Jesus Is Lord of the Sabbath^(A)

12 At that time ^(B)Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath. And His disciples were hungry, and began to ^(C)pluck heads of grain and to eat. ² And when the Pharisees saw it, they said to Him, “Look, Your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath!”

³ But He said to them, “Have you not read ^(D)what David did when he was hungry, he and those who were with him: ⁴ how he entered the house of God and ate ^(E)the showbread which was not lawful for him to eat, nor for those who were with him, ^(F)but only for the priests? ⁵ Or have you not read in the ^(G)law that on the Sabbath the priests in the temple ^[a]profane the Sabbath, and are blameless? ⁶ Yet I say to you that in this place there is ^(H)One greater than the temple. ⁷ But if you had known what this means, ^(I)‘I desire mercy and not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the guiltless. ⁸ For the Son of Man is Lord ^[b]even of the Sabbath.”

Healing on the Sabbath^(J)

^9 (K)Now when He had departed from there, He went into their synagogue. ¹⁰ And behold, there was a man who had a withered hand. And they asked Him, saying, ^(L)“Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?”—that they might accuse Him.

¹¹ Then He said to them, “What man is there among you who has one sheep, and if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will not lay hold of it and lift it out? ¹² Of how much more value then is a man than a sheep? Therefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.” ¹³ Then He said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” And he stretched it out, and it was restored as whole as the other. ¹⁴ Then ^(M)the Pharisees went out and plotted against Him, how they might destroy Him.

Behold, My Servant

¹⁵ But when Jesus knew it, ^(N)He withdrew from there. ^(O)And great ^[c]multitudes followed Him, and He healed them all. ¹⁶ Yet He ^(P)warned them not to make Him known, ¹⁷ that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying:

A House Divided Cannot Stand^(S)

^22 (T)Then one was brought to Him who was demon-possessed, blind and mute; and He healed him, so that the ^[d]blind and mute man both spoke and saw. ²³ And all the multitudes were amazed and said, “Could this be the ^(U)Son of David?”

^24 (V)Now when the Pharisees heard it they said, “This fellow does not cast out demons except by ^[e]Beelzebub, the ruler of the demons.”

²⁵ But Jesus ^(W)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, ^(X)surely the kingdom of God has come upon you. ^29 (Y)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^(Z)

³¹ “Therefore I say to you, ^(AA)every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, ^(AB)but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven men. ³² Anyone who ^(AC)speaks a word against the Son of Man, ^(AD)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^(AE)

³³ “Either make the tree good and ^(AF)its fruit good, or else make the tree bad and its fruit bad; for a tree is known by its fruit. ^34 (AG)Brood^[f] of vipers! How can you, being evil, speak good things? ^(AH)For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. ³⁵ A good man out of the good treasure ^[g]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^(AI)

^38 (AJ)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 ^(AK)adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. ^40 (AL)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 (AM)The men of Nineveh will rise up in the judgment with this generation and ^(AN)condemn it, ^(AO)because they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and indeed a greater than Jonah is here. ^42 (AP)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^(AQ)

^43 (AR)“When an unclean spirit goes out of a man, ^(AS)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; ^(AT)and the last state of that man is worse than the first. So shall it also be with this wicked generation.”

Defilement Comes from Within^(A)

15 Then ^(B)the scribes and Pharisees who were from Jerusalem came to Jesus, saying, ^2 (C)“Why do Your disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands when they eat bread.”

³ He answered and said to them, “Why do you also transgress the commandment of God because of your tradition? ⁴ For God commanded, saying, ^(D)‘Honor your father and your mother’; and, ^(E)‘He who curses father or mother, let him be put to death.’ ⁵ But you say, ‘Whoever says to his father or mother, ^(F)“Whatever profit you might have received from me is a gift to God”— ⁶ then he need not honor his father ^[a]or mother.’ Thus you have made the ^[b]commandment of God of no effect by your tradition. ^7 (G)Hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy about you, saying:

^10 (J)When He had called the multitude to Himself, He said to them, “Hear and understand: ^11 (K)Not what goes into the mouth defiles a man; but what comes out of the mouth, this defiles a man.”

¹² Then His disciples came and said to Him, “Do You know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this saying?”

¹³ But He answered and said, ^(L)“Every plant which My heavenly Father has not planted will be uprooted. ¹⁴ Let them alone. ^(M)They are blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind leads the blind, both will fall into a ditch.”

³ The Pharisees also came to Him, testing Him, and saying to Him, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for just any reason?”

