Luke 11:14-12:34

New American Standard Bible

Pharisees’ Blasphemy

^14 (A)And He was casting out a mute demon; when the demon had gone out, the man who was previously unable to speak talked, and the crowds were amazed. ¹⁵ But some of them said, “He casts out the demons ^(B)by ^(C)Beelzebul, the ruler of the demons.” ¹⁶ Others, ^[a]to test Him, ^(D)were demanding of Him a ^[b]sign from heaven. ^17 (E)But He knew their thoughts and said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste; and a house divided against ^[c]itself falls. ¹⁸ And if ^(F)Satan also has been divided against himself, how will his kingdom ^[d]stand? For you claim that I cast out the demons by ^(G)Beelzebul. ¹⁹ Yet if by ^(H)Beelzebul I cast out the demons, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore, they will be your judges. ²⁰ But if I cast out the demons by ^[e]the ^(I)finger of God, then ^(J)the kingdom of God has come upon you. ²¹ When ^[f]a strong man, fully armed, guards his own house, his possessions are ^[g]secure. ²² But when someone stronger than he attacks him and overpowers him, that man takes away his armor on which he had relied and distributes his plunder. ^23 (K)The one who is not with Me is against Me; and the one who does not gather with Me scatters.

²⁴ “^(L)When the unclean spirit comes out of ^[h]a person, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, and not finding any, it then says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ ²⁵ And when it comes, it finds it swept and put in order. ²⁶ Then it goes and brings along seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they come in and live there; and the last condition of that person becomes worse than the first.”

²⁷ While ^[i]Jesus was saying these things, one of the women in the crowd raised her voice and said to Him, “^(M)Blessed is the womb that carried You, and the breasts at which You nursed!” ²⁸ But He said, “On the contrary, blessed are ^(N)those who hear the word of God and follow it.”

The Sign of Jonah

²⁹ Now as the crowds were increasing, He began to say, “^(O)This generation is a wicked generation; it ^(P)demands a ^[j]sign, and so no ^[k]sign will be given to it except the ^[l]sign of Jonah. ³⁰ For just as ^(Q)Jonah became a ^[m]sign to the Ninevites, so will the Son of Man be to this generation. ³¹ The ^(R)Queen of the South will rise up with the men of this generation at the judgment and condemn them, because she came from the ends of the earth to listen to the wisdom of Solomon; and behold, something greater than Solomon is here. ³² The men of Nineveh will stand up with this generation at the judgment and condemn it, because ^(S)they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and behold, something greater than Jonah is here.

³³ “^(T)No one lights a lamp and puts it away in a cellar nor under a basket, but on the lampstand, so that those who enter may see the light. ^34 (U)Your eye is the lamp of your body; when your eye is ^[n]clear, your whole body also is full of light; but when it is ^[o]bad, your body also is full of darkness. ³⁵ So watch out that the light in you is not darkness. ³⁶ Therefore if your whole body is full of light, without any dark part, it will be wholly illuminated, as when the lamp illuminates you with its light.”

Woes upon the Pharisees

³⁷ Now when He had spoken, a Pharisee *asked Him to have lunch with him; and He went in and reclined at the table. ³⁸ When the Pharisee saw this, he was surprised that Jesus had not first ^[p](V)ceremonially washed before the ^[q]meal. ³⁹ But ^(W)the Lord said to him, “Now ^(X)you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and of the dish; but your inside is full of greed and wickedness. ^40 (Y)You foolish ones, did He who made the outside not make the inside also? ⁴¹ But ^(Z)give that which is within as a charitable gift, and ^[r]then all things are ^(AA)clean for you.

⁴² “^(AB)But woe to you Pharisees! For you ^(AC)pay tithes of mint, rue, and every kind of garden herb, and yet you ^[s]ignore justice and the love of God; but these are the things you should have done without neglecting the others. ⁴³ Woe to you Pharisees! For you ^(AD)love the seat of honor in the synagogues and personal greetings in the marketplaces. ^44 (AE)Woe to you! For you are like ^[t]unseen tombs, and the people who walk over them are unaware of it.”

⁴⁵ One of the ^[u](AF)lawyers *said to Him in reply, “Teacher, when You say these things, You insult us too.” ⁴⁶ But He said, “Woe to you ^(AG)lawyers as well! For ^(AH)you load people with burdens that are hard to bear, ^[v]while you yourselves will not even ^[w]touch the burdens with one of your fingers. ^47 (AI)Woe to you! For you build the ^[x]tombs of the prophets, and it was your fathers who killed them. ⁴⁸ So you are witnesses and you approve of the deeds of your fathers; because it was they who killed them, and you build their ^[y]tombs. ⁴⁹ For this reason also, ^(AJ)the wisdom of God said, ‘^(AK)I will send them prophets and apostles, and some of them they will kill, and some they will ^[z]persecute, ⁵⁰ so that the blood of all the prophets, shed ^(AL)since the foundation of the world, may be charged ^[aa]against this generation, ⁵¹ from ^(AM)the blood of Abel to ^(AN)the blood of Zechariah, who was killed between the altar and the house of God; yes, I tell you, it shall be charged ^[ab]against this generation.’ ⁵² Woe to you ^[ac](AO)lawyers! For you have taken away the key of knowledge; ^(AP)you yourselves did not enter, and you hindered those who were entering.”

