Matthew 11-12 (New American Standard Bible)

Matthew 11

John's Questions

 ^1(A)When Jesus had finished giving instructions to His twelve disciples, He departed from there ^(B)to teach and preach in their cities.

 ^2(C)Now when ^(D)John, while imprisoned, heard of the works of Christ, he sent word by his disciples

 ³and said to Him, "Are You ^(E)the Expected One, or shall we look for someone else?"

 ⁴Jesus answered and said to them, "Go and report to John what you hear and see:

 ^5(F)the BLIND RECEIVE SIGHT and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the ^(G)POOR HAVE THE GOSPEL PREACHED TO THEM.

 ⁶"And blessed is he who ^(H)does not take offense at Me."

Jesus' Tribute to John

 ⁷As these men were going away, Jesus began to speak to the crowds about John, "What did you go out into ^(I)the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind?

 ⁸"But what did you go out to see? A man dressed in soft clothing? Those who wear soft clothing are in kings' palaces!

 ⁹"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 is written,
         '^(K)BEHOLD, I SEND MY MESSENGER AHEAD OF YOU,
         WHO WILL PREPARE YOUR WAY BEFORE YOU.'

 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"^(L)From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, 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 was to come.

 ¹⁵"^(N)He who has ears to hear, let him hear.

 ¹⁶"But to what shall I compare this generation? It is like children sitting in the market places, who call out to the other children,

 ¹⁷and say, 'We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we sang a dirge, and you did not 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 drunkard, ^(R)a friend of tax collectors and sinners!' Yet wisdom is vindicated by her deeds."

The Unrepenting Cities

 ²⁰Then He began to denounce the cities in which most of His ^(S)miracles were done, because they did not repent.

 ²¹"^(T)Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, ^(U)Bethsaida! For if the miracles had occurred in ^(V)Tyre and ^(W)Sidon which occurred in you, they would have repented long ago in ^(X)sackcloth and ashes.

 ²²"Nevertheless I say to you, ^(Y)it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in ^(Z)the day of judgment than for you.

 ²³"And you, ^(AA)Capernaum, will not be exalted to heaven, will you? You will ^(AB)descend to ^(AC)Hades; for if the miracles had occurred in ^(AD)Sodom which occurred in you, 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 in the day of judgment, than for you."

Come to Me

 ^25(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 wills to reveal Him.

 ²⁸"^(AM)Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, 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 REST FOR YOUR SOULS.

 ³⁰"For ^(AP)My yoke is easy and My burden is light."

Matthew 12

Sabbath Questions

 ^1(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.

 ²But when the Pharisees saw this, they said to Him, "Look, Your disciples do what ^(AS)is not lawful to do on a Sabbath."

 ³But He said to them, "Have you not read what David did when he became hungry, he and his companions,

 ⁴how he entered the house of God, and ^(AT)they ate the 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 break the Sabbath and 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 means, '^(AV)I DESIRE COMPASSION, AND NOT A SACRIFICE,' you would not have condemned 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.

 ¹⁰And a man was there whose hand was withered. And they questioned Jesus, asking, "^(AY)Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?"--so that they might accuse Him.

 ¹¹And He said to them, "^(AZ)What man is there among you who 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 man than a sheep! So then, it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath."

 ¹³Then He said to the man, "Stretch out your hand!" ^(BB)He stretched it out, and it was restored to normal, like the other.

 ¹⁴But the Pharisees went out and ^(BC)conspired against Him, as to how they might destroy Him.

 ¹⁵But Jesus, aware of this, withdrew from there. Many followed Him, and ^(BD)He healed them all,

 ¹⁶and ^(BE)warned them not to tell who He was.

 ¹⁷This was to fulfill what was spoken through Isaiah the prophet:
    ¹⁸"^(BF)BEHOLD, MY SERVANT WHOM I HAVE CHOSEN;
         ^(BG)MY BELOVED IN WHOM MY SOUL is WELL-PLEASED;
         ^(BH)I WILL PUT MY SPIRIT UPON HIM,
         ^(BI)AND HE SHALL PROCLAIM JUSTICE TO THE GENTILES.
    ¹⁹"^(BJ)HE WILL NOT QUARREL, NOR CRY OUT;
         NOR WILL ANYONE HEAR HIS VOICE IN THE STREETS.
    ²⁰"^(BK)A BATTERED REED HE WILL NOT BREAK OFF,
         AND A SMOLDERING WICK HE WILL NOT PUT OUT,
         UNTIL HE LEADS JUSTICE TO VICTORY.
    ²¹"^(BL)AND IN HIS NAME THE GENTILES WILL HOPE."

The Pharisees Rebuked

 ^22(BM)Then a ^(BN)demon-possessed man who was blind and mute was brought to Jesus, and He healed him, so that the mute man spoke and saw.

 ²³All the crowds were amazed, and were saying, "This man cannot be the ^(BO)Son of David, can he?"

 ²⁴But when the Pharisees heard this, they said, "This man ^(BP)casts out demons only by Beelzebul the ruler of the demons."

 ^25(BQ)And ^(BR)knowing their thoughts Jesus said to them, "Any kingdom divided against itself is laid waste; and any city or house divided against itself will not stand.

 ²⁶"If ^(BS)Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself; how then will his kingdom stand?

 ²⁷"If I ^(BT)by Beelzebul cast out demons, ^(BU)by whom do your sons cast them out? For this reason they will be your judges.

 ²⁸"But ^(BV)if I cast out 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 binds the strong man? And then he will plunder his house.

The Unpardonable Sin

 ³⁰"^(BW)He who is not with Me is against Me; and he who does not gather with Me scatters.

 ³¹"^(BX)Therefore I say to you, any sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven people, but blasphemy against the Spirit shall not be forgiven.

 ³²"^(BY)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 make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree bad and its fruit bad; for ^(CA)the tree is known by its fruit.

 ³⁴"^(CB)You brood of vipers, how can you, being evil, speak what is good? ^(CC)For the mouth speaks out of that which fills the heart.

 ³⁵"^(CD)The good man brings out of his good treasure what is good; and the evil man brings out of his evil treasure what is evil.

 ³⁶"But I tell you that every careless word that people speak, they shall give an accounting for it in ^(CE)the day of judgment.

 ³⁷"For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned."

The Desire for Signs

 ³⁸Then some of the scribes and Pharisees said to Him, "Teacher, ^(CF)we want to see a sign from You."

 ³⁹But He answered and said to them, "^(CG)An evil and adulterous generation craves for a sign; and yet no sign will be given to it but the sign of Jonah the prophet;

 ⁴⁰for just as ^(CH)JONAH WAS THREE DAYS AND THREE NIGHTS IN THE BELLY OF THE SEA MONSTER, so will ^(CI)the Son of Man be ^(CJ)three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.

 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, ^(CM)something 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, ^(CO)something greater than Solomon is here.

 ⁴³"^(CP)Now when the unclean spirit goes out of a man, 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 takes along with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there; and ^(CQ)the last state of that man 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.

 ⁴⁷Someone said to Him, "Behold, Your mother and Your brothers are standing outside seeking to speak to You."

 ⁴⁸But Jesus answered the one who was telling Him and said, "Who is My mother and who are My brothers?"

 ⁴⁹And stretching out 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."