Sabbath Questions
aAt that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath, and His disciples became hungry and began to bpick the heads of grain and eat. 2 But when the Pharisees saw this, they said to Him, “Look, Your disciples do what ais not lawful to do on a Sabbath.” 3 But He said to them, “Have you not read what David did when he became hungry, he and his companions, 4 how he entered the house of God, and athey ate the consecrated bread, which was not lawful for him to eat nor for those with him, but for the priests alone? 5 Or have you not read in the Law, that on the Sabbath the priests in the temple break the Sabbath and are innocent? 6 But I say to you that something agreater than the temple is here. 7 But if you had known what this means, ‘aI desire compassion, and not a sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the innocent.
Lord of the Sabbath
8 For athe Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.”
9 aDeparting from there, He went into their synagogue. 10 And a man was there whose hand was withered. And they questioned Jesus, asking, “aIs it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?”—so that they might accuse Him. 11 And He said to them, “aWhat man is there among you who has a sheep, and if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will he not take hold of it and lift it out? 12 aHow much more valuable then is a man than a sheep! So then, it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.” 13 Then He *said to the man, “Stretch out your hand!” aHe stretched it out, and it was restored to normal, like the other. 14 But the Pharisees went out and aconspired against Him, as to how they might destroy Him.
15 But Jesus, aware of this, withdrew from there. Many followed Him, and aHe healed them all, 16 and awarned them not to tell who He was. 17 This was to fulfill what was spoken through Isaiah the prophet:
18 “aBehold, My Servant whom I have chosen;
bMy Beloved in whom My soul is well‑pleased;
cI will put My Spirit upon Him,
aAnd He shall proclaim justice to the Gentiles.
19 “aHe will not quarrel, nor cry out;
Nor will anyone hear His voice in the streets.
20 “aA battered reed He will not break off,
And a smoldering wick He will not put out,
Until He leads justice to victory.
21 “aAnd in His name the Gentiles will hope.”
The Pharisees Rebuked
22 aThen a bdemon-possessed man who was blind and mute was brought to Jesus, and He healed him, so that the mute man spoke and saw. 23 All the crowds were amazed, and were saying, “This man cannot be the aSon of David, can he?” 24 But when the Pharisees heard this, they said, “This man acasts out demons only by Beelzebul the ruler of the demons.”
25 aAnd bknowing their thoughts Jesus said to them, “Any kingdom divided against itself is laid waste; and any city or house divided against itself will not stand. 26 If aSatan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself; how then will his kingdom stand? 27 If I aby Beelzebul cast out demons, bby whom do your sons cast them out? For this reason they will be your judges. 28 But aif I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. 29 Or how can anyone enter the strong man’s house and carry off his property, unless he first binds the strong man? And then he will plunder his house.
The Unpardonable Sin
30 aHe who is not with Me is against Me; and he who does not gather with Me scatters.
31 “aTherefore I say to you, any sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven people, but blasphemy against the Spirit shall not be forgiven. 32 aWhoever 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 bthis age or in the age to come.
Words Reveal Character
33 “Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree bad and its fruit bad; for athe tree is known by its fruit. 34 aYou brood of vipers, how can you, being evil, speak what is good? bFor the mouth speaks out of that which fills the heart. 35 aThe good man brings out of his good treasure what is good; and the evil man brings out of his evil treasure what is evil. 36 But I tell you that every careless word that people speak, they shall give an accounting for it in athe day of judgment. 37 For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.”
The Desire for Signs
38 Then some of the scribes and Pharisees said to Him, “Teacher, awe want to see a sign from You.” 39 But He answered and said to them, “aAn evil and adulterous generation craves for a sign; and yet no sign will be given to it but the sign of Jonah the prophet; 40 for just as aJonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the sea monster, so will bthe Son of Man be cthree days and three nights in the heart of the earth. 41 aThe men of Nineveh will stand up with this generation at the judgment, and will condemn it because bthey repented at the preaching of Jonah; and behold, csomething greater than Jonah is here. 42 aThe 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, bsomething greater than Solomon is here.
43 “aNow when the unclean spirit goes out of a man, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, and does not find it. 44 Then 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. 45 Then it goes and takes along with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there; and athe last state of that man becomes worse than the first. That is the way it will also be with this evil generation.”
Changed Relationships
46 aWhile He was still speaking to the crowds, behold, His bmother and cbrothers were standing outside, seeking to speak to Him. 47 Someone said to Him, “Behold, Your mother and Your brothers are standing outside seeking to speak to You.” 48 But Jesus answered the one who was telling Him and said, “Who is My mother and who are My brothers?” 49 And stretching out His hand toward His disciples, He said, “Behold My mother and My brothers! 50 For whoever does the will of My Father who is in heaven, he is My brother and sister and mother.”
Jesus Teaches in Parables
That day Jesus went out of athe house and was sitting bby the sea. 2 And large crowds gathered to Him, so aHe got into a boat and sat down, and the whole crowd was standing on the beach.
3 And He spoke many things to them in aparables, saying, “Behold, the sower went out to sow; 4 and as he sowed, some seeds fell beside the road, and the birds came and ate them up. 5 Others fell on the rocky places, where they did not have much soil; and immediately they sprang up, because they had no depth of soil. 6 But when the sun had risen, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away. 7 Others fell among the thorns, and the thorns came up and choked them out. 8 And others fell on the good soil and *yielded a crop, some a ahundredfold, some sixty, and some thirty. 9 aHe who has ears, let him hear.”
