Chronological
Jesus and Beelzebul
22 They brought to Jesus a man who was possessed by a demon that made him unable to see or speak. Jesus healed him, so that the sick man was able to talk and see. 23 All the crowds were astonished.
“He can’t be David’s Son, can he?” they said.
24 The Pharisees heard this.
“The fellow can only cast out demons,” they said, “because he’s in league with Beelzebul, the prince of demons!”
25 Jesus knew their thoughts. “Suppose a kingdom is split down the middle,” he said to them. “It’ll go to rack and ruin! If a city or a household is split down the middle, it’s doomed! 26 And if the satan drives out the satan, he’s split down the middle—so how can his kingdom stay standing?
27 “What’s more, if I cast out demons by Beelzebul, whose power are your people channeling when they cast them out? Yes, they’ll tell you what’s what! 28 But if I’m casting out demons because I’m in league with God’s spirit—well, then, God’s kingdom has arrived on your doorstep!
29 “Look at it like this. Suppose you want to break into a strong man’s house and steal his belongings. How are you going to do that unless you first tie up the strong man? Then you can plunder his house to your heart’s content. 30 If you’re not with me, you’re against me. Unless you’re gathering the flock with me, you’re scattering it.
31 “So let me tell you this: people will be forgiven for every sin and blasphemy; but blasphemy against the spirit will not be forgiven. 32 If anyone speaks a word against the son of man, it will be forgiven. But if anyone speaks a word against the holy spirit, it won’t be forgiven, either in the present age or in the age to come.”
The sign of Jonah
33 “You must make up your mind between two possibilities,” Jesus went on. “Either the tree is good, in which case its fruit is good; or the tree is bad, in which case its fruit is bad. You can tell the tree by its fruits, after all.
34 “You’re a family of snakes! How can you say good things when you’re bad inside? What the mouth speaks is what fills the heart. 35 A good person produces good things from a good storeroom; an evil person produces evil things from an evil storeroom. 36 Let me tell you this: on judgment day people will have to own up to every trivial word they say. 37 Yes: you will be vindicated by your own words—and you will be condemned by your own words.”
38 “Teacher,” responded some of the scribes and Pharisees. “We would like to see a sign from you.”
39 “This wicked and immoral generation is looking for a sign,” replied Jesus. “But no sign will be given to it—except the sign of Jonah. 40 Jonah, you see, was in the stomach of the sea-monster for three days and three nights—and in the same way the son of man will be in the heart of the earth for three days and three nights. 41 The men of Nineveh will rise up at the judgment along with this generation and will condemn it. They, after all, repented when they heard Jonah’s warnings! And, in case you hadn’t noticed, something greater than Jonah is here. 42 The Queen of the South will be raised at the judgment with this generation and will condemn it. She, after all, came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon! And, in case you hadn’t noticed, something greater than Solomon is here.”
Jesus’ true family
43 “When the unclean spirit goes out of a person,” Jesus continued, “it goes wandering through waterless places looking for somewhere to rest, and doesn’t find anywhere. 44 Then it says, ‘I’ll go back to my house, the one I left.’ When it gets there it finds it standing empty, clean and tidy. 45 Then it goes out and collects seven other spirits to join it, spirits worse than itself. They go in and take up residence there. The poor person ends up worse off than they were to start with! And that’s what will happen with this wicked generation.”
46 Suddenly, while he was speaking to the crowds, his mother and his brothers came and stood outside, hoping for a chance to speak to him.
47 “Look,” someone said to him, “your mother and your brothers are standing outside wanting to speak to you.”
48 “Who is my mother?” said Jesus to the person who had spoken to him. “Who are my brothers?”
49 Then he stretched out his hand towards his disciples.
“Look!” he said. “Here are my mother and my brothers. 50 Yes; anyone who does what my heavenly father wants is my brother, and my sister, and my mother.”
The Lord’s Prayer
11 Once Jesus was praying in a particular place. When he had finished, one of his disciples approached him.
“Teach us to pray, Master,” he said, “just like John taught his disciples.”
2 “When you pray,” replied Jesus, “this is what to say:
“Father, may your name be honored; may your kingdom come; 3 give us each day our daily bread; 4 and forgive us our sins, since we too forgive all our debtors; and don’t put us to the test.
5 “Suppose one of you has a friend,” he said, “and you go to him in the middle of the night and say, ‘My dear friend, lend me three loaves of bread! 6 A friend of mine is on a journey and has arrived at my house, and I have nothing to put in front of him!’ 7 He will answer from inside his house, ‘Don’t make life difficult for me! The door is already shut, and my children and I are all in bed! I can’t get up and give you anything.’ 8 Let me tell you, even if he won’t get up and give you anything just because you’re his friend, because of your shameless persistence he will get up and give you whatever you need.
