The Preacher's Bible

At that time, Jesus went on the Sabbath day through the grain fields. His disciples were hungry and began to pluck heads of grain and to eat. ²But the Pharisees, when they saw it, said to him, “Behold, your disciples do what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath.”

³But he said to them, “Haven’t you read what David did when he was hungry, and those who were with him: ⁴how he entered into God’s house and ate the show bread, which was not lawful for him to eat, nor for those who were with him, but only for the priests? ⁵Or have you not read in the law that on the Sabbath day the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath and are guiltless? ⁶But I tell you that one greater than the temple is here. ⁷But if you had known what this means, ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice,’ you wouldn’t have condemned the guiltless. ⁸For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.”

⁹He departed from there and went into their synagogue. ¹⁰And behold, there was a man with a withered hand. They asked him, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath day?” so that they might accuse him.

¹¹He said to them, “What man is there among you who has one sheep, and if this one falls into a pit on the Sabbath day, won’t he grab on to it and lift it out? ¹²Of how much more value then is a man than a sheep! Therefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath day.” ¹³Then he told the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out; and it was restored whole, just like the other. ¹⁴But the Pharisees went out and conspired against him, how they might destroy him. ¹⁵Jesus, perceiving that, withdrew from there. Great multitudes followed him; and he healed them all, ¹⁶and commanded them that they should not make him known, ¹⁷that it might be fulfilled which was spoken through Isaiah the prophet, saying,

¹⁸“Behold, my servant whom I have chosen, my beloved in whom my soul is well pleased. I will put my Spirit on him. He will proclaim justice to the nations.

¹⁹He will not strive, nor shout, neither will anyone hear his voice in the streets.

²⁰He won’t break a bruised reed. He won’t quench a smoking flax, until he leads justice to victory.

²¹In his name, the nations will hope.” ²²Then one possessed by a demon, blind and mute, was brought to him; and he healed him, so that the blind and mute man both spoke and saw. ²³All the multitudes were amazed, and said, “Can this be the son of David?” ²⁴But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, “This man does not cast out demons except by Beelzebul, the prince of the demons.”

²⁵Knowing their thoughts, Jesus said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and every city or house divided against itself will not stand. ²⁶If Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then will his kingdom stand? ²⁷If I by Beelzebul cast out demons, by whom do your children cast them out? Therefore they will be your judges. ²⁸But if I by the Spirit of God cast out demons, then God’s Kingdom has come upon you. ²⁹Or how can one enter into the house of the strong man and plunder his goods, unless he first bind the strong man? Then he will plunder his house.

³⁰“He who is not with me is against me, and he who doesn’t gather with me, scatters. ³¹Therefore I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven men. ³²Whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him, either in this age, or in that which is to come.

³³“Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree corrupt and its fruit corrupt; for the tree is known by its fruit. ³⁴You offspring of vipers, how can you, being evil, speak good things? For out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. ³⁵The good man out of his good treasure brings out good things, and the evil man out of his evil treasure brings out evil things. ³⁶I tell you that every idle word that men speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment. ³⁷For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.”

³⁸Then certain of the scribes and Pharisees answered, “Teacher, we want to see a sign from you.”

³⁹But he answered them, “An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, but no sign will be given to it but the sign of Jonah the prophet. ⁴⁰For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the huge fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. ⁴¹The men of Nineveh will stand up in the judgment with this generation and will condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and behold, someone greater than Jonah is here. ⁴²The Queen of the South will rise up in the judgment with this generation and will condemn it, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and behold, someone greater than Solomon is here.

⁴³“When an unclean spirit has gone out of a man, he passes through waterless places seeking rest, and doesn’t find it. ⁴⁴Then he says, ‘I will return into my house from which I came;’ and when he has come back, he finds it empty, swept, and put in order. ⁴⁵Then he goes and takes with himself seven other spirits more evil than he is, and they enter in and dwell there. The last state of that man becomes worse than the first. Even so will it be also to this evil generation.”

⁴⁶While he was yet speaking to the multitudes, behold, his mother and his brothers stood outside, seeking to speak to him.