An Explanation
10 And the disciples came and said to Him, “Why do You speak to them in parables?” 11 Jesus answered them, “aTo you it has been granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been granted. 12 aFor whoever has, to him more shall be given, and he will have an abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has shall be taken away from him. 13 Therefore I speak to them in parables; because while aseeing they do not see, and while hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. 14 In their case the prophecy of Isaiah is being fulfilled, which says,
‘aYou will keep on hearing, but will not understand;
You will keep on seeing, but will not perceive;
15 aFor the heart of this people has become dull,
With their ears they scarcely hear,
And they have closed their eyes,
Otherwise they would see with their eyes,
Hear with their ears,
And understand with their heart and return,
And I would heal them.’
16 aBut blessed are your eyes, because they see; and your ears, because they hear. 17 For truly I say to you that amany prophets and righteous men desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.
The Sower Explained
18 “aHear then the parable of the sower. 19 When anyone hears athe word of the kingdom and does not understand it, bthe evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart. This is the one on whom seed was sown beside the road. 20 The one on whom seed was sown on the rocky places, this is the man who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; 21 yet he has no firm root in himself, but is only temporary, and when affliction or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he afalls away. 22 And the one on whom seed was sown among the thorns, this is the man who hears the word, and the worry of athe world and the bdeceitfulness of wealth choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful. 23 And the one on whom seed was sown on the good soil, this is the man who hears the word and understands it; who indeed bears fruit and brings forth, some aa hundredfold, some sixty, and some thirty.”
Tares among Wheat
24 Jesus presented another parable to them, saying, “aThe kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field. 25 But while his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went away. 26 But when the wheat sprouted and bore grain, then the tares became evident also. 27 The slaves of the landowner came and said to him, ‘Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have tares?’ 28 And he said to them, ‘An enemy has done this!’ The slaves *said to him, ‘Do you want us, then, to go and gather them up?’ 29 But he *said, ‘No; for while you are gathering up the tares, you may uproot the wheat with them. 30 Allow both to grow together until the harvest; and in the time of the harvest I will say to the reapers, “First gather up the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them up; but agather the wheat into my barn.”’”
The Mustard Seed
31 He presented another parable to them, saying, “aThe kingdom of heaven is like ba mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field; 32 and this is smaller than all other seeds, but when it is full grown, it is larger than the garden plants and becomes a tree, so that athe birds of the air come and nest in its branches.”
The Leaven
33 He spoke another parable to them, “aThe kingdom of heaven is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in bthree pecks of flour until it was all leavened.”
34 All these things Jesus spoke to the crowds in parables, and He did not speak to them awithout a parable. 35 This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet:
“aI will open My mouth in parables;
I will utter things hidden since the foundation of the world.”
The Tares Explained
36 Then He left the crowds and went into athe house. And His disciples came to Him and said, “bExplain to us the parable of the tares of the field.” 37 And He said, “The one who sows the good seed is athe Son of Man, 38 and the field is the world; and as for the good seed, these are athe sons of the kingdom; and the tares are bthe sons of cthe evil one; 39 and the enemy who sowed them is the devil, and the harvest is athe end of the age; and the reapers are angels. 40 So just as the tares are gathered up and burned with fire, so shall it be at athe end of the age. 41 aThe Son of Man bwill send forth His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all cstumbling blocks, and those who commit lawlessness, 42 and awill throw them into the furnace of fire; in that place bthere will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. 43 aThen the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. bHe who has ears, let him hear.
Hidden Treasure
44 “aThe kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in the field, which a man found and hid again; and from joy over it he goes and bsells all that he has and buys that field.
A Costly Pearl
45 “Again, athe kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking fine pearls, 46 and upon finding one pearl of great value, he went and sold all that he had and bought it.
A Dragnet
47 “Again, athe kingdom of heaven is like a dragnet cast into the sea, and gathering fish of every kind; 48 and when it was filled, they drew it up on the beach; and they sat down and gathered the good fish into containers, but the bad they threw away. 49 So it will be at athe end of the age; the angels will come forth and take out the wicked from among the righteous, 50 and awill throw them into the furnace of fire; in that place bthere will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
51 “Have you understood all these things?” They *said to Him, “Yes.” 52 And Jesus said to them, “Therefore every scribe who has become a disciple of the kingdom of heaven is like a head of a household, who brings out of his treasure things new and old.”
Jesus Revisits Nazareth
53 aWhen Jesus had finished these parables, He departed from there. 54 aHe came to His hometown and bbegan teaching them in their synagogue, so that cthey were astonished, and said, “Where did this man get this wisdom and these miraculous powers? 55 Is not this the carpenter’s son? Is not aHis mother called Mary, and His abrothers, James and Joseph and Simon and Judas? 56 And aHis sisters, are they not all with us? Where then did this man get all these things?” 57 And they took aoffense at Him. But Jesus said to them, “bA prophet is not without honor except in his hometown and in his own household.” 58 And He did not do many miracles there because of their unbelief. New American Standard Bible Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995
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