9 “So this is my word to you: ask and it will be given you; search and you will find; knock and it will be opened to you. 10 You see, everyone who asks receives! Everyone who searches finds! Everyone who knocks has the door opened for them! 11 If your son asks you for a fish, is there a father among you who will give him a snake? 12 Or if he asks for an egg, will you give him a scorpion? 13 So if you, evil as you are, know how to give good presents to your children, how much more will your heavenly father give the holy spirit to those who ask him!”
Jesus and Beelzebul
14 Jesus was casting out a demon that prevented speech. When the demon had gone out, the man who had been silent spoke, and the crowds were amazed. 15 But some of them said, “He casts out demons by Beelzebul, the prince of demons!” 16 Others, trying to test him out, asked him to produce a sign from heaven.
17 Jesus knew what they were thinking.
“Every kingdom split down the middle goes to ruin,” he said. “If a house turns in on itself, it falls. 18 Well then: if even the satan is split down the middle, how can his kingdom last? This,” he added, “is because you say that I cast out demons by Beelzebul!
19 “Now look: supposing I do cast out demons by Beelzebul, whose power are your own people using when they cast them out? Think about it: they will be your judges. 20 But if it’s by God’s finger that I cast out demons, then God’s kingdom has come upon you.
21 “Imagine a strong man, armed to the teeth, guarding his palace. Everything he owns is safe and sound. 22 But supposing someone stronger comes and overpowers him, and takes away the armor he was trusting in—then he can help himself and start dividing up the plunder! 23 If you’re not with me, you’re against me. If you’re not gathering with me, you’re scattering.
24 “When the unclean spirit goes out of a person, it roams through desert landscapes looking for a place to rest. When it doesn’t find anywhere, it says to itself, ‘I shall go back to the house I left behind.’ 25 And it finds the place neat and tidy. 26 So it sets off and brings along seven other spirits more evil than itself, and goes back to live there. That person will end up worse off than he began.”
27 While he was saying these things, a woman from the crowd raised her voice. “A blessing on the womb that bore you,” she shouted, “and the breasts that you sucked!”
28 “On the contrary,” replied Jesus. “A blessing on those who hear God’s word and keep it!”
The sign of Jonah
29 The crowds kept increasing. Jesus began to say to them, “This generation is an evil generation! It looks for a sign, and no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah.
30 “Jonah was a sign to the people of Nineveh; just so, the son of man will be a sign to this generation. 31 The Queen of the South will rise up in the judgment with the men of this generation and will condemn them: she came from the ends of the earth to listen to Solomon’s wisdom, and look—something greater than Solomon is here. 32 The men of Nineveh will rise up in the judgment with this generation and will condemn it: they repented at Jonah’s preaching, and look—something greater than Jonah is here.
33 “Nobody lights a lamp in order to hide it or put it under a jug. They put it on a lampstand, so that people who come in can see the light.
34 “Your eye is the lamp of your body. If your eye is focused, your whole body is full of light. But if it’s evil, your body is in darkness. 35 Watch out, then, in case the light inside you turns to darkness. 36 If your whole body is illuminated, with no part in darkness, everything will be illuminated, just as you are by a flash of lightning.”
37 While he was speaking, a Pharisee invited him to have dinner at his house. So he went in and sat down. 38 The Pharisee, watching him, was surprised that he didn’t first wash before dinner.
39 “Now, you Pharisees,” said the master to him, “you clean the outside of the plate and the cup, but your insides are full of violent robbery and wickedness. 40 That’s stupid! Didn’t the one who made the outside make the inside as well? 41 You should give for alms what’s inside the bowl, and then everything will be clean for you.”
Woes against the Pharisees
42 “But woe betide you Pharisees!” Jesus continued. “You tithe mint and rue and herbs of all kinds; and you have sidestepped justice and the love of God. You should have done these, without missing out the others.
43 “Woe betide you Pharisees! You love the chief seats in the synagogues and greetings in the market-places.
44 “Woe betide you! You are like hidden tombs, and people walk over them without knowing it.”
45 At this, one of the legal experts spoke up. “Teacher,” he said, “when you say this you’re insulting us too!”
46 “Woe betide you lawyers, too!” replied Jesus. “You give people heavy loads to carry which they can hardly bear, and you yourselves don’t lift a finger to help!
47 “Woe betide you! You build the tombs of the prophets, and your ancestors killed them. 48 So you bear witness that you approve of what your ancestors did: they killed them, and you build their tombs.
49 “For all this, God’s Wisdom says, ‘I’m sending you prophets and ambassadors; some of them you will kill and persecute,’ 50 so that the blood of all the prophets shed ever since the beginning of the world may be required from this generation— 51 from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zacharias, who died between the altar and the sanctuary. Yes, let me tell you, it will all be required from this generation.
52 “Woe betide you lawyers! You have taken away the key of knowledge. You didn’t go in yourselves, and when people were trying to get in you stopped them.”
53 He went outside, and the scribes and Pharisees began to be very threatening towards him. They interrogated him about several things, 54 lying in wait for him to catch him in something he might say.
Scripture quotations from The New Testament for Everyone are copyright © Nicholas Thomas Wright 2011, 2018, 2019.