Matthew 11-12

New American Standard Bible

John’s Questions

11 ^(A)When Jesus had finished ^[a]giving instructions to His twelve disciples, He went on from there ^(B)to teach and ^[b]preach in their cities.

^2 (C)Now while in prison, ^(D)John heard about the works of Christ, and he sent word by his disciples, ³ and said to Him, “Are You ^(E)the Coming One, or are we to ^[c]look for someone else?” ⁴ Jesus answered and said to them, “Go and report to John what you hear and see: ^5 (F)those who are blind receive sight and those who limp walk, those with leprosy are cleansed and those who are deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the ^(G)poor have the ^[d]gospel preached to them. ⁶ And blessed is ^[e]any person who ^(H)does not ^[f]take offense at Me.”

Jesus’ Tribute to John

⁷ As these disciples of John were going away, Jesus began speaking to the crowds about John: “What did you go out into ^(I)the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind? ^8 [g]But what did you go out to see? A man dressed in soft clothing? Those who wear soft clothing are in kings’ ^[h]palaces! ^9 [i]But what did you go out to see? ^(J)A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and one who is more than a prophet. ¹⁰ This is the one about whom it ^[j]is written:

¹¹ Truly I say to you, among those born of women there has not arisen anyone greater than John the Baptist! Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. ¹² And ^(L)from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven has been treated violently, and violent men take it by force. ¹³ For all the Prophets and the Law prophesied until John. ¹⁴ And if you are willing to accept it, John himself is ^(M)Elijah who ^[l]was to come. ^15 (N)The one who has ears to hear, ^[m]let him hear.

¹⁶ “But to what shall I compare this generation? It is like children sitting in the marketplaces, who call out to the other children, ¹⁷ and say, ‘We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we sang a song of mourning, and you did not ^[n]mourn.’ ¹⁸ For John came neither ^(O)eating nor ^(P)drinking, and they say, ‘^(Q)He has a demon!’ ¹⁹ The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Behold, a gluttonous man and a ^[o]heavy drinker, ^(R)a friend of tax collectors and ^[p]sinners!’ And yet wisdom is vindicated by her deeds.”

The Unrepenting Cities

²⁰ Then He began to reprimand the cities in which most of His ^[q](S)miracles were done, because they did not repent. ²¹ “^(T)Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, ^(U)Bethsaida! For if the ^[r]miracles that occurred in you had occurred in ^(V)Tyre and ^(W)Sidon, they would have repented long ago in ^[s](X)sackcloth and ashes. ²² Nevertheless I say to you, ^(Y)it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon on ^(Z)the day of judgment than for you. ²³ And you, ^(AA)Capernaum, will not be exalted to heaven, will you? You will be ^(AB)brought down to ^(AC)Hades! For if the ^[t]miracles that occurred in you had occurred in ^(AD)Sodom, it would have remained to this day. ²⁴ Nevertheless I say to you that ^(AE)it will be more tolerable for the land of ^(AF)Sodom on the day of judgment, than for you.”

Come to Me

^25 [u](AG)At that time Jesus said, “I praise You, ^(AH)Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that ^(AI)You have hidden these things from the wise and intelligent, and have revealed them to infants. ²⁶ Yes, ^(AJ)Father, for this way was well pleasing in Your sight. ^27 (AK)All things have been handed over to Me by My Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father; nor does anyone know the Father ^(AL)except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son determines to reveal Him.

²⁸ “^(AM)Come to Me, all ^[v]who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. ²⁹ Take My yoke upon you and ^(AN)learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and ^(AO)you will find ^[w]rest for your souls. ³⁰ For ^(AP)My yoke is comfortable, and My burden is light.”

Sabbath Questions

12 ^[x](AQ)At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath, and His disciples became hungry and began to ^(AR)pick the heads of grain and eat. ² Now when the Pharisees saw this, they said to Him, “Look, Your disciples are doing what ^(AS)is not lawful to do on a Sabbath!” ³ But He said to them, “Have you not read what David did when he became hungry, he and his companions— ⁴ how he entered the house of God, and ^(AT)they ate the ^[y]consecrated bread, which was not lawful for him to eat nor for those with him, but for the priests alone? ⁵ Or have you not read in the Law that on the Sabbath the priests in the temple ^[z]violate the Sabbath, and yet are innocent? ⁶ But I say to you that something ^(AU)greater than the temple is here. ⁷ But if you had known what this ^[aa]means: ‘^(AV)I desire ^[ab]compassion, ^[ac]rather than sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned ^[ad]the innocent.

Lord of the Sabbath

⁸ For ^(AW)the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.”