⁵³ When He left that place, the scribes and the Pharisees began to be very hostile and to interrogate Him about many subjects, ^54 (AQ)plotting against Him ^(AR)to catch ^[ad]Him in something He might say.

God Knows and Cares

12 Under these circumstances, after ^[ae]so many thousands of ^[af]people had gathered together that they were stepping on one another, He began saying to His disciples first of all, “^(AS)Beware of the ^[ag]leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. ^2 (AT)But there is nothing covered up that will not be revealed, and hidden that will not be known. ³ Accordingly, whatever you have said in the dark will be heard in the light, and what you have ^[ah]whispered in the inner rooms will be proclaimed on ^(AU)the housetops.

⁴ “Now I say to you, ^(AV)My friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body, and after that have nothing more that they can do. ⁵ But I will warn you whom to fear: ^(AW)fear the One who, after He has killed someone, has the power to throw that person into ^[ai](AX)hell; yes, I tell you, fear ^[aj]Him! ⁶ Are ^(AY)five sparrows not sold for two ^[ak]assaria? And yet not one of them has gone unnoticed in the sight of God. ^7 (AZ)But even the hairs of your head are all counted. ^[al]Do not fear; you are more valuable than a great number of sparrows.

⁸ “Now I say to you, everyone who ^(BA)confesses Me before people, the Son of Man will also confess him before the angels of God; ⁹ but ^(BB)the one who denies Me before people will be denied ^(BC)before the angels of God. ^10 (BD)And everyone who ^[am]speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; but the one who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him. ¹¹ Now when they bring you before ^(BE)the synagogues and the officials and the authorities, do not ^(BF)worry about how or what you are to speak in your defense, or what you are to say; ¹² for ^(BG)the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say.”

Greed Denounced

¹³ Now someone ^[an]in the crowd said to Him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the family inheritance with me.” ¹⁴ But He said to him, “^[ao](BH)You there—who appointed Me a judge or arbitrator over the two of you?” ¹⁵ But He said to them, “^(BI)Beware, and be on your guard against every form of greed; for not even when one is affluent does his life consist of his possessions.” ¹⁶ And He told them a parable, saying, “The land of a rich man was very productive. ¹⁷ And he began thinking to himself, saying, ‘What shall I do, since I have no place to store my crops?’ ¹⁸ And he said, ‘This is what I will do: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and I will store all my grain and my goods there. ¹⁹ And I will say to ^[ap]myself, “^(BJ)You have many goods stored up for many years to come; relax, eat, drink, and enjoy yourself!”’ ²⁰ But God said to him, ‘^(BK)You fool! This very night ^[aq](BL)your soul is demanded of you; and ^(BM)as for all that you have prepared, who will own it now?’ ²¹ Such is the one who ^(BN)stores up treasure for himself, and is not rich in relation to God.”

²² And He said to His disciples, “^(BO)For this reason I tell you, ^[ar]do not worry about your ^[as]life, as to what you are to eat; nor for your body, as to what you are to wear. ²³ For life is more than food, and the body is more than clothing. ²⁴ Consider the ^(BP)ravens, that they neither sow nor reap; they have no storeroom nor ^(BQ)barn, and yet God feeds them; how much more valuable you are than the birds! ²⁵ And which of you by worrying can add a ^[at](BR)day to his ^[au]life’s span? ²⁶ Therefore if you cannot do even a very little thing, why do you worry about the other things? ²⁷ Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither labor nor ^[av]spin; but I tell you, not even ^(BS)Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these. ²⁸ Now if God so clothes the grass in the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, how much more will He clothe you? ^(BT)You of little faith! ²⁹ And do not ^[aw]seek what you are to eat and what you are to drink, and do not ^(BU)keep worrying. ³⁰ For ^[ax]all these things are what the nations of the world ^[ay]eagerly seek; and your Father knows that you need these things. ³¹ But ^[az]seek His kingdom, and ^(BV)these things will be ^[ba]provided to you. ^32 [bb](BW)Do not be afraid, ^(BX)little flock, because ^(BY)your Father has chosen to give you the kingdom.

³³ “^(BZ)Sell your possessions and give to charity; make yourselves money belts that do not wear out, ^(CA)an inexhaustible treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near nor does a moth destroy. ³⁴ For ^(CB)where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.