Matthew 11-13

Complete Jewish Bible

11 After Yeshua had finished instructing the twelve talmidim, he went on from there to teach and preach in the towns nearby.

² Meanwhile, Yochanan the Immerser, who had been put in prison, heard what the Messiah had been doing; so he sent a message to him through his talmidim, ³ asking, “Are you the one who is to come, or should we look for someone else?” ⁴ Yeshua answered, “Go and tell Yochanan what you are hearing and seeing — ⁵ the blind are seeing again, the lame are walking, people with tzara’at are being cleansed, the deaf are hearing,^[a] the dead are being raised,^[b] the Good News is being told to the poor^[c] — ⁶ and how blessed is anyone not offended by me!”

⁷ As they were leaving, Yeshua began speaking about Yochanan to the crowds: “What did you go out to the desert to see? Reeds swaying in the breeze? ⁸ No? then what did you go out to see? Someone who was well dressed? Well-dressed people live in kings’ palaces. ⁹ Nu, so why did you go out? To see a prophet! Yes! and I tell you he’s much more than a prophet. ¹⁰ This is the one about whom the Tanakh says,

¹¹ Yes! I tell you that among those born of women there has not arisen anyone greater than Yochanan the Immerser! Yet the one who is least in the Kingdom of Heaven is greater than he! ¹² From the time of Yochanan the Immerser until now, the Kingdom of Heaven has been suffering violence; yes, violent ones are trying to snatch it away. ¹³ For all the prophets and the Torah prophesied until Yochanan. ¹⁴ Indeed, if you are willing to accept it, he is Eliyahu, whose coming was predicted. ¹⁵ If you have ears, then hear!

¹⁶ “Oh, what can I compare this generation with? They’re like children sitting in the marketplaces, calling out to each other,

¹⁸ For Yochanan came, fasting, not drinking — so they say, ‘He has a demon.’ ¹⁹ The Son of Man came, eating freely and drinking wine — so they say, ‘Aha! A glutton and a drunkard! A friend of tax-collectors and sinners!’ Well, the proof of wisdom is in the actions it produces.”

²⁰ Then Yeshua began to denounce the towns in which he had done most of his miracles, because the people had not turned from their sins to God. ²¹ “Woe to you, Korazin! Woe to you, Beit-Tzaidah! Why, if the miracles done in you had been done in Tzor and Tzidon, they would long ago have put on sackcloth and ashes as evidence that they had changed their ways. ²² But I tell you it will be more bearable for Tzor and Tzidon than for you on the Day of Judgment! ²³ And you, K’far-Nachum, will you be exalted to heaven? No, you will be brought down to Sh’ol!^[e] For if the miracles done in you had been done in S’dom, it would still be in existence today. ²⁴ But I tell you that on the Day of Judgment it will be more bearable for the land of S’dom than for you!”

²⁵ It was at that time that Yeshua said, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you concealed these things from the sophisticated and educated and revealed them to ordinary folks. ²⁶ Yes, Father, I thank you that it pleased you to do this.

²⁷ “My Father has handed over everything to me. Indeed, no one fully knows the Son except the Father, and no one fully knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son wishes to reveal him.

²⁸ “Come to me, all of you who are struggling and burdened, and I will give you rest. ²⁹ Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, because I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.^{[f] 30} For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

12 One Shabbat during that time, Yeshua was walking through some wheat fields. His talmidim were hungry, so they began picking heads of grain and eating them. ² On seeing this, the P’rushim said to him, “Look! Your talmidim are violating Shabbat!” ³ But he said to them, “Haven’t you ever read what David did when he and those with him were hungry? ⁴ He entered the House of God and ate the Bread of the Presence!” — which was prohibited, both to him and to his companions; it is permitted only to the cohanim. ⁵ “Or haven’t you read in the Torah that on Shabbat the cohanim profane Shabbat and yet are blameless? ⁶ I tell you, there is in this place something greater than the Temple! ⁷ If you knew what ‘I want compassion rather than animal-sacrifice’^[g] meant, you would not condemn the innocent. ⁸ For the Son of Man is Lord of Shabbat!”

⁹ Going on from that place, he went into their synagogue. ¹⁰ A man there had a shriveled hand. Looking for a reason to accuse him of something, they asked him, “Is healing permitted on Shabbat?” ¹¹ But he answered, “If you have a sheep that falls in a pit on Shabbat, which of you won’t take hold of it and lift it out? ¹² How much more valuable is a man than a sheep! Therefore, what is permitted on Shabbat is to do good.” ¹³ Then to the man he said, “Hold out your hand.” As he held it out, it became restored, as sound as the other one. ¹⁴ But the P’rushim went out and began plotting how they might do away with Yeshua. ¹⁵ Aware of this, he left that area.