⁴ And He answered and said to them, “Have you not read that He who ^[a]made them at the beginning ^(A)‘made them male and female,’ ⁵ and said, ^(B)‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and ^(C)the two shall become one flesh’? ⁶ So then, they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate.”

⁷ They said to Him, ^(D)“Why then did Moses command to give a certificate of divorce, and to put her away?”

⁸ He said to them, “Moses, because of the ^(E)hardness of your hearts, permitted you to divorce your ^(F)wives, but from the beginning it was not so. ^9 (G)And I say to you, whoever divorces his wife, except for ^[b]sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery; and whoever marries her who is divorced commits adultery.”

¹⁰ His disciples said to Him, ^(H)“If such is the case of the man with his wife, it is better not to marry.”

Jesus Teaches on Celibacy

¹¹ But He said to them, ^(I)“All cannot accept this saying, but only those to whom it has been given: ¹² For there are ^[c]eunuchs who were born thus from their mother’s womb, and ^(J)there are eunuchs who were made eunuchs by men, and there are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven’s sake. He who is able to accept it, let him accept it.”

Woe to the Scribes and Pharisees^(A)

23 Then Jesus spoke to the multitudes and to His disciples, ² saying: ^(B)“The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat. ³ Therefore whatever they tell you ^[a]to observe, that observe and do, but do not do according to their works; for ^(C)they say, and do not do. ^4 (D)For they bind heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on men’s shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers. ⁵ But all their works they do to ^(E)be seen by men. They make their phylacteries broad and enlarge the borders of their garments. ^6 (F)They love the ^[b]best places at feasts, the best seats in the synagogues, ⁷ greetings in the marketplaces, and to be called by men, ‘Rabbi, Rabbi.’ ^8 (G)But you, do not be called ‘Rabbi’; for One is your ^[c]Teacher, ^[d]the Christ, and you are all brethren. ⁹ Do not call anyone on earth your father; ^(H)for One is your Father, He who is in heaven. ¹⁰ And do not be called teachers; for One is your Teacher, the Christ. ¹¹ But ^(I)he who is greatest among you shall be your servant. ^12 (J)And whoever exalts himself will be ^[e]humbled, and he who humbles himself will be ^[f]exalted.

¹³ “But ^(K)woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut up the kingdom of heaven against men; for you neither go in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in. ^14 [g]Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! ^(L)For you devour widows’ houses, and for a pretense make long prayers. Therefore you will receive greater condemnation.

¹⁵ “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel land and sea to win one proselyte, and when he is won, you make him twice as much a son of ^[h]hell as yourselves.

¹⁶ “Woe to you, ^(M)blind guides, who say, ^(N)‘Whoever swears by the temple, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gold of the temple, he is obliged to perform it.’ ¹⁷ Fools and blind! For which is greater, the gold ^(O)or the temple that ^[i]sanctifies the gold? ¹⁸ And, ‘Whoever swears by the altar, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gift that is on it, he is obliged to perform it.’ ¹⁹ Fools and blind! For which is greater, the gift ^(P)or the altar that sanctifies the gift? ²⁰ Therefore he who ^[j]swears by the altar, swears by it and by all things on it. ²¹ He who swears by the temple, swears by it and by ^(Q)Him who ^[k]dwells in it. ²² And he who swears by heaven, swears by ^(R)the throne of God and by Him who sits on it.

²³ “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! ^(S)For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and ^(T)have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone. ²⁴ Blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel!

²⁵ “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! ^(U)For you cleanse the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of extortion and ^[l]self-indulgence. ²⁶ Blind Pharisee, first cleanse the inside of the cup and dish, that the outside of them may be clean also.

²⁷ “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! ^(V)For you are like whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness. ²⁸ Even so you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.

^29 (W)“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! Because you build the tombs of the prophets and ^[m]adorn the monuments of the righteous, ³⁰ and say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets.’

³¹ “Therefore you are witnesses against yourselves that ^(X)you are sons of those who murdered the prophets. ^32 (Y)Fill up, then, the measure of your fathers’ guilt. ³³ Serpents, ^(Z)brood^[n] of vipers! How can you escape the condemnation of hell? ^34 (AA)Therefore, indeed, I send you prophets, wise men, and scribes: ^(AB)some of them you will kill and crucify, and ^(AC)some of them you will scourge in your synagogues and persecute from city to city, ^35 (AD)that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on the earth, ^(AE)from the blood of righteous Abel to ^(AF)the blood of Zechariah, son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar. ³⁶ Assuredly, I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation.