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.”

Jesus’ Mother and Brothers Send for Him(AC)

46 While He was still talking to the multitudes, (AD)behold, His mother and (AE)brothers stood outside, seeking to speak with Him. 47 Then one said to Him, “Look, (AF)Your mother and Your brothers are standing outside, seeking to speak with You.”

48 But He answered and said to the one who told Him, “Who is My mother and who are My brothers?” 49 And He stretched out His hand toward His disciples and said, “Here are My mother and My (AG)brothers! 50 For (AH)whoever does the will of My Father in heaven is My brother and sister and mother.”

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Footnotes

  1. Matthew 12:22 NU omits blind and
  2. Matthew 12:24 NU, M Beelzebul, a Philistine deity
  3. Matthew 12:34 Offspring
  4. Matthew 12:35 NU, M omit of his heart

The Law Concerning Bodily Discharges

15 And the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, “Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: (A)‘When any man has a discharge from his body, his discharge is unclean. And this shall be his uncleanness in regard to his discharge—whether his body runs with his discharge, or his body is stopped up by his discharge, it is his uncleanness. Every bed is [a]unclean on which he who has the discharge lies, and everything on which he sits shall be unclean. And whoever (B)touches his bed shall (C)wash his clothes and (D)bathe in water, and be unclean until evening. He who sits on anything on which he who has the (E)discharge sat shall wash his clothes and bathe in water, and be unclean until evening. And he who touches the body of him who has the discharge shall wash his clothes and bathe in water, and be unclean until evening. If he who has the discharge (F)spits on him who is clean, then he shall wash his clothes and bathe in water, and be unclean until evening. Any saddle on which he who has the discharge rides shall be unclean. 10 Whoever touches anything that was under him shall be unclean until evening. He who carries any of those things shall wash his clothes and bathe in water, and be unclean until evening. 11 And whomever the one who has the discharge touches, and has not rinsed his hands in water, he shall wash his clothes and bathe in water, and be unclean until evening. 12 The (G)vessel of earth that he who has the discharge touches shall be broken, and every vessel of wood shall be rinsed in water.

13 ‘And when he who has a discharge is cleansed of his discharge, then (H)he shall count for himself seven days for his cleansing, wash his clothes, and bathe his body in running water; then he shall be clean. 14 On the eighth day he shall take for himself (I)two turtledoves or two young pigeons, and come before the Lord, to the door of the tabernacle of meeting, and give them to the priest. 15 Then the priest shall offer them, (J)the one as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering. (K)So the priest shall make [b]atonement for him before the Lord because of his discharge.

16 (L)‘If any man has an emission of semen, then he shall wash all his body in water, and be unclean until evening. 17 And any garment and any leather on which there is semen, it shall be washed with water, and be unclean until evening. 18 Also, when a woman lies with a man, and there is an emission of semen, they shall bathe in water, and (M)be unclean until evening.

19 (N)‘If a woman has a discharge, and the discharge from her body is blood, she shall be [c]set apart seven days; and whoever touches her shall be unclean until evening. 20 Everything that she lies on during her impurity shall be unclean; also everything that she sits on shall be unclean. 21 Whoever touches her bed shall wash his clothes and bathe in water, and be unclean until evening. 22 And whoever touches anything that she sat on shall wash his clothes and bathe in water, and be unclean until evening. 23 If anything is on her bed or on anything on which she sits, when he touches it, he shall be unclean until evening. 24 And (O)if any man lies with her at all, so that her impurity is on him, he shall be [d]unclean seven days; and every bed on which he lies shall be unclean.

25 ‘If (P)a woman has a discharge of blood for many days, other than at the time of her customary impurity, or if it runs beyond her usual time of impurity, all the days of her unclean discharge shall be as the days of her customary impurity. She shall be unclean. 26 Every bed on which she lies all the days of her discharge shall be to her as the bed of her impurity; and whatever she sits on shall be unclean, as the uncleanness of her impurity. 27 Whoever touches those things shall be unclean; he shall wash his clothes and bathe in water, and be unclean until evening.

28 ‘But (Q)if she is cleansed of her discharge, then she shall count for herself seven days, and after that she shall be clean. 29 And on the eighth day she shall take for herself two turtledoves or two young pigeons, and bring them to the priest, to the door of the tabernacle of meeting. 30 Then the priest shall offer the one as a sin offering and the other as a (R)burnt offering, and the priest shall make atonement for her before the Lord for the discharge of her uncleanness.

