Chronological
The Crowds Call Jesus The Messiah. The Pharisees Attribute His Power To The Devil
22 Then a blind and mute man being demon-possessed was brought to Him. And He cured him, so that the mute man was speaking and seeing. 23 And all the crowds were astonished, and were saying, “This One is not the Son of David, is He?” 24 But the Pharisees, having heard it, said, “This One is not casting out the demons except by Beelzebul, the ruler of the demons!”
Such Blasphemy Against The Spirit Will Not Be Forgiven
25 And knowing their thoughts, He said to them— “Every kingdom having been divided against itself is desolated, and every city or house having been divided against itself will not stand; 26 and if Satan is casting-out Satan, he was divided against himself. How then will his kingdom stand? 27 And if I am casting out the demons by Beelzebul, by whom[a] are your sons casting them out? For this reason they will be your judges; 28 but if I am casting out the demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God came[b] upon you. 29 Or how can anyone enter into the house of the strong man and snatch-away his things unless he first binds the strong man? And then he will plunder his house. 30 The one not being with Me[c] is against Me. And the one not gathering with Me is scattering. 31 For this reason I say to you— every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven to people. But the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven[d]. 32 And whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven to him. But whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven to him— neither in this age nor in the one coming. 33 Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree bad and its fruit bad[e]. For the tree is known by the fruit. 34 Brood of vipers! How are you able to speak good things, being evil? For the mouth speaks out of the abundance of the heart— 35 the good person brings out good things from his good treasure[f], and the evil person brings out evil things from his evil treasure. 36 And I say to you that every useless[g] word which people will speak— they will render an account for it on the day of judgment. 37 For by your words you will be declared-righteous, and by your words you will be condemned”.
Pharisees Ask Jesus For a Sign. He Offers Only The Sign of Jonah: Three Days In a Grave
38 Then some of the scribes and Pharisees responded to Him, saying “Teacher, we want to see a sign from You”. 39 But the One, having responded, said to them— “An evil and adulterous[h] generation is seeking-for a sign. And a sign will not be given to it, except the sign of Jonah the prophet. 40 For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the sea-creature[i], so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights[j] in the heart of the earth.
The Ninevites Will Condemn This Generation, For They Repented At Jonah’s Message
41 “Ninevite men will rise-up at the judgment with this generation, and they will condemn it. Because they repented at the proclamation of Jonah, and behold— a greater thing than Jonah is here. 42 The Queen of the South will be raised at the judgment with this generation, and she will condemn it. Because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and behold— a greater thing than Solomon is here.
The Demons I Cast Out Now Will Return Later, And You Will Be Worse Off
43 “Now when the unclean spirit departs from the person, it goes through waterless places seeking rest[k], and does not find it. 44 Then it says, ‘I will return to my house from where I came-out’. And having come, it finds it being unoccupied, having been swept and put-in-order[l]. 45 Then it proceeds and takes along with itself seven other spirits more evil than itself. And having gone in, they dwell there, and the last[m] state of that person becomes worse than the first. So it will be[n] also with this evil generation”.
Jesus Says That Whoever Does The Will of God Is His Brother And Sister And Mother
46 While He was still speaking to the crowds, behold— His mother and brothers were standing outside, seeking to speak to Him. 47 And someone said to Him, “Behold— Your mother and Your brothers are standing outside, seeking to speak to You”. 48 But the One, having responded, said to the one speaking to Him, “Who is My mother and who are My brothers?” 49 And having stretched-out His hand toward His disciples, He said “Behold— My mother and My brothers! 50 For whoever does the will of My Father in the heavens— he is My brother and sister and mother”.
Jesus Teaches His Disciples To Pray
11 And it came about during His being in a certain place praying, that when He ceased, a certain one of His disciples said to Him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John also taught his disciples”. 2 And He said to them, “Whenever you pray, say, ‘Father— let[a] Your name be treated-as-holy. Let Your kingdom come. 3 Be giving us each day our daily bread. 4 And forgive us our sins, for we also are forgiving everyone being indebted to us. And do not bring us into a temptation[b]’”.
Keep Asking And You Will Receive
5 And He said to them, “Which of you will have a friend, and will go to him at midnight and say to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves-of-bread, 6 because my friend came to me from a journey and I do not have what I will set-before him’; 7 and that one, having responded from inside says ‘Do not be causing me troubles. The door has already been locked, and my children are with me in bed. I am not able, having arisen, to give it to you’? 8 I say to you: even though he will not, having arisen, give to him because of being his friend, yet because of his shamelessness[c] he will, having been raised[d], give to him as much as he needs. 9 And I say to you: be asking, and it will be given to you. Be seeking, and you will find. Be knocking, and it will be opened to you. 10 For everyone asking receives. And the one seeking finds. And to the one knocking, it will be opened.
God Knows How To Give Good Answers To Your Prayers
11 “And what father from-among you will his son ask-for a fish, and he will give him a snake[e] instead of a fish? 12 Or indeed he will ask-for an egg— will he give him a scorpion? 13 Therefore if you, being evil, know-how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father from heaven give the Holy Spirit to the ones asking Him!”
