Sabbath Questions

12 ^[a](A)At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath, and His disciples became hungry and began to ^(B)pick the heads of grain and eat. ² Now when the Pharisees saw this, they said to Him, “Look, Your disciples are doing what ^(C)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 ^(D)they ate the ^[b]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 ^[c]violate the Sabbath, and yet are innocent? ⁶ But I say to you that something ^(E)greater than the temple is here. ⁷ But if you had known what this ^[d]means: ‘^(F)I desire ^[e]compassion, ^[f]rather than sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned ^[g]the innocent.

Lord of the Sabbath

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

^9 (H)Departing from there, He went into their synagogue. ¹⁰ And a man was there whose hand was withered. And they questioned ^[h]Jesus, asking, “^(I)Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?”—so that they might bring charges against Him. ¹¹ But He said to them, “^(J)What man ^[i]is there among you who ^[j]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 (K)How much more valuable then is a person than a sheep! So then, it is lawful to do ^[k]good on the Sabbath.” ¹³ Then He *said to the man, “Stretch out your hand!” ^(L)He stretched it out, and it was restored to ^[l]normal, like the other. ¹⁴ But the Pharisees went out and ^[m](M)conspired against Him, as to how they might destroy Him.

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

The Pharisees Rebuked

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

^25 (AA)And ^(AB)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 ^(AC)Satan is casting out Satan, he ^[aa]has become divided against himself; how then will his kingdom stand? ²⁷ And if ^(AD)by ^[ab]Beelzebul I cast out the demons, ^(AE)by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore, they will be your judges. ²⁸ But ^(AF)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.

Hypocrisy Exposed

23 ^(A)Then Jesus spoke to the crowds and to His disciples, ² saying: “^(B)The scribes and the Pharisees have seated themselves in the chair of Moses. ³ Therefore, whatever they tell you, do and ^[a]comply with it all, but do not do ^[b]as they do; for they say things and do not do them. ⁴ And ^(C)they tie up heavy burdens and lay them on people’s shoulders, but they themselves are unwilling to move them with so much as their finger. ⁵ And they do all their deeds ^(D)to be noticed by other people; for they ^(E)broaden their ^[c]phylacteries and lengthen ^(F)the tassels of their garments. ⁶ And they ^(G)love the place of honor at banquets, and the seats of honor in the synagogues, ⁷ and personal greetings in the marketplaces, and being called ^[d](H)Rabbi by the people. ⁸ But as for you, ^(I)do not be called ^[e](J)Rabbi; for only One is your Teacher, and you are all brothers and sisters. ⁹ And do not call anyone on earth your father; for only ^(K)One is your Father, He who is in heaven. ¹⁰ And do not be called ^[f]leaders; for only One is your Leader, that is, Christ. ^11 (L)But the greatest of you shall be your servant. ^12 (M)Whoever exalts himself shall be humbled, and whoever humbles himself shall be exalted.

Eight Woes

¹³ “^(N)But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, ^(O)because you shut the kingdom of heaven in front of people; for you do not enter it yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in.^[g]

¹⁵ “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you travel around on sea and land to make one ^[h](P)proselyte; and when he becomes one, you ^[i]make him twice as much a son of ^[j](Q)hell as yourselves.

¹⁶ “Woe to you, ^(R)blind guides, who say, ‘^(S)Whoever swears by the ^[k]temple, that is nothing; but whoever swears by the gold of the ^[l]temple is obligated.’ ¹⁷ You fools and blind men! ^(T)Which is ^[m]more important, the gold or the ^[n]temple that sanctified the gold? ¹⁸ And you say, ‘Whoever swears by the altar, that is nothing; but whoever swears by the ^[o]offering that is on it is obligated.’ ¹⁹ You blind men, ^(U)which is ^[p]more important, the ^[q]offering or the altar that sanctifies the ^[r]offering? ²⁰ Therefore, the one who swears by the altar, swears both by ^[s]the altar and by everything on it. ²¹ And the one who swears by the ^[t]temple, swears both by ^[u]the temple and by Him who ^(V)dwells in it. ²² And the one who swears by ^[v]heaven, ^(W)swears both by the throne of God and by Him who sits upon it.

²³ “^(X)Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and ^[w]cumin, and have neglected the weightier provisions of the Law: justice and mercy and faithfulness; but these are the things you should have done without neglecting the others. ²⁴ You ^(Y)blind guides, who ^[x]strain out a gnat and swallow a camel!

²⁵ “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For ^(Z)you clean the outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside they are full ^[y]of robbery and self-indulgence. ²⁶ You blind Pharisee, first ^(AA)clean the inside of the cup and of the dish, so that the ^[z]outside of it may also become clean.

²⁷ “^(AB)Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which on the outside appear beautiful, but inside they are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness. ²⁸ So you too, outwardly appear righteous to people, but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.

²⁹ “^(AC)Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you build the tombs for the prophets and decorate the monuments of the righteous, ³⁰ and you say, ‘If we had been living in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partners with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’ ³¹ So you testify against yourselves, that you ^(AD)are ^[aa]sons of those who murdered the prophets. ^32 [ab]Fill up, then, the measure of the guilt of your fathers. ³³ You snakes, ^(AE)you ^[ac]offspring of vipers, how ^[ad]will you escape the ^[ae]sentence of ^[af](AF)hell?

³⁴ “^(AG)Therefore, behold, ^(AH)I am sending you prophets and wise men and scribes; some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will ^(AI)flog in your synagogues, and ^(AJ)persecute from city to city, ³⁵ so that upon you will fall the guilt of all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of righteous ^(AK)Abel to the blood of Zechariah, the ^(AL)son of Berechiah, whom ^(AM)you murdered between the ^[ag]temple and the altar. ³⁶ Truly I say to you, all these things will come upon ^(AN)this generation.