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.

Words Reveal Character

³³ “Either ^[f]assume the tree to be good as well as its fruit good, or ^[g]assume the tree to be bad as well as its fruit bad; for ^(O)the tree is known by its fruit. ^34 (P)You ^[h]offspring of vipers, how can you, being evil, express any good things? ^(Q)For the mouth speaks from that which fills the heart. ^35 (R)The good person brings out of his good treasure good things; and the evil person brings out of his evil treasure evil things. ³⁶ But I tell you that for every ^[i]careless word that people ^[j]speak, they will give an account of it on the ^(S)day of judgment. ³⁷ For ^[k]by your words you will be justified, and ^[l]by your words you will be condemned.”

¹⁹ and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed Him.

²⁰ And He *came ^[a](A)home, and the ^(B)crowd *gathered again, ^(C)to such an extent that they could not even eat ^[b]a meal. ²¹ And when ^(D)His own ^[c]people heard about this, they came out to take custody of Him; for they were saying, “^(E)He has lost His senses.” ²² The scribes who came down ^(F)from Jerusalem were saying, “He ^[d]is possessed by ^[e](G)Beelzebul,” and “^(H)He casts out the demons by the ruler of the demons.” ^23 (I)And so He called them to Himself and began speaking to them in ^(J)parables: “How can ^(K)Satan cast out Satan? ²⁴ And if a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. ²⁵ If a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand. ²⁶ And if ^(L)Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand, but ^[f]he is finished! ^27 (M)But no one can enter the strong man’s house and plunder his property unless he first ties up the strong man, and then he will plunder his house.

²⁸ “^(N)Truly I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the sons and daughters of men, and whatever blasphemies they commit; ²⁹ but ^(O)whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin”— ³⁰ because they were saying, “He has an unclean spirit.”