Matthew 12:38-45

New International Reader's Version

The Sign of Jonah

³⁸ Some of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law came to Jesus. They said, “Teacher, we want to see a sign from you.”

³⁹ He answered, “Evil and unfaithful people ask for a sign! But none will be given except the sign of the prophet Jonah. ⁴⁰ Jonah was in the belly of a huge fish for three days and three nights. Something like that will happen to the Son of Man. He will spend three days and three nights in the grave. ⁴¹ The men of Nineveh will stand up on judgment day with the people now living. And the Ninevites will prove that these people are guilty. The men of Nineveh turned away from their sins when Jonah preached to them. And now something more important than Jonah is here. ⁴² The Queen of the South will stand up on judgment day with the people now living. And she will prove that they are guilty. She came from very far away to listen to Solomon’s wisdom. And now something more important than Solomon is here.

⁴³ “What happens when an evil spirit comes out of a person? It goes through dry areas looking for a place to rest. But it doesn’t find it. ⁴⁴ Then it says, ‘I will return to the house I left.’ When it arrives there, it finds the house empty. The house has been swept clean and put in order. ⁴⁵ Then the evil spirit goes and takes with it seven other spirits more evil than itself. They go in and live there. That person is worse off than before. That is how it will be with the evil people of today.”