Matthew 12
Worldwide English (New Testament)
12 About that time, Jesus was walking through the grain fields on a Sabbath day. His disciples were hungry. They began to pick some of the grain and to eat it.
2 The Pharisees saw them. They said to Jesus, `Look! Your disciples are doing what is not right on the Sabbath day.'
3 But Jesus said to them, `Have you not read what David did? He and his men who were with him were hungry.
4 He went into God's house. Some bread was there for God. David's men ate it. David did not have the right to eat it, nor the men who were with him. Only the priests have the right to eat it. But David took the bread and ate it. He also gave some of it to the men who were with him.
5 `Have you never read in the books of the law that the priests in the temple break the Sabbath law on the Sabbath day? They are not punished for it.
6 I tell you, there is someone here who is greater than the temple.
7 `You do not know what this means, "I want you to be kind; I do not want a sacrifice." If you knew, then you would not have said what they did was wrong. What they did was not wrong.
8 The Son of Man rules over the Sabbath day.'
9 Jesus left that place and went into the meeting house.
10 There was a man whose hand was thin and weak. The people asked Jesus, `Is it right to heal a man on the Sabbath day?' They wanted to find something wrong about Jesus.
11 Jesus said to them, `If one of you had a sheep and it fell into a hole on the Sabbath day, would you not take hold of it and pull it out?
12 A man is worth much more than a sheep. So it is right to do good things on the Sabbath day.'
13 Then he said to the man, `Hold out your hand.' The man held out his hand and it was made well like the other hand.
14 Then the Pharisees went out and planned together how to kill Jesus.
15 Jesus knew about their plan, so he went away from there. Many people followed him and he healed them all.
16 He told them not to tell where he was.
17 So what Isaiah the prophet of God said, came true.
18 He said, `This is my servant. I have chosen him. I love him. I am very pleased with him. I will put my Spirit on him. He will judge the people who are not Jews.
19 He will not fight or shout. No one will hear his voice in the streets.
20 He will not break a stick that is already bent. He will not put out a light that burns only a little. What is right will win, because he will make it win.
21 Those who are not Jews will believe in him.'
22 Then the people brought a man to Jesus. The man had a bad spirit in him. He was blind and could not talk. Jesus healed him. Then the man could talk and see.
23 All the people were surprised. They said, `Is he David's son?'
24 The Pharisees heard about it. They said, `This man drives out bad spirits by the help of Beelzebub, the chief of bad spirits.'
25 Jesus knew what they were thinking. He said to them, `If one part of any country fights against the other part of the country, that country is broken down. If one part of any city or family fights against the other part of it, it cannot stand.
26 If Satan drives out Satan, he fights against himself. How then will his kingdom stand?
27 If I drive out bad spirits by Beelzebub, how do your own people drive them out? Let them judge you.
28 But if I drive out bad spirits by God's Spirit, then God's kingdom is here with you now.
29 `If anyone wants to go into a strong man's house and steal his things, he must first tie the strong man. Then he can steal his things.
30 `Anyone who is not with me, is against me. Anyone who does not work with me is working against me.
31 `That is why I tell you this. All wrong things that people do or say, will be forgiven. But people who say wrong things against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven.
32 Anyone who says anything against the Son of Man will be forgiven. But anyone who says anything against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven. He will not be forgiven in this world or in the next world.'
33 `Either make a tree good and its fruit good, or make a tree bad and its fruit bad. People know what kind of tree it is by the fruit on it.
34 You family of snakes! How can you say good things? You are wrong! The mouth will say what is in the heart.
35 A good man has stored up good things in his heart, so he will say good things. A bad man has stored up wrong things in his heart, so he will say wrong things.
36 I tell you this. On the day when people are judged, they will pay for every empty word they have said.
37 Because of your words, you will be called good. Or because of your words, you will be punished.'
38 Then some of the scribes and Pharisees said to him, `Teacher, we want you to show us a sign.'
39 But Jesus answered them, `The people today are bad. They have gone away from God. They want a sign. No sign will be given them but the sign of the prophet Jonah.
40 Jonah was inside the big sea animal for three days and three nights. So the Son of Man will be in the ground for three days and three nights.
41 When people are judged, the men of the city of Nineveh will stand up and speak against the people of today. The people of Nineveh stopped their wrong ways when Jonah told them God's word. And the one who is here is greater than Jonah.
42 When people are judged, the Queen of the South will stand up and speak against the people of today. She came a long way to hear the wise talk of Solomon. And the one who is here is greater than Solomon.'
43 `When a bad spirit has gone out of a man, he goes through dry places. He looks for a place to rest, but he does not find any.
44 Then he says, "I will go back to my house from where I came." When he comes back, he finds it is empty, clean, and all fixed up.
45 Then he goes and brings seven other spirits with him. They are worse than he is. They go in and live there. Now the man is worse than he was at first. That is how it will be for the wrong people of today.'