31 ‘Thus you shall (S)separate the children of Israel from their uncleanness, lest they die in their uncleanness when they (T)defile My tabernacle that is among them. 32 (U)This is the law for one who has a discharge, (V)and for him who emits semen and is unclean thereby, 33 (W)and for her who is indisposed because of her customary impurity, and for one who has a discharge, either man (X)or woman, (Y)and for him who lies with her who is unclean.’ ”

The Day of Atonement

16 Now the Lord spoke to Moses after (Z)the death of the two sons of Aaron, when they offered profane fire before the Lord, and died; and the Lord said to Moses: “Tell Aaron your brother (AA)not to come at just any time into the Holy Place inside the veil, before the mercy seat which is on the ark, lest he die; for (AB)I will appear in the cloud above the mercy seat.

[e]“Thus Aaron shall (AC)come into the Holy Place: (AD)with the blood of a young bull as a sin offering, and of a ram as a burnt offering. He shall put the (AE)holy linen tunic and the linen trousers on his body; he shall be girded with a linen sash, and with the linen turban he shall be attired. These are holy garments. Therefore (AF)he shall wash his body in water, and put them on. And he shall take from (AG)the congregation of the children of Israel two kids of the goats as a sin offering, and one ram as a burnt offering.

“Aaron shall offer the bull as a sin offering, which is for himself, and (AH)make atonement for himself and for his house. He shall take the two goats and present them before the Lord at the door of the tabernacle of meeting. Then Aaron shall cast lots for the two goats: one lot for the Lord and the other lot for the scapegoat. And Aaron shall bring the goat on which the Lord’s lot fell, and offer it as a sin offering. 10 But the goat on which the lot fell to be the scapegoat shall be presented alive before the Lord, to make (AI)atonement upon it, and to let it go as the scapegoat into the wilderness.

11 “And Aaron shall bring the bull of the sin offering, which is for (AJ)himself, and make atonement for himself and for his house, and shall kill the bull as the sin offering which is for himself. 12 Then he shall take (AK)a censer full of burning coals of fire from the altar before the Lord, with his hands full of (AL)sweet incense beaten fine, and bring it inside the veil. 13 (AM)And he shall put the incense on the fire before the Lord, that the cloud of incense may cover the (AN)mercy seat that is on the Testimony, lest he (AO)die. 14 (AP)He shall take some of the blood of the bull and (AQ)sprinkle it with his finger on the mercy seat on the east side; and before the mercy seat he shall sprinkle some of the blood with his finger seven times.

15 (AR)“Then he shall kill the goat of the sin offering, which is for the people, bring its blood (AS)inside the veil, do with that blood as he did with the blood of the bull, and sprinkle it on the mercy seat and before the mercy seat. 16 So he shall (AT)make atonement for the Holy Place, because of the uncleanness of the children of Israel, and because of their transgressions, for all their sins; and so he shall do for the tabernacle of meeting which remains among them in the midst of their uncleanness. 17 There shall be (AU)no man in the tabernacle of meeting when he goes in to make atonement in the Holy Place, until he comes out, that he may make atonement for himself, for his household, and for all the assembly of Israel. 18 And he shall go out to the altar that is before the Lord, and make atonement for (AV)it, and shall take some of the blood of the bull and some of the blood of the goat, and put it on the horns of the altar all around. 19 Then he shall sprinkle some of the blood on it with his finger seven times, cleanse it, and (AW)consecrate[f] it from the [g]uncleanness of the children of Israel.

20 “And when he has made an end of atoning for the Holy Place, the tabernacle of meeting, and the altar, he shall bring the live goat. 21 Aaron shall lay both his hands on the head of the live goat, (AX)confess over it all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions, concerning all their sins, (AY)putting them on the head of the goat, and shall send it away into the wilderness by the hand of a suitable man. 22 The goat [h]shall (AZ)bear on itself all their iniquities to an [i]uninhabited land; and he shall (BA)release the goat in the wilderness.

23 “Then Aaron shall come into the tabernacle of meeting, (BB)shall take off the linen garments which he put on when he went into the Holy Place, and shall leave them there. 24 And he shall wash his body with water in a holy place, put on his garments, come out and offer his burnt offering and the burnt offering of the people, and make [j]atonement for himself and for the people. 25 (BC)The fat of the sin offering he shall burn on the altar. 26 And he who released the goat as the scapegoat shall wash his clothes (BD)and bathe his body in water, and afterward he may come into the camp. 27 (BE)The bull for the sin offering and the goat for the sin offering, whose blood was brought in to make atonement in the Holy Place, shall be carried outside the camp. And they shall burn in the fire their skins, their flesh, and their offal. 28 Then he who burns them shall wash his clothes and bathe his body in water, and afterward he may come into the camp.

29 This shall be a statute forever for you: (BF)In the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, you shall [k]afflict your souls, and do no work at all, whether a native of your own country or a stranger who [l]dwells among you. 30 For on that day the priest shall make [m]atonement for you, to (BG)cleanse you, that you may be clean from all your sins before the Lord. 31 (BH)It is a sabbath of solemn rest for you, and you shall afflict your souls. It is a statute forever. 32 (BI)And the priest, who is anointed and (BJ)consecrated to minister as priest in his father’s place, shall make atonement, and put on the linen clothes, the holy garments; 33 then he shall make [n]atonement for [o]the Holy Sanctuary, and he shall make atonement for the tabernacle of meeting and for the altar, and he shall make atonement for the priests and for all the people of the assembly. 34 (BK)This shall be an everlasting statute for you, to make atonement for the children of Israel, for all their sins, (BL)once a year.” And he did as the Lord commanded Moses.

Footnotes

  1. Leviticus 15:4 defiled
  2. Leviticus 15:15 Lit. covering
  3. Leviticus 15:19 Lit. in her impurity
  4. Leviticus 15:24 defiled
  5. Leviticus 16:3 Lit. With this
  6. Leviticus 16:19 set it apart
  7. Leviticus 16:19 impurity
  8. Leviticus 16:22 shall carry
  9. Leviticus 16:22 solitary land
  10. Leviticus 16:24 Lit. covering
  11. Leviticus 16:29 humble yourselves
  12. Leviticus 16:29 As a resident alien
  13. Leviticus 16:30 Lit. covering
  14. Leviticus 16:33 Lit. covering
  15. Leviticus 16:33 The Most Holy Place

My Son, Be Wise

27 Do(A) not boast about tomorrow,
For you do not know what a day may bring forth.

(B)Let another man praise you, and not your own mouth;
A stranger, and not your own lips.

A stone is heavy and sand is weighty,
But a fool’s wrath is heavier than both of them.

Wrath is cruel and anger a torrent,
But (C)who is able to stand before jealousy?

(D)Open rebuke is better
Than love carefully concealed.

Faithful are the wounds of a friend,
But the kisses of an enemy are (E)deceitful.

A satisfied soul [a]loathes the honeycomb,
But to a hungry soul every bitter thing is sweet.

Like a bird that wanders from its nest
Is a man who wanders from his place.

Ointment and perfume delight the heart,
And the sweetness of a man’s friend gives delight by [b]hearty counsel.

10 Do not forsake your own friend or your father’s friend,
Nor go to your brother’s house in the day of your calamity;
(F)Better is a neighbor nearby than a brother far away.

11 My son, be wise, and make my heart glad,
(G)That I may answer him who reproaches me.

12 A prudent man foresees evil and hides himself;
The simple pass on and are (H)punished.

13 Take the garment of him who is surety for a stranger,
And hold it in pledge when he is surety for a seductress.

14 He who blesses his friend with a loud voice, rising early in the morning,
It will be counted a curse to him.

15 A (I)continual dripping on a very rainy day
And a contentious woman are alike;
16 Whoever [c]restrains her restrains the wind,
And grasps oil with his right hand.

17 As iron sharpens iron,
So a man sharpens the countenance of his friend.

18 (J)Whoever [d]keeps the fig tree will eat its fruit;
So he who waits on his master will be honored.

19 As in water face reflects face,
So a man’s heart reveals the man.

20 (K)Hell[e] and [f]Destruction are never full;
So (L)the eyes of man are never satisfied.

21 (M)The refining pot is for silver and the furnace for gold,
And a man is valued by what others say of him.

22 (N)Though you grind a fool in a mortar with a pestle along with crushed grain,
Yet his foolishness will not depart from him.

23 Be diligent to know the state of your (O)flocks,
And attend to your herds;
24 For riches are not forever,
Nor does a crown endure to all generations.
25 (P)When the hay is removed, and the tender grass shows itself,
And the herbs of the mountains are gathered in,
26 The lambs will provide your clothing,
And the goats the price of a field;
27 You shall have enough goats’ milk for your food,
For the food of your household,
And the nourishment of your maidservants.

Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 27:7 tramples on
  2. Proverbs 27:9 Lit. counsel of the soul
  3. Proverbs 27:16 Lit. hides
  4. Proverbs 27:18 protects or tends
  5. Proverbs 27:20 Or Sheol
  6. Proverbs 27:20 Heb. Abaddon

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