The Pharisees Rebuked

^22 (A)Then a ^(B)demon-possessed man who was blind and unable to speak was brought to ^[a]Jesus, and He healed him so that the man who was unable to speak talked and ^[b]could see. ²³ And all the crowds were amazed and were saying, “This man cannot be the ^(C)Son of David, can he?” ²⁴ But when the Pharisees heard this, they said, “This man ^(D)casts out demons only by ^[c]Beelzebul the ruler of the demons.”

^25 (E)And ^(F)knowing their thoughts, Jesus said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste; and no city or house divided against itself will stand. ²⁶ And if ^(G)Satan is casting out Satan, he ^[d]has become divided against himself; how then will his kingdom stand? ²⁷ And if ^(H)by ^[e]Beelzebul I cast out the demons, ^(I)by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore, they will be your judges. ²⁸ But ^(J)if I cast out the 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 ties up the strong man? And then he will plunder his house.

The Unpardonable Sin

^30 (K)The one who is not with Me is against Me; and the one who does not gather with Me scatters.

³¹ “^(L)Therefore I say to you, every sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven people, but blasphemy against the Spirit shall not be forgiven. ^32 (M)And 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 ^(N)this age or in the age to come.

²⁴ And the disciples ^(A)were amazed at His words. But Jesus responded again and *said to them, “Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! ^25 (B)It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.” ²⁶ And they were even more astonished, and said to Him, “^[a]Then who can be saved?” ²⁷ Looking at them, Jesus *said, “^(C)With people it is impossible, but not with God; for all things are possible with God.”

^28 (D)Peter began to say to Him, “Behold, we have left everything and have followed You.” ²⁹ Jesus said, “Truly I say to you, ^(E)there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or farms, for My sake and for the gospel’s sake, ^30 [b]but that he will receive a hundred times as much now in ^[c]the present age, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and farms, along with persecutions; and in ^(F)the age to come, eternal life.

¹⁸ I pray that ^(A)the eyes of your heart ^[a]may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the ^(B)hope of His ^(C)calling, what are ^(D)the riches of the glory of ^(E)His inheritance in ^(F)the ^[b]saints, ¹⁹ and what is the ^[c]boundless greatness of His power toward us who believe. ^(G)These are in accordance with the working of the ^(H)strength of His might ²⁰ which He brought about in Christ, when He ^(I)raised Him from the dead and ^(J)seated Him at His right hand in ^(K)the heavenly places, ²¹ far above ^(L)all rule and authority and power and dominion, and every ^(M)name that is named, not only in ^(N)this age but also in the one to come. ²² And He ^(O)put all things in subjection under His feet, and made Him ^(P)head over all things to the church, ²³ which is His ^(Q)body, the ^(R)fullness of Him who ^(S)fills ^(T)all in all.

Is There a Resurrection?

^27 (A)Now some of the ^(B)Sadducees (who maintain that there is no resurrection) came to Him, ²⁸ and they questioned Him, saying, “Teacher, Moses wrote for us that ^(C)if ^[a]a man’s brother dies, ^[b]leaving a wife, and he is childless, that his brother is to ^[c]marry the wife and raise up children ^[d]for his brother. ²⁹ So then, there were seven brothers; and the first took a wife and died childless; ³⁰ and the second ³¹ and the third ^[e]married her; and in the same way ^[f]all seven ^[g]died, leaving no children. ³² Finally the woman also died. ³³ Therefore, in the resurrection, ^[h]which one’s wife does the woman become? For ^[i]all seven ^[j]married her.”

³⁴ Jesus said to them, “The sons of ^(D)this age marry and the women are given in marriage, ³⁵ but those who are considered worthy to attain to ^(E)that age and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry nor are given in marriage; ³⁶ for they cannot even die anymore, for they are like angels, and are ^(F)sons of God, being ^[k]sons of the resurrection.

^3 (A)Grace to you and peace from ^[a]God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ, ⁴ who ^(B)gave Himself for our sins so that He might rescue us from ^(C)this present evil ^[b]age, according to the will of ^(D)our God and Father,

The Wisdom of God

¹⁸ For the word of the cross is ^(A)foolishness to ^(B)those who ^[a]are perishing, but to us who ^[b]are being saved it is ^(C)the power of God. ¹⁹ For it is written:

^20 (E)Where is the wise person? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of ^(F)this age? Has God not ^(G)made foolish the wisdom of ^(H)the world?

Paul’s Reliance upon the Spirit

2 And when I came to you, brothers and sisters, I ^(A)did not come as someone superior in ^[a]speaking ability or ^[b]wisdom, as I proclaimed to you ^(B)the ^[c]testimony of God. ² For I determined to know nothing among you except ^(C)Jesus Christ, and Him crucified. ³ I also was with you in ^(D)weakness and ^(E)fear, and in great trembling, ⁴ and my ^[d]message and my preaching were ^(F)not in persuasive words of ^[e]wisdom, but in demonstration of ^(G)the Spirit and of power, ⁵ so that your faith would not ^[f]rest on the ^[g]wisdom of mankind, but on ^(H)the power of God.

⁶ Yet we do speak wisdom among those who are ^(I)mature; a wisdom, however, not of ^(J)this age nor of the rulers of ^(K)this age, who are ^(L)passing away; ⁷ but we speak God’s wisdom in a ^(M)mystery, the hidden wisdom which God ^(N)predestined before the ^(O)ages to our glory; ⁸ the wisdom ^(P)which none of the rulers of ^(Q)this age has understood; for if they had understood it, they would not have crucified ^(R)the Lord of glory;

Paul’s Apostolic Ministry

4 Therefore, since we have this ^(A)ministry, as we ^(B)received mercy, we ^(C)do not lose heart, ² but we have renounced the ^(D)things hidden because of shame, not walking in trickery nor ^(E)distorting the word of God, but by the open proclamation of the truth ^(F)commending ourselves to every person’s conscience in the sight of God. ³ And even if our ^(G)gospel is ^(H)veiled, it is veiled ^[a]to ^(I)those who are perishing, ⁴ in whose case ^(J)the god of ^(K)this ^[b]world has ^(L)blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that ^[c]they will not see the ^(M)light of the gospel of the ^(N)glory of Christ, who is the ^(O)image of God. ⁵ For we ^(P)do not preach ourselves, but Christ Jesus as Lord, and ourselves as your bond-servants ^[d]on account of Jesus. ⁶ For God, who said, “^(Q)Light shall shine out of darkness,” is the One who has ^(R)shone in our hearts to give the ^(S)Light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.