Many people followed him; and he healed them all ¹⁶ but warned them not to make him known. ¹⁷ This was to fulfill what had been spoken through Yesha‘yahu the prophet,

²² Then some people brought him a man controlled by demons who was blind and mute; and Yeshua healed him, so that he could both speak and see. ²³ The crowds were astounded and asked, “This couldn’t be the Son of David, could it?” ²⁴ But when the P’rushim heard of it, they said, “It is only by Ba‘al-Zibbul” — the ruler of the demons — “that this man drives out demons.”

²⁵ However, knowing what they were thinking, Yeshua said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and every city or household divided against itself will not survive. ²⁶ If Satan drives out Satan, he is divided against himself; so how can his kingdom survive? ²⁷ Besides, if I drive out demons by Ba‘al-Zibbul, by whom do your people drive them out? So, they will be your judges! ²⁸ But if I drive out demons by the Spirit of God, then the Kingdom of God has come upon you!

²⁹ “Or again, how can someone break into a strong man’s house and make off with his possessions unless he first ties up the strong man? After that he can ransack his house.

³⁰ “Those who are not with me are against me, and those who do not gather with me are scattering. ³¹ Because of this, I tell you that people will be forgiven any sin and blasphemy, but blaspheming the Ruach HaKodesh will not be forgiven. ³² One can say something against the Son of Man and be forgiven; but whoever keeps on speaking against the Ruach HaKodesh will never be forgiven, neither in the ‘olam hazeh nor in the ‘olam haba.

³³ “If you make a tree good, its fruit will be good; and if you make a tree bad, its fruit will be bad; for a tree is known by its fruit. ³⁴ You snakes! How can you who are evil say anything good? For the mouth speaks what overflows from the heart. ³⁵ The good person brings forth good things from his store of good, and the evil person brings forth evil things from his store of evil. ³⁶ Moreover, I tell you this: on the Day of Judgment people will have to give account for every careless word they have spoken; ³⁷ for by your own words you will be acquitted, and by your own words you will be condemned.”

³⁸ At this some of the Torah-teachers said, “Rabbi, we want to see a miraculous sign from you.” ³⁹ He replied, “A wicked and adulterous generation asks for a sign? No! None will be given to it but the sign of the prophet Yonah. ⁴⁰ For just as Yonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the sea-monster,^[i] so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the depths of the earth. ⁴¹ The people of Ninveh will stand up at the Judgment with this generation and condemn it, for they turned from their sins to God when Yonah preached, but what is here now is greater than Yonah. ⁴² The Queen of the South will stand up at the Judgment with this generation and condemn it, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Shlomo, but what is here now is greater than Shlomo.

⁴³ “When an unclean spirit comes out of a person, it travels through dry country seeking rest and does not find it. ⁴⁴ Then it says to itself, ‘I will return to the house I left.’ When it arrives, it finds the house standing empty, swept clean and put in order. ⁴⁵ Then it goes and takes with it seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they come and live there — so that in the end, the person is worse off than he was before. This is how it will be for this wicked generation.”

⁴⁶ He was still speaking to the crowd when his mother and brothers appeared outside, asking to talk with him. ^{47 [j] 48} But to the one who had informed him he replied, “Who is my mother? Who are my brothers?” ⁴⁹ Pointing to his talmidim, he said, “Look! Here are my mother and my brothers! ⁵⁰ Whoever does what my Father in heaven wants, that person is my brother and sister and mother.”

13 That same day, Yeshua went out of the house and sat down by the lake; ² but such a large crowd gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat there while the crowd stood on the shore. ³ He told them many things in parables:

“A farmer went out to sow his seed. ⁴ As he sowed, some seed fell alongside the path; and the birds came and ate it up. ⁵ Other seed fell on rocky patches where there was not much soil. It sprouted quickly because the soil was shallow; ⁶ but when the sun had risen, the young plants were scorched; and since their roots were not deep, they dried up. ⁷ Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. ⁸ But others fell into rich soil and produced grain, a hundred or sixty or thirty times as much as had been sown. ⁹ Those who have ears, let them hear!”

¹⁰ Then the talmidim came and asked Yeshua, “Why are you speaking to them in parables?” ¹¹ He answered, “Because it has been given to you to know the secrets of the Kingdom of Heaven, but it has not been given to them. ¹² For anyone who has something will be given more, so that he will have plenty; but from anyone who has nothing, even what he does have will be taken away. ¹³ Here is why I speak to them in parables: they look without seeing and listen without hearing or understanding. ¹⁴ That is, in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Yesha‘yahu which says,

¹⁶ But you, how blessed are your eyes, because they see, and your ears, because they hear! ¹⁷ Yes indeed! I tell you that many a prophet and many a tzaddik longed to see the things you are seeing but did not see them, and to hear the things you are hearing but did not hear them.

¹⁸ “So listen to what the parable of the sower means. ¹⁹ Whoever hears the message about the Kingdom, but doesn’t understand it, is like the seed sown along the path — the Evil One comes and seizes what was sown in his heart. ²⁰ The seed sown on rocky ground is like a person who hears the message and accepts it with joy at once, ²¹ but has no root in himself. So he stays on for a while; but as soon as some trouble or persecution arises on account of the message, he immediately falls away. ²² Now the seed sown among thorns stands for someone who hears the message, but it is choked by the worries of the world and the deceitful glamor of wealth, so that it produces nothing. ²³ However, what was sown on rich soil is the one who hears the message and understands it; such a person will surely bear fruit, a hundred or sixty or thirty times what was sown.”

²⁴ Yeshua put before them another parable. “The Kingdom of Heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field; ²⁵ but while people were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, then went away. ²⁶ When the wheat sprouted and formed heads of grain, the weeds also appeared. ²⁷ The owner’s servants came to him and said, ‘Sir didn’t you sow good seed in your field? Where have the weeds come from?’ ²⁸ He answered, ‘An enemy has done this.’ The servants asked him, ‘Then do you want us to go and pull them up?’ ²⁹ But he said, ‘No, because if you pull up the weeds, you might uproot some of the wheat at the same time. ³⁰ Let them both grow together until the harvest; and at harvest-time I will tell the reapers to collect the weeds first and tie them in bundles to be burned, but to gather the wheat into my barn.’”

³¹ Yeshua put before them another parable. “The Kingdom of Heaven is like a mustard seed which a man takes and sows in his field. ³² It is the smallest of all seeds, but when it grows up it is larger than any garden plant and becomes a tree, so that the birds flying about come and nest in its branches.”

³³ And he told them yet another parable. “The Kingdom of Heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed with a bushel of flour, then waited until the whole batch of dough rose.”

³⁴ All these things Yeshua said to the crowds in parables; indeed, he said nothing to them without using a parable. ³⁵ This was to fulfill what had been spoken through the prophet,

³⁶ Then he left the crowds and went into the house. His talmidim approached him and said, “Explain to us the parable of the weeds in the field.” ³⁷ He answered, “The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man; ³⁸ the field is the world. As for the good seed, these are the people who belong to the Kingdom; and the weeds are the people who belong to the Evil One. ³⁹ The enemy who sows them is the Adversary, the harvest is the end of the age, and the harvesters are angels. ⁴⁰ Just as the weeds are collected and burned up in the fire, so will it be at the end of the age. ⁴¹ The Son of Man will send forth his angels, and they will collect out of his Kingdom all the things that cause people to sin and all the people who are far from Torah; ⁴² and they will throw them into the fiery furnace, where people will wail and grind their teeth. ⁴³ Then the righteous will shine forth like the sun in the Kingdom of their Father. Whoever has ears, let him hear!

⁴⁴ “The Kingdom of Heaven is like a treasure hidden in a field. A man found it, hid it again, then in great joy went and sold everything he owned, and bought that field.

⁴⁵ “Again, the Kingdom of Heaven is like a merchant on the lookout for fine pearls. ⁴⁶ On finding one very valuable pearl he went away, sold everything he owned and bought it.

⁴⁷ “Once more, the Kingdom of Heaven is like a net thrown into the lake, that caught all kinds of fish. ⁴⁸ When it was full, the fishermen brought the net up onto the shore, sat down and collected the good fish in baskets, but threw the bad fish away. ⁴⁹ So it will be at the close of the age — the angels will go forth and separate the evil people from among the righteous ⁵⁰ and throw them into the fiery furnace, where they will wail and grind their teeth.

⁵¹ “Have you understood all these things?” “Yes,” they answered. ⁵² He said to them, “So then, every Torah-teacher who has been made into a talmid for the Kingdom of Heaven is like the owner of a home who brings out of his storage room both new things and old.”

⁵³ When Yeshua had finished these parables, he left ⁵⁴ and went to his home town. There he taught them in their synagogue in a way that astounded them, so that they asked, “Where do this man’s wisdom and miracles come from? ⁵⁵ Isn’t he the carpenter’s son? Isn’t his mother called Miryam? and his brothers Ya‘akov, Yosef, Shim‘on and Y’hudah? ⁵⁶ And his sisters, aren’t they all with us? So where does he get all this?” ⁵⁷ And they took offense at him. But Yeshua said to them, “The only place people don’t respect a prophet is in his home town and in his own house.” ⁵⁸ And he did few miracles there because of their lack of trust.