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Matthew 12 :: New International Version (NIV)

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Jesus Is Lord of the Sabbath

(Mar 2:23–28; Luk 6:1–5 )
Unchecked Copy BoxMat 12:1 - At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry and began to pick some heads of grain and eat them.
Unchecked Copy BoxMat 12:2 - When the Pharisees saw this, they said to him, “Look! Your disciples are doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath.”
Unchecked Copy BoxMat 12:3 - He answered, “Haven’t you read what David did when he and his companions were hungry?
Unchecked Copy BoxMat 12:4 - He entered the house of God, and he and his companions ate the consecrated bread—which was not lawful for them to do, but only for the priests.
Unchecked Copy BoxMat 12:5 - Or haven’t you read in the Law that the priests on Sabbath duty in the temple desecrate the Sabbath and yet are innocent?
Unchecked Copy BoxMat 12:6 - I tell you that something greater than the temple is here.
Unchecked Copy BoxMat 12:7 - If you had known what these words mean, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice,’[fn] you would not have condemned the innocent.
Unchecked Copy BoxMat 12:8 - For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.”
(Mar 3:1–6; Luk 6:6–11 )
Unchecked Copy BoxMat 12:9 - Going on from that place, he went into their synagogue,
Unchecked Copy BoxMat 12:10 - and a man with a shriveled hand was there. Looking for a reason to bring charges against Jesus, they asked him, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?”
Unchecked Copy BoxMat 12:11 - He said to them, “If any of you has a sheep and it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will you not take hold of it and lift it out?
Unchecked Copy BoxMat 12:12 - How much more valuable is a person than a sheep! Therefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.”
Unchecked Copy BoxMat 12:13 - Then he said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” So he stretched it out and it was completely restored, just as sound as the other.
Unchecked Copy BoxMat 12:14 - But the Pharisees went out and plotted how they might kill Jesus.

God’s Chosen Servant

Unchecked Copy BoxMat 12:15 - Aware of this, Jesus withdrew from that place. A large crowd followed him, and he healed all who were ill.
Unchecked Copy BoxMat 12:16 - He warned them not to tell others about him.
Unchecked Copy BoxMat 12:17 - This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah:
Unchecked Copy BoxMat 12:18 - “Here is my servant whom I have chosen, the one I love, in whom I delight; I will put my Spirit on him, and he will proclaim justice to the nations.
Unchecked Copy BoxMat 12:19 - He will not quarrel or cry out; no one will hear his voice in the streets.
Unchecked Copy BoxMat 12:20 - A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out, till he has brought justice through to victory.
Unchecked Copy BoxMat 12:21 - In his name the nations will put their hope.”[fn]

Jesus and Beelzebul

(Mar 3:22–27; Luk 11:14–23 )
Unchecked Copy BoxMat 12:22 - Then they brought him a demon-possessed man who was blind and mute, and Jesus healed him, so that he could both talk and see.
Unchecked Copy BoxMat 12:23 - All the people were astonished and said, “Could this be the Son of David?”
Unchecked Copy BoxMat 12:24 - But when the Pharisees heard this, they said, “It is only by Beelzebul, the prince of demons, that this fellow drives out demons.”
Unchecked Copy BoxMat 12:25 - Jesus knew their thoughts and said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and every city or household divided against itself will not stand.
Unchecked Copy BoxMat 12:26 - If Satan drives out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then can his kingdom stand?
Unchecked Copy BoxMat 12:27 - And if I drive out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your people drive them out? So then, they will be your judges.
Unchecked Copy BoxMat 12:28 - But if it is by the Spirit of God that I drive out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.
Unchecked Copy BoxMat 12:29 - “Or again, how can anyone enter a strong man’s house and carry off his possessions unless he first ties up the strong man? Then he can plunder his house.
Unchecked Copy BoxMat 12:30 - “Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters.
(Mar 3:28–30 )
Unchecked Copy BoxMat 12:31 - And so I tell you, every kind of sin and slander can be forgiven, but blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven.
Unchecked Copy BoxMat 12:32 - Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come.
(Mat 7:15–20 )
Unchecked Copy BoxMat 12:33 - “Make a tree good and its fruit will be good, or make a tree bad and its fruit will be bad, for a tree is recognized by its fruit.
Unchecked Copy BoxMat 12:34 - You brood of vipers, how can you who are evil say anything good? For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of.
Unchecked Copy BoxMat 12:35 - A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in him, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in him.
Unchecked Copy BoxMat 12:36 - But I tell you that everyone will have to give account on the day of judgment for every empty word they have spoken.
Unchecked Copy BoxMat 12:37 - For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned.”

The Sign of Jonah

(Luk 11:29–32 )
Unchecked Copy BoxMat 12:38 - Then some of the Pharisees and teachers of the law said to him, “Teacher, we want to see a sign from you.”
Unchecked Copy BoxMat 12:39 - He answered, “A wicked and adulterous generation asks for a sign! But none will be given it except the sign of the prophet Jonah.
Unchecked Copy BoxMat 12:40 - For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.
Unchecked Copy BoxMat 12:41 - The men of Nineveh will stand up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and now something greater than Jonah is here.
Unchecked Copy BoxMat 12:42 - The Queen of the South will rise at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for she came from the ends of the earth to listen to Solomon’s wisdom, and now something greater than Solomon is here.
(Luk 11:24–26 )
Unchecked Copy BoxMat 12:43 - “When an impure spirit comes out of a person, it goes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it.
Unchecked Copy BoxMat 12:44 - Then it says, ‘I will return to the house I left.’ When it arrives, it finds the house unoccupied, swept clean and put in order.
Unchecked Copy BoxMat 12:45 - Then it goes and takes with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there. And the final condition of that person is worse than the first. That is how it will be with this wicked generation.”

Jesus’ Mother and Brothers

(Mar 3:31–35; Luk 8:19–21 )
Unchecked Copy BoxMat 12:46 - While Jesus was still talking to the crowd, his mother and brothers stood outside, wanting to speak to him.
Unchecked Copy BoxMat 12:47 - Someone told him, “Your mother and brothers are standing outside, wanting to speak to you.”
Unchecked Copy BoxMat 12:48 - He replied to him, “Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?”
Unchecked Copy BoxMat 12:49 - Pointing to his disciples, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers.
Unchecked Copy BoxMat 12:50 - For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.”
NIV Footnotes
Hosea 6:6
Isaiah 42:1-4
NIV

THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV®
Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.®
Used by Permission of Biblica, Inc.® All rights reserved worldwide.


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For more information on this translation, see the NIV Preface.

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