Matthew 12
Worldwide English (New Testament)
12 About that time, Jesus was walking through the grain fields on a Sabbath day. His disciples were hungry. They began to pick some of the grain and to eat it.
2 The Pharisees saw them. They said to Jesus, `Look! Your disciples are doing what is not right on the Sabbath day.'
3 But Jesus said to them, `Have you not read what David did? He and his men who were with him were hungry.
4 He went into God's house. Some bread was there for God. David's men ate it. David did not have the right to eat it, nor the men who were with him. Only the priests have the right to eat it. But David took the bread and ate it. He also gave some of it to the men who were with him.
5 `Have you never read in the books of the law that the priests in the temple break the Sabbath law on the Sabbath day? They are not punished for it.
6 I tell you, there is someone here who is greater than the temple.
7 `You do not know what this means, "I want you to be kind; I do not want a sacrifice." If you knew, then you would not have said what they did was wrong. What they did was not wrong.
8 The Son of Man rules over the Sabbath day.'
9 Jesus left that place and went into the meeting house.
10 There was a man whose hand was thin and weak. The people asked Jesus, `Is it right to heal a man on the Sabbath day?' They wanted to find something wrong about Jesus.
11 Jesus said to them, `If one of you had a sheep and it fell into a hole on the Sabbath day, would you not take hold of it and pull it out?
12 A man is worth much more than a sheep. So it is right to do good things on the Sabbath day.'
13 Then he said to the man, `Hold out your hand.' The man held out his hand and it was made well like the other hand.
14 Then the Pharisees went out and planned together how to kill Jesus.
15 Jesus knew about their plan, so he went away from there. Many people followed him and he healed them all.
16 He told them not to tell where he was.
17 So what Isaiah the prophet of God said, came true.
18 He said, `This is my servant. I have chosen him. I love him. I am very pleased with him. I will put my Spirit on him. He will judge the people who are not Jews.
19 He will not fight or shout. No one will hear his voice in the streets.
20 He will not break a stick that is already bent. He will not put out a light that burns only a little. What is right will win, because he will make it win.
21 Those who are not Jews will believe in him.'
22 Then the people brought a man to Jesus. The man had a bad spirit in him. He was blind and could not talk. Jesus healed him. Then the man could talk and see.
23 All the people were surprised. They said, `Is he David's son?'
24 The Pharisees heard about it. They said, `This man drives out bad spirits by the help of Beelzebub, the chief of bad spirits.'
25 Jesus knew what they were thinking. He said to them, `If one part of any country fights against the other part of the country, that country is broken down. If one part of any city or family fights against the other part of it, it cannot stand.
26 If Satan drives out Satan, he fights against himself. How then will his kingdom stand?
27 If I drive out bad spirits by Beelzebub, how do your own people drive them out? Let them judge you.
28 But if I drive out bad spirits by God's Spirit, then God's kingdom is here with you now.
29 `If anyone wants to go into a strong man's house and steal his things, he must first tie the strong man. Then he can steal his things.
30 `Anyone who is not with me, is against me. Anyone who does not work with me is working against me.
31 `That is why I tell you this. All wrong things that people do or say, will be forgiven. But people who say wrong things against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven.
32 Anyone who says anything against the Son of Man will be forgiven. But anyone who says anything against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven. He will not be forgiven in this world or in the next world.'
33 `Either make a tree good and its fruit good, or make a tree bad and its fruit bad. People know what kind of tree it is by the fruit on it.
34 You family of snakes! How can you say good things? You are wrong! The mouth will say what is in the heart.
35 A good man has stored up good things in his heart, so he will say good things. A bad man has stored up wrong things in his heart, so he will say wrong things.
36 I tell you this. On the day when people are judged, they will pay for every empty word they have said.
37 Because of your words, you will be called good. Or because of your words, you will be punished.'
38 Then some of the scribes and Pharisees said to him, `Teacher, we want you to show us a sign.'
39 But Jesus answered them, `The people today are bad. They have gone away from God. They want a sign. No sign will be given them but the sign of the prophet Jonah.
40 Jonah was inside the big sea animal for three days and three nights. So the Son of Man will be in the ground for three days and three nights.
41 When people are judged, the men of the city of Nineveh will stand up and speak against the people of today. The people of Nineveh stopped their wrong ways when Jonah told them God's word. And the one who is here is greater than Jonah.
42 When people are judged, the Queen of the South will stand up and speak against the people of today. She came a long way to hear the wise talk of Solomon. And the one who is here is greater than Solomon.'
43 `When a bad spirit has gone out of a man, he goes through dry places. He looks for a place to rest, but he does not find any.
44 Then he says, "I will go back to my house from where I came." When he comes back, he finds it is empty, clean, and all fixed up.
45 Then he goes and brings seven other spirits with him. They are worse than he is. They go in and live there. Now the man is worse than he was at first. That is how it will be for the wrong people of today.'
46 While Jesus was still talking to the people, his mother and brothers stood outside. They wanted to talk to him.
47 Someone told him, `Your mother and your brothers are standing outside. They want to talk to you.'
48 But to the man who told him, he said, `Who is my mother? Who are my brothers?'
49 He pointed to his disciples and said, `These people are my mother and my brothers!
50 Anyone who obeys my Father in heaven is my brother, my sister, and my mother.'
Matthew 12
American Standard Version
12 At that season Jesus went on the sabbath day through the grainfields; and his disciples were hungry and began to pluck ears and to eat. 2 But the Pharisees, when they saw it, said unto him, Behold, thy disciples do that which it is not lawful to do upon the sabbath. 3 But he said unto them, [a]Have ye not read what David did, when he was hungry, and they that were with him; 4 how he entered into the house of God, and [b]ate the showbread, which it was not lawful for him to eat, neither for them that were with him, but only for the priests? 5 Or have ye not read in the law, [c]that on the sabbath day the priests in the temple profane the sabbath, and are guiltless? 6 But I say unto you, that [d]one greater than the temple is here. 7 But if ye had known what this meaneth, [e]I desire mercy, and not sacrifice, ye would not have condemned the guiltless. 8 For the Son of man is lord of the sabbath.