^9 (AX)Departing from there, He went into their synagogue. ¹⁰ And a man was there whose hand was withered. And they questioned ^[ae]Jesus, asking, “^(AY)Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?”—so that they might bring charges against Him. ¹¹ But He said to them, “^(AZ)What man ^[af]is there among you who ^[ag]has a sheep, and if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will he not take hold of it and lift it out? ^12 (BA)How much more valuable then is a person than a sheep! So then, it is lawful to do ^[ah]good on the Sabbath.” ¹³ Then He *said to the man, “Stretch out your hand!” ^(BB)He stretched it out, and it was restored to ^[ai]normal, like the other. ¹⁴ But the Pharisees went out and ^[aj](BC)conspired against Him, as to how they might destroy Him.

¹⁵ But Jesus, ^[ak]aware of this, withdrew from there. Many followed Him, and ^(BD)He healed them all, ¹⁶ and ^(BE)warned them not to ^[al]tell who He was. ¹⁷ This happened so that what was spoken through Isaiah the prophet would be fulfilled:

The Pharisees Rebuked

^22 (BM)Then a ^(BN)demon-possessed man who was blind and unable to speak was brought to ^[au]Jesus, and He healed him so that the man who was unable to speak talked and ^[av]could see. ²³ And all the crowds were amazed and were saying, “This man cannot be the ^(BO)Son of David, can he?” ²⁴ But when the Pharisees heard this, they said, “This man ^(BP)casts out demons only by ^[aw]Beelzebul the ruler of the demons.”

^25 (BQ)And ^(BR)knowing their thoughts, Jesus said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste; and no city or house divided against itself will stand. ²⁶ And if ^(BS)Satan is casting out Satan, he ^[ax]has become divided against himself; how then will his kingdom stand? ²⁷ And if ^(BT)by ^[ay]Beelzebul I cast out the demons, ^(BU)by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore, they will be your judges. ²⁸ But ^(BV)if I cast out the demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. ²⁹ Or, how can anyone enter the strong man’s house and carry off his property, unless he first ties up the strong man? And then he will plunder his house.

The Unpardonable Sin

^30 (BW)The one who is not with Me is against Me; and the one who does not gather with Me scatters.

³¹ “^(BX)Therefore I say to you, every sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven people, but blasphemy against the Spirit shall not be forgiven. ^32 (BY)And whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man, it shall be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it shall not be forgiven him, either in ^(BZ)this age or in the age to come.

Words Reveal Character

³³ “Either ^[az]assume the tree to be good as well as its fruit good, or ^[ba]assume the tree to be bad as well as its fruit bad; for ^(CA)the tree is known by its fruit. ^34 (CB)You ^[bb]offspring of vipers, how can you, being evil, express any good things? ^(CC)For the mouth speaks from that which fills the heart. ^35 (CD)The good person brings out of his good treasure good things; and the evil person brings out of his evil treasure evil things. ³⁶ But I tell you that for every ^[bc]careless word that people ^[bd]speak, they will give an account of it on the ^(CE)day of judgment. ³⁷ For ^[be]by your words you will be justified, and ^[bf]by your words you will be condemned.”

The Desire for Signs

³⁸ Then some of the scribes and Pharisees said to Him, “Teacher, ^(CF)we want to see a ^[bg]sign from You.” ³⁹ But He answered and said to them, “^(CG)An evil and adulterous generation craves a ^[bh]sign; and so no ^[bi]sign will be given to it except the ^[bj]sign of Jonah the prophet; ⁴⁰ for just as ^(CH)Jonah was in the stomach of the sea monster for three days and three nights, so will ^(CI)the Son of Man be in the heart of the earth for ^(CJ)three days and three nights. ^41 (CK)The men of Nineveh will stand up with this generation at the judgment, and will condemn it because ^(CL)they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and behold, something ^(CM)greater than Jonah is here. ^42 (CN)The Queen of the South will rise up with this generation at the judgment and will condemn it, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and behold, something ^(CO)greater than Solomon is here.

⁴³ “^(CP)Now when the unclean spirit comes out of a person, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, and does not find it. ⁴⁴ Then it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came’; and when it comes, it finds it unoccupied, swept, and put in order. ⁴⁵ Then it goes and brings along with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they come in and live there; and ^(CQ)the last condition of that person becomes worse than the first. That is the way it will also be with this evil generation.”

Changed Relationships

^46 (CR)While He was still speaking to the crowds, behold, His ^(CS)mother and ^(CT)brothers were standing outside, seeking to speak to Him. ⁴⁷ [^[bk]Someone said to Him, “Look, Your mother and Your brothers are standing outside, seeking to speak to You.”] ⁴⁸ But ^[bl]Jesus replied to the one who was telling Him and said, “Who is My mother, and who are My brothers?” ⁴⁹ And extending His hand toward His disciples, He said, “Behold: My mother and My brothers! ⁵⁰ For whoever does the will of My Father who is in heaven, he is My brother, and sister, and mother.”