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

^38 (B)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 ^(C)adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. ^40 (D)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 (E)The men of Nineveh will rise up in the judgment with this generation and ^(F)condemn it, ^(G)because they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and indeed a greater than Jonah is here. ^42 (H)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^(I)

^43 (J)“When an unclean spirit goes out of a man, ^(K)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; ^(L)and the last state of that man is worse than the first. So shall it also be with this wicked generation.”

^17 (A)From that time Jesus began to preach and to say, ^(B)“Repent, for the kingdom of heaven ^[a]is at hand.”

Four Fishermen Called as Disciples^(C)

^18 (D)And Jesus, walking by the Sea of Galilee, saw two brothers, Simon ^(E)called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen. ¹⁹ Then He said to them, “Follow Me, and ^(F)I will make you fishers of men.” ^20 (G)They immediately left their nets and followed Him.

^21 (H)Going on from there, He saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets. He called them, ²² and immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed Him.

Jesus Heals a Great Multitude^(I)

²³ And Jesus went about all Galilee, ^(J)teaching in their synagogues, preaching ^(K)the gospel of the kingdom, ^(L)and healing all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease among the people. ²⁴ Then ^[b]His fame went throughout all Syria; and they ^(M)brought to Him all sick people who were afflicted with various diseases and torments, and those who were demon-possessed, epileptics, and paralytics; and He healed them. ^25 (N)Great multitudes followed Him—from Galilee, and from ^[c]Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea, and beyond the Jordan.

Miraculous Signs for Pharaoh

4 Then Moses answered and said, “But suppose they will not believe me or listen to my voice; suppose they say, ‘The Lord has not appeared to you.’ ”

² So the Lord said to him, “What is that in your hand?”

He said, “A rod.”

³ And He said, “Cast it on the ground.” So he cast it on the ground, and it became a serpent; and Moses fled from it. ⁴ Then the Lord said to Moses, “Reach out your hand and take it by the tail” (and he reached out his hand and caught it, and it became a rod in his hand), ⁵ “that they may ^(A)believe that the ^(B)Lord God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has appeared to you.”

²⁷ “Then he said, ‘I beg you therefore, father, that you would send him to my father’s house, ²⁸ for I have five brothers, that he may testify to them, lest they also come to this place of torment.’ ²⁹ Abraham said to him, ^(A)‘They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.’ ³⁰ And he said, ‘No, father Abraham; but if one goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’ ³¹ But he said to him, ^(B)‘If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, ^(C)neither will they be persuaded though one rise from the dead.’ ”

^20 (A)Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the ^[a]disputer of this age? ^(B)Has not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? ²¹ For since, in the ^(C)wisdom of God, the world through wisdom did not know God, it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe. ²² For ^(D)Jews request a sign, and Greeks seek after wisdom; ²³ but we preach Christ crucified, ^(E)to the Jews a ^[b]stumbling block and to the ^[c]Greeks ^(F)foolishness, ²⁴ but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ ^(G)the power of God and ^(H)the wisdom of God. ²⁵ Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.

⁶ Now these things became our examples, to the intent that we should not lust after evil things as ^(A)they also lusted. ^7 (B)And do not become idolaters as were some of them. As it is written, ^(C)“The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play.” ^8 (D)Nor let us commit sexual immorality, as ^(E)some of them did, and ^(F)in one day twenty-three thousand fell; ⁹ nor let us ^[a]tempt Christ, as ^(G)some of them also tempted, and ^(H)were destroyed by serpents; ¹⁰ nor complain, as ^(I)some of them also complained, and ^(J)were destroyed by ^(K)the destroyer. ¹¹ Now ^[b]all these things happened to them as examples, and ^(L)they were written for our ^[c]admonition, ^(M)upon whom the ends of the ages have come.

Jonah Preaches at Nineveh

3 Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah the second time, saying, ² “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and preach to it the message that I tell you.” ³ So Jonah arose and went to Nineveh, according to the word of the Lord. Now Nineveh was an exceedingly great city, ^[a]a three-day journey in extent. ⁴ And Jonah began to enter the city on the first day’s walk. Then ^(A)he cried out and said, “Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!”

The People of Nineveh Believe

⁵ So the ^(B)people of Nineveh believed God, proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest to the least of them. ⁶ Then word came to the king of Nineveh; and he arose from his throne and laid aside his robe, covered himself with sackcloth ^(C)and sat in ashes. ^7 (D)And he caused it to be proclaimed and published throughout Nineveh by the decree of the king and his ^[b]nobles, saying,

^10 (H)Then God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God relented from the disaster that He had said He would bring upon them, and He did not do it.

The Queen of Sheba’s Praise of Solomon^(A)

10 Now when the ^(B)queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon concerning the name of the Lord, she came ^(C)to test him with hard questions. ² She came to Jerusalem with a very great ^[a]retinue, with camels that bore spices, very much gold, and precious stones; and when she came to Solomon, she spoke with him about all that was in her heart. ³ So Solomon answered all her questions; there was nothing ^[b]so difficult for the king that he could not explain it to her. ⁴ And when the queen of Sheba had seen all the wisdom of Solomon, the house that he had built, ⁵ the food on his table, the seating of his servants, the service of his waiters and their apparel, his cupbearers, ^(D)and his entryway by which he went up to the house of the Lord, there was no more spirit in her. ⁶ Then she said to the king: “It was a true report which I heard in my own land about your words and your wisdom. ⁷ However I did not believe the words until I came and saw with my own eyes; and indeed the half was not told me. Your wisdom and prosperity exceed the fame of which I heard. ^8 (E)Happy are your men and happy are these your servants, who stand continually before you and hear your wisdom! ^9 (F)Blessed be the Lord your God, who ^(G)delighted in you, setting you on the throne of Israel! Because the Lord has loved Israel forever, therefore He made you king, ^(H)to do justice and righteousness.”

¹⁰ Then she ^(I)gave the king one hundred and twenty talents of gold, spices in great quantity, and precious stones. There never again came such abundance of spices as the queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon.