Abraham and Abimelech

20 And Abraham journeyed from ^(A)there to the South, and dwelt between ^(B)Kadesh and Shur, and ^(C)stayed in Gerar. ² Now Abraham said of Sarah his wife, ^(D)“She is my sister.” And Abimelech king of Gerar sent and ^(E)took Sarah.

³ But ^(F)God came to Abimelech ^(G)in a dream by night, and said to him, ^(H)“Indeed you are a dead man because of the woman whom you have taken, for she is ^[a]a man’s wife.”

⁴ But Abimelech had not come near her; and he said, “Lord, ^(I)will You slay a righteous nation also? ⁵ Did he not say to me, ‘She is my sister’? And she, even she herself said, ‘He is my brother.’ ^(J)In the ^[b]integrity of my heart and innocence of my hands I have done this.”

⁶ And God said to him in a dream, “Yes, I know that you did this in the integrity of your heart. For ^(K)I also withheld you from sinning ^(L)against Me; therefore I did not let you touch her. ⁷ Now therefore, restore the man’s wife; ^(M)for he is a prophet, and he will pray for you and you shall live. But if you do not restore her, ^(N)know that you shall surely die, you ^(O)and all who are yours.”

⁸ So Abimelech rose early in the morning, called all his servants, and told all these things in their hearing; and the men were very much afraid. ⁹ And Abimelech called Abraham and said to him, “What have you done to us? How have I ^[c]offended you, ^(P)that you have brought on me and on my kingdom a great sin? You have done deeds to me ^(Q)that ought not to be done.” ¹⁰ Then Abimelech said to Abraham, “What did you have in view, that you have done this thing?”

¹¹ And Abraham said, “Because I thought, surely ^(R)the fear of God is not in this place; and ^(S)they will kill me on account of my wife. ¹² But indeed ^(T)she is truly my sister. She is the daughter of my father, but not the daughter of my mother; and she became my wife. ¹³ And it came to pass, when ^(U)God caused me to wander from my father’s house, that I said to her, ‘This is your kindness that you should do for me: in every place, wherever we go, ^(V)say of me, “He is my brother.” ’ ”

¹⁴ Then Abimelech ^(W)took sheep, oxen, and male and female servants, and gave them to Abraham; and he restored Sarah his wife to him. ¹⁵ And Abimelech said, “See, ^(X)my land is before you; dwell where it pleases you.” ¹⁶ Then to Sarah he said, “Behold, I have given your brother a thousand pieces of silver; ^(Y)indeed this ^[d]vindicates you ^(Z)before all who are with you and before everybody.” Thus she was ^[e]rebuked.

¹⁷ So Abraham ^(AA)prayed to God; and God ^(AB)healed Abimelech, his wife, and his female servants. Then they bore children; ¹⁸ for the Lord ^(AC)had closed up all the wombs of the house of Abimelech because of Sarah, Abraham’s wife.

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.”