46 While Jesus was still talking to the people, his mother and brothers stood outside. They wanted to talk to him.
47 Someone told him, `Your mother and your brothers are standing outside. They want to talk to you.'
48 But to the man who told him, he said, `Who is my mother? Who are my brothers?'
49 He pointed to his disciples and said, `These people are my mother and my brothers!
50 Anyone who obeys my Father in heaven is my brother, my sister, and my mother.'
Matthew 12
Darby Translation
12 At that time Jesus went on the sabbath through the cornfields; and his disciples were hungry, and began to pluck the ears and to eat.
2 But the Pharisees, seeing [it], said to him, Behold, thy disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on sabbath.
3 But he said to them, Have ye not read what David did when he was hungry, and they that were with him?
4 How he entered into the house of God, and ate the shewbread, which it was not lawful for him to eat, nor for those with him, but for the priests only?
5 Or have ye not read in the law that on the sabbaths the priests in the temple profane the sabbath, and are blameless?
6 But I say unto you, that there is here what is greater than the temple.
7 But if ye had known what is: I will have mercy and not sacrifice, ye would not have condemned the guiltless.
8 For the Son of man is Lord of the sabbath.
9 And, going away from thence, he came into their synagogue.
10 And behold, there was a man having his hand withered. And they asked him, saying, Is it lawful to heal on the sabbath? that they might accuse him.
11 But he said to them, What man shall there be of you who has one sheep, and if this fall into a pit on the sabbath, will not lay hold of it and raise [it] up?
12 How much better then is a man than a sheep! So that it is lawful to do well on the sabbath.
13 Then he says to the man, Stretch out thy hand. And he stretched [it] out, and it was restored sound as the other.
14 But the Pharisees, having gone out, took counsel against him, how they might destroy him.
15 But Jesus knowing [it], withdrew thence, and great crowds followed him; and he healed them all:
16 and charged them strictly that they should not make him publicly known:
17 that that might be fulfilled which was spoken through Esaias the prophet, saying,
18 Behold my servant, whom I have chosen, my beloved, in whom my soul has found its delight. I will put my Spirit upon him, and he shall shew forth judgment to the nations.
19 He shall not strive or cry out, nor shall any one hear his voice in the streets;
20 a bruised reed shall he not break, and smoking flax shall he not quench, until he bring forth judgment unto victory;
21 and on his name shall [the] nations hope.
22 Then was brought to him one possessed by a demon, blind and dumb, and he healed him, so that the dumb [man] spake and saw.
23 And all the crowds were amazed and said, Is this [man] the Son of David?
24 But the Pharisees, having heard [it], said, This [man] does not cast out demons, but by Beelzebub, prince of demons.
25 But he, knowing their thoughts, said to them, Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and every city or house divided against itself will not subsist.
26 And if Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself; how then shall his kingdom subsist?
27 And if *I* cast out demons by Beelzebub, your sons, by whom do they cast [them] out? For this reason *they* shall be your judges.
28 But if *I* by [the] Spirit of God cast out demons, then indeed the kingdom of God is come upon you.
29 Or how can any one enter into the house of the strong [man] and plunder his goods, unless first he bind the strong [man]? and then he will plunder his house.
30 He that is not with me is against me, and he that gathers not with me scatters.
31 For this reason I say unto you, Every sin and injurious speaking shall be forgiven to men, but speaking injuriously of the Spirit shall not be forgiven to men.
32 And whosoever shall have spoken a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him; but whosoever shall speak against the Holy Spirit, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this age nor in the coming [one].
33 Either make the tree good, and its fruit good; or make the tree corrupt, and its fruit corrupt. For from the fruit the tree is known.
34 Offspring of vipers! how can ye speak good things, being wicked? For of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.
35 The good man out of the good treasure brings forth good things; and the wicked man out of the wicked treasure brings forth wicked things.
36 But I say unto you, that every idle word which men shall say, they shall render an account of it in judgment-day:
37 for by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.
38 Then answered him some of the scribes and Pharisees, saying, Teacher, we desire to see a sign from thee.
39 But he, answering, said to them, A wicked and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and a sign shall not be given to it save the sign of Jonas the prophet.
40 For even as Jonas was in the belly of the great fish three days and three nights, thus shall the Son of man be in the heart of the earth three days and three nights.
41 Ninevites shall stand up in the judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: for they repented at the preaching of Jonas; and behold, more than Jonas [is] here.
42 A queen of [the] south shall rise up in the judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it; for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and behold, more than Solomon [is] here.
43 But when the unclean spirit has gone out of the man, he goes through dry places, seeking rest, and does not find [it].
44 Then he says, I will return to my house whence I came out; and having come, he finds [it] unoccupied, swept, and adorned.
45 Then he goes and takes with himself seven other spirits worse than himself, and entering in, they dwell there; and the last condition of that man becomes worse than the first. Thus shall it be to this wicked generation also.
46 But while he was yet speaking to the crowds, behold, his mother and his brethren stood without, seeking to speak to him.
47 Then one said unto him, Behold, thy mother and thy brethren are standing without, seeking to speak to thee.
48 But he answering said to him that spoke to him, Who is my mother, and who are my brethren?
49 And, stretching out his hand to his disciples, he said, Behold my mother and my brethren;
50 for whosoever shall do the will of my Father who is in [the] heavens, he is my brother, and sister, and mother.
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