Category: Matthew

[12:15] When Jesus heard about the plot against him, he went away from that place; and large crowds followed him. He healed all the sick

[12:16] and gave them orders not to tell others about him.

[12:17] He did this so as to make come true what God had said through the prophet Isaiah:

[12:18] “Here is my servant, whom I have chosen, the one I love, and with whom I am pleased. I will send my Spirit upon him, and he will announce my judgment to the nations.

[12:19] He will not argue or shout, or make loud speeches in the streets.

[12:20] He will not break off a bent reed, nor put out a flickering lamp. He will persist until he causes justice to triumph,

[12:21] and on him all peoples will put their hope.”

[12:22] Then some people brought to Jesus a man who was blind and could not talk because he had a demon. Jesus healed the man, so that he was able to talk and see.

[12:23] The crowds were all amazed at what Jesus had done. “Could he be the Son of David?” they asked.

[12:24] When the Pharisees heard this, they replied, “He drives out demons only because their ruler Beelzebul gives him power to do so.”

[12:25] Jesus knew what they were thinking, and so he said to them, “Any country that divides itself into groups which fight each other will not last very long. And any town or family that divides itself into groups which fight each other will fall apart.

[12:26] So if one group is fighting another in Satan's kingdom, this means that it is already divided into groups and will soon fall apart!

[12:27] You say that I drive out demons because Beelzebul gives me the power to do so. Well, then, who gives your followers the power to drive them out? What your own followers do proves that you are wrong!

[12:28] No, it is not Beelzebul, but God's Spirit, who gives me the power to drive out demons, which proves that the Kingdom of God has already come upon you.

[12:29] “No one can break into a strong man's house and take away his belongings unless he first ties up the strong man; then he can plunder his house.

[12:30] “Anyone who is not for me is really against me; anyone who does not help me gather is really scattering.

[12:31] For this reason I tell you: people can be forgiven any sin and any evil thing they say; but whoever says evil things against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven.

[12:32] Anyone who says something against the Son of Man can be forgiven; but whoever says something against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven—now or ever.

[12:33] “To have good fruit you must have a healthy tree; if you have a poor tree, you will have bad fruit. A tree is known by the kind of fruit it bears.

[12:34] You snakes—how can you say good things when you are evil? For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of.

[12:35] A good person brings good things out of a treasure of good things; a bad person brings bad things out of a treasure of bad things.

[12:36] “You can be sure that on the Judgment Day you will have to give account of every useless word you have ever spoken.

[12:37] Your words will be used to judge you—to declare you either innocent or guilty.”

[12:38] Then some teachers of the Law and some Pharisees spoke up. “Teacher,” they said, “we want to see you perform a miracle.”

[12:39] “How evil and godless are the people of this day!” Jesus exclaimed. “You ask me for a miracle? No! The only miracle you will be given is the miracle of the prophet Jonah.

[12:40] In the same way that Jonah spent three days and nights in the big fish, so will the Son of Man spend three days and nights in the depths of the earth.

[12:41] On the Judgment Day the people of Nineveh will stand up and accuse you, because they turned from their sins when they heard Jonah preach; and I tell you that there is something here greater than Jonah!

[12:42] On the Judgment Day the Queen of Sheba will stand up and accuse you, because she traveled all the way from her country to listen to King Solomon's wise teaching; and I assure you that there is something here greater than Solomon!

[12:43] “When an evil spirit goes out of a person, it travels over dry country looking for a place to rest. If it can't find one,

[12:44] it says to itself, ‘I will go back to my house.’ So it goes back and finds the house empty, clean, and all fixed up.

[12:45] Then it goes out and brings along seven other spirits even worse than itself, and they come and live there. So when it is all over, that person is in worse shape than at the beginning. This is what will happen to the evil people of this day.”

[12:46] Jesus was still talking to the people when his mother and brothers arrived. They stood outside, asking to speak with him.

[12:47] So one of the people there said to him, “Look, your mother and brothers are standing outside, and they want to speak with you.”

[12:48] Jesus answered, “Who is my mother? Who are my brothers?”

[12:49] Then he pointed to his disciples and said, “Look! Here are my mother and my brothers!

[12:50] Whoever does what my Father in heaven wants is my brother, my sister, and my mother.”

[13:1] That same day Jesus left the house and went to the lakeside, where he sat down to teach.

[13:2] The crowd that gathered around him was so large that he got into a boat and sat in it, while the crowd stood on the shore.

[13:3] He used parables to tell them many things. “Once there was a man who went out to sow grain.

[13:4] As he scattered the seed in the field, some of it fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up.

[13:5] Some of it fell on rocky ground, where there was little soil. The seeds soon sprouted, because the soil wasn't deep.

[13:6] But when the sun came up, it burned the young plants; and because the roots had not grown deep enough, the plants soon dried up.

[13:7] Some of the seed fell among thorn bushes, which grew up and choked the plants.

[13:8] But some seeds fell in good soil, and the plants bore grain: some had one hundred grains, others sixty, and others thirty.”

[13:9] And Jesus concluded, “Listen, then, if you have ears!”

[13:10] Then the disciples came to Jesus and asked him, “Why do you use parables when you talk to the people?”

[13:11] Jesus answered, “The knowledge about the secrets of the Kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them.

[13:12] For the person who has something will be given more, so that he will have more than enough; but the person who has nothing will have taken away from him even the little he has.

[13:13] The reason I use parables in talking to them is that they look, but do not see, and they listen, but do not hear or understand.

[13:14] So the prophecy of Isaiah applies to them: ‘This people will listen and listen, but not understand; they will look and look, but not see,

[13:15] because their minds are dull, and they have stopped up their ears and have closed their eyes. Otherwise, their eyes would see, their ears would hear, their minds would understand, and they would turn to me, says God, and I would heal them.’

[13:16] “As for you, how fortunate you are! Your eyes see and your ears hear.

[13:17] I assure you that many prophets and many of God's people wanted very much to see what you see, but they could not, and to hear what you hear, but they did not.

[13:18] “Listen, then, and learn what the parable of the sower means.

[13:19] Those who hear the message about the Kingdom but do not understand it are like the seeds that fell along the path. The Evil One comes and snatches away what was sown in them.

[13:20] The seeds that fell on rocky ground stand for those who receive the message gladly as soon as they hear it.

[13:21] But it does not sink deep into them, and they don't last long. So when trouble or persecution comes because of the message, they give up at once.

[13:22] The seeds that fell among thorn bushes stand for those who hear the message; but the worries about this life and the love for riches choke the message, and they don't bear fruit.

[13:23] And the seeds sown in the good soil stand for those who hear the message and understand it: they bear fruit, some as much as one hundred, others sixty, and others thirty.”

[13:24] Jesus told them another parable: “The Kingdom of heaven is like this. A man sowed good seed in his field.

[13:25] One night, when everyone was asleep, an enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat and went away.

[13:26] When the plants grew and the heads of grain began to form, then the weeds showed up.

[13:27] The man's servants came to him and said, ‘Sir, it was good seed you sowed in your field; where did the weeds come from?’

[13:28] ‘It was some enemy who did this,’ he answered. ‘Do you want us to go and pull up the weeds?’ they asked him.

[13:29] ‘No,’ he answered, ‘because as you gather the weeds you might pull up some of the wheat along with them.

[13:30] Let the wheat and the weeds both grow together until harvest. Then I will tell the harvest workers to pull up the weeds first, tie them in bundles and burn them, and then to gather in the wheat and put it in my barn.’”