Matthew 12:18-50

18“1Behold, My 2Servant whom I 3have chosen; 4My Beloved in whom My soul 5delights; 6I will put My Spirit upon Him, 7And He will proclaim 8justice to the 9Gentiles.1910He will not quarrel, nor cry out; Nor will anyone hear His voice in the streets.2011A bent reed He will not break off, And a dimly burning wick He will not extinguish, Until He 12leads 13justice to victory.2114And in His name the 15Gentiles will hope.”

2216Then a 17demon-possessed man who was blind and unable to speak was brought to 18Jesus, and He healed him so that the man who was unable to speak talked and 19could see. 23And all the crowds were amazed and were saying, “This man cannot be the 20Son of David, can he?” 24But when the Pharisees heard this, they said, “This man 21casts out demons only by 22Beelzebul the ruler of the demons.”

2523And 24knowing their thoughts, Jesus said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste; and no city or house divided against itself will stand. 26And if 25Satan is casting out Satan, he 26has become divided against himself; how then will his kingdom stand? 27And if 27by 28Beelzebul I cast out the demons, 29by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore, they will be your judges. 28But 30if I cast out the demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. 29Or, how can anyone enter the strong man’s house and carry off his property, unless he first ties up the strong man? And then he will plunder his house. 3031The one who is not with Me is against Me; and the one who does not gather with Me scatters.

31“32Therefore I say to you, every sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven people, but blasphemy against the Spirit shall not be forgiven. 3233And whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man, it shall be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it shall not be forgiven him, either in 34this age or in the age to come.

33“Either 35assume the tree to be good as well as its fruit good, or 36assume the tree to be bad as well as its fruit bad; for 37the tree is known by its fruit. 3438You 39offspring of vipers, how can you, being evil, express any good things? 40For the mouth speaks from that which fills the heart. 3541The good person brings out of his good treasure good things; and the evil person brings out of his evil treasure evil things. 36But I tell you that for every 42careless word that people 43speak, they will give an account of it on the 44day of judgment. 37For 45by your words you will be justified, and 46by your words you will be condemned.”

38Then some of the scribes and Pharisees said to Him, “Teacher, 47we want to see a 48sign from You.” 39But He answered and said to them, “49An evil and adulterous generation craves a 50sign; and so no 51sign will be given to it except the 52sign of Jonah the prophet; 40for just as 53Jonah was in the stomach of the sea monster for three days and three nights, so will 54the Son of Man be in the heart of the earth for 55three days and three nights. 4156The men of Nineveh will stand up with this generation at the judgment, and will condemn it because 57they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and behold, something 58greater than Jonah is here. 4259The Queen of the South will rise up with this generation at the judgment and will condemn it, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and behold, something 60greater than Solomon is here.

43“61Now when the unclean spirit comes out of a person, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, and does not find it. 44Then it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came’; and when it comes, it finds it unoccupied, swept, and put in order. 45Then it goes and brings along with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they come in and live there; and 62the last condition of that person becomes worse than the first. That is the way it will also be with this evil generation.”

4663While He was still speaking to the crowds, behold, His 64mother and 65brothers were standing outside, seeking to speak to Him. 47[66Someone said to Him, “Look, Your mother and Your brothers are standing outside, seeking to speak to You.”] 48But 67Jesus replied to the one who was telling Him and said, “Who is My mother, and who are My brothers?” 49And extending His hand toward His disciples, He said, “Behold: My mother and My brothers! 50For whoever does the will of My Father who is in heaven, he is My brother, and sister, and mother.”