἶκόν μου ὅθεν ἐξῆλθον ( ton oikon mou hothen exēlthon) is in a split focal position (see BART Display; cf LDGNT), and therefore a wh-construction has been used to give extra focus to this element.* unoccupied, swept clean, and tidied up.
45 Then it goes and brings along with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they enter the house+ and take up residence there. And so that person’s later situation ends up being worse than his previous one. That is precisely+ what will happen,+ too, to this wicked generation.”
“Here Are My Mother and My Brothers!”
46 While Jesus+ was still speaking to the crowds, suddenly there standing outside asking to talk+ with him were his mother+ and his brothers.
47 Someone said to him, “Look! It’s+ your mother and your brothers! They’re standing outside asking to talk+ with you.”
48 “Who is my mother and who are my brothers?” Jesus+ asked the person who told him this.
49 Then stretching out his hand toward his disciples, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers!
50 Whoever does the will of my Father in the heavens, you see, he+ is my brother and sister and mother.”