Matthew 11:1-12:45

Legacy Standard Bible

Questions from John the Baptist

11 ^[a](A)Now it happened that when Jesus had finished ^[b]giving instructions to His twelve disciples, He departed from there ^(B)to teach and ^[c]preach in their cities.

^2 (C)Now when ^(D)John in prison heard of the works of Christ, he sent word by his disciples ³ and said to Him, “Are You ^(E)the One who is to come, or shall we look for someone else?” ⁴ And Jesus 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 ^[d]gospel preached to them. ⁶ And blessed is he ^[e]who ^(H)does not ^[f]take offense at Me.”

Jesus’ Tribute to John the Baptist

⁷ Now as 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 [g]But what did you go out to see? A man dressed in soft clothing? Behold, 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 ^[l]least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. ^12 (L)And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven ^[m]suffers violence, and violent men ^[n]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 ^[o]was to come. ^15 (N)He who has ears to hear, ^[p]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 dirge, and you did not ^[q]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 ^[r]drunkard, ^(R)a friend of tax collectors and ^[s]sinners!’ Yet wisdom is vindicated ^[t]by her deeds.”

Woe to Unrepentant Cities

²⁰ Then He began to denounce the cities in which most of His ^[u](S)miracles were done, because they did not repent. ²¹ “^(T)Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, ^(U)Bethsaida! For if the ^[v]miracles had occurred in ^(V)Tyre and ^(W)Sidon which occurred in you, they would have repented long ago in ^[w](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 ^(AA)Capernaum, will you be exalted to heaven? You will ^(AB)descend to ^(AC)Hades; for if the ^[x]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 ^[y]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 ^[z]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 ^[aa]gentle and humble in heart, and ^(AO)you will find rest for your souls. ³⁰ For ^(AP)My yoke is ^[ab]easy and My burden is light.”

Lord of the Sabbath

12 ^(AQ)At that ^[ac]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 But when the Pharisees saw this, they said to Him, “Look, Your disciples do 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 ^[ad]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 ^[ae]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 ^[af]means, ‘^(AV)I desire ^[ag]compassion, and not a sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the innocent. ⁸ For ^(AW)the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.”

Jesus Heals a Man on the Sabbath

^9 (AX)And departing from there, He went into their synagogue. ¹⁰ And behold, a man was there whose hand was withered. And they questioned ^[ah]Jesus, saying, “^(AY)Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?”—so that they might accuse Him. ¹¹ And He said to them, “^(AZ)What man ^[ai]is there among you who has a sheep, and if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will 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 ^[aj]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 ^[ak]normal, like the other. ¹⁴ But going out, the Pharisees ^(BC)took counsel together against Him, as to how they might destroy Him.

¹⁵ But Jesus, ^[al]aware of this, withdrew from there. Many followed Him, and ^(BD)He healed them all, ¹⁶ and ^(BE)warned them not to make Him known, ¹⁷ in order that what was spoken through Isaiah the prophet would be fulfilled, saying,

A Kingdom Divided

^22 (BM)Then a ^(BN)demon-possessed man who was blind and mute was brought to ^[au]Jesus, and He healed him, so that the mute man spoke and saw. ²³ And all the crowds were astounded, and were saying, “Can this man really be the ^(BO)Son of David?” ²⁴ But when the Pharisees heard this, they said, “This man does not ^(BP)cast out demons except by ^[av]Beelzebul the ruler of the demons.”

^25 (BQ)And ^(BR)knowing their thoughts He said to them, “^[aw]Any kingdom divided against itself is laid waste; and ^[ax]any city or house divided against itself will not stand. ²⁶ And if ^(BS)Satan casts out Satan, he ^[ay]is divided against himself; how then will his kingdom stand? ²⁷ And if I ^(BT)by ^[az]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.

Blasphemy Against the Holy Spirit

^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 the blasphemy against the Spirit shall not be forgiven. ^32 (BY)And whoever ^[ba]speaks a word against the Son of Man, it shall be forgiven him; but whoever ^[bb]speaks against the Holy Spirit, it shall not be forgiven him, either in ^(BZ)this age or in the age to come.

The Heart Is Revealed by Words

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 ^[bc]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 ^[bd]what is good; and the evil man brings out of his evil treasure ^[be]what is evil. ³⁶ But I tell you that every ^[bf]careless word that people ^[bg]speak, they shall give an accounting for it in ^(CE)the day of judgment. ³⁷ For ^[bh]by your words you will be justified, and ^[bi]by your words you will be condemned.”

The Sign of Jonah

³⁸ Then some of the scribes and Pharisees answered and said to Him, “Teacher, ^(CF)we want to see ^[bj]a sign from You.” ³⁹ But He answered and said to them, “^(CG)An evil and adulterous generation eagerly seeks for a sign; and yet no sign will be given to it but the sign of Jonah the prophet; ⁴⁰ for 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.”