A House Divided Cannot Stand^(A)

^14 (B)And He was casting out a demon, and it was mute. So it was, when the demon had gone out, that the mute spoke; and the multitudes marveled. ¹⁵ But some of them said, ^(C)“He casts out demons by ^[a]Beelzebub, the ruler of the demons.”

¹⁶ Others, testing Him, ^(D)sought from Him a sign from heaven. ^17 (E)But ^(F)He, knowing their thoughts, said to them: “Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and a house divided against a house falls. ¹⁸ If Satan also is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand? Because you say I cast out demons by Beelzebub. ¹⁹ And if I cast out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore they will be your judges. ²⁰ But if I cast out demons ^(G)with the finger of God, surely the kingdom of God has come upon you. ^21 (H)When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own palace, his goods are in peace. ²² But ^(I)when a stronger than he comes upon him and overcomes him, he takes from him all his armor in which he trusted, and divides his ^[b]spoils. ^23 (J)He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters.

An Unclean Spirit Returns^(K)

^24 (L)“When an unclean spirit goes out of a man, he goes through dry places, seeking rest; and finding none, he says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ ²⁵ And when he comes, he finds it swept and put in order. ²⁶ Then he goes and takes with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter and dwell there; and ^(M)the last state of that man is worse than the first.”

Keeping the Word

²⁷ And it happened, as He spoke these things, that a certain woman from the crowd raised her voice and said to Him, ^(N)“Blessed is the womb that bore You, and the breasts which nursed You!”

²⁸ But He said, ^(O)“More than that, blessed are those who hear the word of God and keep it!”

A House Divided Cannot Stand^(A)

²⁰ Then the multitude came together again, ^(B)so that they could not so much as eat bread. ²¹ But when His ^(C)own people heard about this, they went out to lay hold of Him, ^(D)for they said, “He is out of His mind.”

²² And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem said, ^(E)“He has Beelzebub,” and, “By the ^(F)ruler of the demons He casts out demons.”

^23 (G)So He called them to Himself and said to them in parables: “How can Satan cast out Satan? ²⁴ If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. ²⁵ And if a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand. ²⁶ And if Satan has risen up against himself, and is divided, he cannot stand, but has an end. ^27 (H)No one can enter a strong man’s house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man. And then he will plunder his house.

The Unpardonable Sin^(I)

^28 (J)“Assuredly, I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the sons of men, and whatever blasphemies they may utter; ²⁹ but he who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is subject to eternal condemnation”— ³⁰ because they ^(K)said, “He has an unclean spirit.”

A House Divided Cannot Stand^(A)

^22 (B)Then one was brought to Him who was demon-possessed, blind and mute; and He healed him, so that the ^[a]blind and mute man both spoke and saw. ²³ And all the multitudes were amazed and said, “Could this be the ^(C)Son of David?”

^24 (D)Now when the Pharisees heard it they said, “This fellow does not cast out demons except by ^[b]Beelzebub, the ruler of the demons.”

²⁵ But Jesus ^(E)knew their thoughts, and said to them: “Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and every city or house divided against itself will not stand. ²⁶ If Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then will his kingdom stand? ²⁷ And if I cast out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore they shall be your judges. ²⁸ But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, ^(F)surely the kingdom of God has come upon you. ^29 (G)Or how can one enter a strong man’s house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man? And then he will plunder his house. ³⁰ He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters abroad.

The Unpardonable Sin^(H)

³¹ “Therefore I say to you, ^(I)every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, ^(J)but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven men. ³² Anyone who ^(K)speaks a word against the Son of Man, ^(L)it will be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the age to come.

A Tree Known by Its Fruit^(M)

³³ “Either make the tree good and ^(N)its fruit good, or else make the tree bad and its fruit bad; for a tree is known by its fruit. ^34 (O)Brood^[c] of vipers! How can you, being evil, speak good things? ^(P)For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. ³⁵ A good man out of the good treasure ^[d]of his heart brings forth good things, and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things. ³⁶ But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment. ³⁷ For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.”

The Scribes and Pharisees Ask for a Sign^(Q)

^38 (R)Then some of the scribes and Pharisees answered, saying, “Teacher, we want to see a sign from You.”

³⁹ But He answered and said to them, “An evil and ^(S)adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. ^40 (T)For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. ^41 (U)The men of Nineveh will rise up in the judgment with this generation and ^(V)condemn it, ^(W)because they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and indeed a greater than Jonah is here. ^42 (X)The queen of the South will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and indeed a greater than Solomon is here.

An Unclean Spirit Returns^(Y)

^43 (Z)“When an unclean spirit goes out of a man, ^(AA)he goes through dry places, seeking rest, and finds none. ⁴⁴ Then he says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ And when he comes, he finds it empty, swept, and put in order. ⁴⁵ Then he goes and takes with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter and dwell there; ^(AB)and the last state of that man is worse than the first. So shall it also be with this wicked generation.”