Some Say Jesus Casts Out Demons By Satan’s Power
14 And He was casting-out a demon, and it was mute. And it came about, the demon having gone out, that the mute man spoke. And the crowds marveled. 15 But some of them said, “He is casting out the demons by[f] Beelzebul, the ruler of the demons”. 16 And others, testing Him, were seeking from Him a sign out of heaven.
A Kingdom Divided Cannot Stand. Watch Out Or You Will Be Worse Off
17 But He, knowing their thoughts, said to them— “Every kingdom having been divided against itself is desolated, and a house divided against a house falls; 18 and if indeed Satan was divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand?— because you are saying that I am casting out the demons by Beelzebul. 19 And if I am casting out the demons by Beelzebul, by whom[g] are your sons casting them out? For this reason, they will be your judges; 20 but if I am casting out the demons by the finger of God, then the kingdom of God came[h] upon you. 21 Whenever the strong man having fully-armed-himself [i] is guarding his own courtyard, his possessions are in peace. 22 But when one stronger than he, having come against him, overcomes him— he takes away his full-armor upon which he trusted, and distributes his spoils. 23 The one not being with Me is against Me. And the one not gathering with Me is scattering. 24 When the unclean spirit departs from the person, it goes-through waterless places seeking rest[j]. And not finding it, then it says, ‘I will return to my house from where I came out’. 25 And having come, it finds it having been swept and put-in-order[k]. 26 Then it proceeds, and takes along seven other spirits more evil than itself. And having gone in, they dwell there. And the last state of that person becomes worse than the first”.
Blessed Are Those Hearing And Keeping The Word of God
27 And it came about during His saying these things that a certain woman from the crowd, having raised her voice, said to Him, “Blessed is the womb having carried You, and the breasts which You sucked”. 28 But He said, “More-than-that, blessed are the ones hearing the word of God and keeping it”.
This Is an Evil Generation. No Sign Will Be Given Except The Sign of Jonah
29 And while the crowds were assembling-more, He began to say “This generation is an evil generation. It is seeking a sign. And a sign will not be given to it except the sign of Jonah. 30 For as Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites, so the Son of Man also will be to this generation. 31 The Queen of the South will be raised at the judgment with the men of this generation, and she will condemn them. Because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and behold— a greater thing than Solomon is here. 32 Ninevite men will rise-up at the judgment with this generation, and they will condemn it. Because they repented at the proclamation of Jonah, and behold— a greater thing than Jonah is here.
The Lamp Shines So People Can See. Watch Out That Your Eye Can Receive The Light
33 “No one having lit a lamp puts it in a crypt[l], nor under the basket, but on the lampstand, in order that the ones coming in may see the light. 34 The lamp[m] of the body is your eye. When your eye is single[n], your whole body is also full-of-light. But when it is bad, your body is also full-of-darkness. 35 So be watching-out that the light in[o] you is not darkness! 36 Therefore if your whole body is full-of-light, not having any part full-of-darkness, [then] the whole body will be full-of-light as when the lamp gives-light-to you with its bright-light”.
Woe To You Pharisees
37 Now at the speaking, a Pharisee asks Him so that He might eat-the-morning-meal with him. And having gone in, He fell-back [to eat]. 38 And the Pharisee, having seen it, marveled that He was not first cleansed[p] before the morning-meal. 39 But the Lord said to him, “Now[q] you Pharisees cleanse the outside of the cup and the platter, but the inside of you is full of plundering and evilness. 40 Foolish ones— did not the One having made the outside also make the inside? 41 But give the things being-within as alms, and behold— all things are clean for you. 42 But woe to you Pharisees, because you are giving-a-tenth-of the mint and the rue and every garden-plant, and are disregarding[r] the justice and the love of God. But you ought-to-have done these things, and not be slackening[s] those things. 43 Woe to you Pharisees, because you love the seat-of-honor in the synagogues and the greetings in the marketplaces. 44 Woe to you, because you are like unmarked[t] graves, and the people walking over them do not know it ”.
Woe To You Law-Experts
45 And having responded, one of the Law-experts says to Him, “Teacher, while saying these things You also are insulting us”. 46 And the One said, “Woe to you Law-experts also, because you burden people with hard-to-bear burdens[u], and you do not touch[v] the burdens with one of your fingers. 47 Woe to you, because you build the tombs of the prophets, and your fathers killed them! 48 Therefore you are witnesses and are giving-approval to the works of your fathers, because they killed them— and you build their tombs. 49 For this reason the wisdom of God also said, ‘I will send-forth prophets and apostles to them, and some of them they will kill and persecute, 50 in order that the blood of all the prophets having been shed since the foundation of the world may be required[w] from this generation— 51 from the blood of Abel up to the blood of Zechariah[x], the one having perished between the altar and the house [of God]. Yes, I say to you, it shall be required from this generation’. 52 Woe to you Law-experts, because you took away the key of knowledge. You did not enter, and you hindered the ones entering”.
With His Enemies Lying In Wait To Destroy Him, Myriads Gather To Hear Jesus
53 And He having gone out from there, the scribes and the Pharisees began to be terribly[y] hostile[z], and to question[aa] Him concerning more things 54 while lying-in-wait-for Him to catch something from His mouth—
Disciples' Literal New Testament: Serving Modern Disciples by More Fully Reflecting the Writing Style of the Ancient Disciples, Copyright © 2011 Michael J. Magill. All Rights Reserved. Published by Reyma Publishing