9 And he departed thence, and went into their synagogue: 10 and behold, a man having a withered hand. And they asked him, saying, Is it lawful to heal on the sabbath day? that they might accuse him. 11 And he said unto them, What man shall there be of you, that shall have one sheep, and if this fall into a pit on the sabbath day, will he not lay hold on it, and lift it out? 12 How much then is a man of more value than a sheep! Wherefore it is lawful to do good on the sabbath day. 13 Then saith he to the man, Stretch forth thy hand. And he stretched it forth; and it was restored whole, as the other. 14 But the Pharisees went out, and took counsel against him, how they might destroy him.
15 And Jesus perceiving it withdrew from thence: and many followed him; and he healed them all, 16 and charged them that they should not make him known: 17 that it might be fulfilled which was spoken through Isaiah the prophet, saying,
18 [f]Behold, my [g]servant whom I have chosen;
My beloved in whom my soul is well pleased:
I will put my Spirit upon him,
And he shall declare judgment to the [h]Gentiles.
19 He shall not strive, nor cry aloud;
Neither shall any one hear his voice in the streets.
20 A bruised reed shall he not break,
And smoking flax shall he not quench,
Till he send forth judgment unto victory.
21 And in his name shall the [i]Gentiles hope.
22 Then was brought unto him [j]one possessed with a demon, blind and dumb: and he healed him, insomuch that the dumb man spake and saw. 23 And all the multitudes were amazed, and said, Can this be the son of David? 24 But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, This man doth not cast out demons, but [k]by [l]Beelzebub the prince of the demons. 25 And knowing their thoughts he said unto them, Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand: 26 and if Satan casteth out Satan, he is divided against himself; how then shall his kingdom stand? 27 And if I [m]by [n]Beelzebub cast out demons, [o]by whom do your sons cast them out? therefore shall they be your judges. 28 But if I [p]by the Spirit of God cast out demons, then is the kingdom of God come upon you. 29 Or how can one enter into the house of the strong man, and spoil his goods, except he first bind the strong man? and then he will spoil his house. 30 He that is not with me is against me; and he that gathereth not with me scattereth. 31 Therefore I say unto you, Every sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men; but the blasphemy against the Spirit shall not be forgiven. 32 And whosoever shall speak a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him; but whosoever shall speak against the Holy Spirit, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this [q]world, nor in that which is to come. 33 Either make the tree good, and its fruit good; or make the tree corrupt, and its fruit corrupt: for the tree is known by its fruit. 34 Ye offspring of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh. 35 The good man out of his good treasure bringeth forth good things: and the evil man out of his evil treasure bringeth forth evil things. 36 And I say unto you, that every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment. 37 For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.
38 Then certain of the scribes and Pharisees answered him, saying, Teacher, we would see a sign from thee. 39 But he answered and said unto them, An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it but the sign of Jonah the prophet: 40 for as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the [r]whale; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. 41 The men of Nineveh shall stand up in the judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: for they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and behold, [s]a greater than Jonah is here. 42 The queen of the south shall rise up in the judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and behold, [t]a greater than Solomon is here. 43 But the unclean spirit, when [u]he is gone out of the man, passeth through waterless places, seeking rest, and findeth it not. 44 Then [v]he saith, I will return into my house whence I came out; and when [w]he is come, [x]he findeth it empty, swept, and garnished. 45 Then goeth [y]he, and taketh with [z]himself seven other spirits more evil than [aa]himself, and they enter in and dwell there: and the last state of that man becometh worse than the first. Even so shall it be also unto this evil generation.
46 While he was yet speaking to the multitudes, behold, his mother and his brethren stood without, seeking to speak to him. 47 [ab]And one said unto him, Behold, thy mother and thy brethren stand without, seeking to speak to thee. 48 But he answered and said unto him that told him, Who is my mother? and who are my brethren? 49 And he stretched forth his hand towards his disciples, and said, Behold, my mother and my brethren! 50 For whosoever shall do the will of my Father who is in heaven, he is my brother, and sister, and mother.
Footnotes
- Matthew 12:3 1 Sam. 21:6.
- Matthew 12:4 Some ancient authorities read they ate.
- Matthew 12:5 Num. 28:9, 10.
- Matthew 12:6 Greek a greater thing.
- Matthew 12:7 Hos. 6:6.
- Matthew 12:18 Isa. 42:1ff.
- Matthew 12:18 See marginal note on Acts 3:13.
- Matthew 12:18 See marginal note on 4:15.
- Matthew 12:21 See marginal note on 4:15.
- Matthew 12:22 Or, a demoniac
- Matthew 12:24 Or, in
- Matthew 12:24 Greek Beelzebul.
- Matthew 12:27 Or, in
- Matthew 12:27 Greek Beelzebul.
- Matthew 12:27 Or, in
- Matthew 12:28 Or, in
- Matthew 12:32 Or, age
- Matthew 12:40 Greek sea-monster.
- Matthew 12:41 Greek more than.
- Matthew 12:42 Greek more than.
- Matthew 12:43 Or, it
- Matthew 12:44 Or, it
- Matthew 12:44 Or, it
- Matthew 12:44 Or, it
- Matthew 12:45 Or, it
- Matthew 12:45 Or, itself
- Matthew 12:45 Or, itself
- Matthew 12:47 Some ancient authorities omit verse 47.
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