Bible Time

¹AT that time, Jesus walked on the sabbath through the wheat fields; and his disciples became hungry, and they began to pluck ears of wheat and eat. ²But when the Pharisees saw them, they said to him, Look, your disciples are doing what is unlawful to do on the sabbath. ³But he said to them, Have you not read what David did, when he and those who were with him were hungry? ⁴How he entered into the house of God, and ate bread that was on the table of the Lord, that 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 book of law, that the priests in the temple disregard the sabbath, yet are blameless? ⁶But I say to you, that there is one here, who is greater than the temple. ⁷But if you only knew what it means, I want mercy and not sacrifice, you would not condemn those who are blameless. ⁸For the Son of man is Lord of the sabbath.

⁹And Jesus departed from there and came to their synagogue. ¹⁰And a man was there whose hand was withered. They questioned him, that they might accuse him, saying, Is it lawful to heal on the sabbath? ¹¹He said to them, Who among you with only 1 sheep, if it should fall into a pit on the sabbath, would not take hold of it and lift it up? ¹²How much more important is a man than a sheep? It is therefore lawful to do good on the sabbath. ¹³Then he said to the man, Stretch out your hand. And he stretched out his hand, and it was restored like the other. ¹⁴And the Pharisees went out, and they took counsel concerning how to do away with him. ¹⁵But Jesus knew it, and departed from there; and a great many people followed him, and he healed them all. ¹⁶And he charged them not to say where he was, ¹⁷So that what was said by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled, who said, ¹⁸Look, my servant with whom I am pleased, my beloved one, in whom my soul rejoices; I will put my Spirit on him, and he will preach justice to the peoples. ¹⁹He will not argue, nor will he cry aloud; and no man will hear his voice in the street. ²⁰He will not break even a bruised reed, and he will not extinguish a flickering lamp, until he brings justice to victory; ²¹And in his name the peoples will find hope.

²²They brought him a lunatic, who was mute and blind; and he healed him, so that the mute and blind man could speak and see. ²³All the people were amazed and said, Perhaps this man is the son of David? ²⁴But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, This man does not cast out demons, except by Beelzebub, the prince of demons. ²⁵But Jesus knew their thoughts, and said to them, Every kingdom which is divided against itself, will be destroyed; and every house or city that is divided against itself, will not stand. ²⁶And if Satan cast out Satan, he is divided against himself; how then will his kingdom stand? ²⁷So if I cast out demons by Beelzebub, by what do your sons cast them out? For this reason they will be your judges. ²⁸And if I cast out devils by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come near you. ²⁹Or, how can a man enter into a strong man's house and plunder his goods, except he first bind the strong man, and then plunders his house? ³⁰He who is not with me is against me; and he who does not gather with me, will be dispersed. ³¹Therefore, I say to you, that all sins and blasphemies will be forgiven men; but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven to men. ³²And whoever speaks a word against the Son of man, will be forgiven; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, not in this world nor in the world to come. ³³Either produce like a good tree with good fruits, or produce like a bad tree with bad fruits; for a tree is known by its fruits. ³⁴Offspring of scorpions, how can you speak good things when you are bad? For the mouth speaks from the fullness of the heart. ³⁵A good man brings out good things from good treasures, and a bad man brings out bad things from bad treasures. ³⁶For I say to you, that every foolish word which men speak, they will have to answer for on the day of judgment. ³⁷For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be found guilty.

³⁸Then some of the men of the scribes and Pharisees answered and said to him, Teacher, we would like to see a sign from you. ³⁹But he answered and said to them, An evil and adulterous generation wants a sign; and no sign will be given to it, except the sign of the prophet Jonah. ⁴⁰For as Jonah was in the whale's belly 3 days and 3 nights, so the Son of man will be in the heart of the earth, 3 days and 3 nights. ⁴¹Even the men of Nineveh will rise up in judgment with this generation, and find it guilty; for they repented through the preaching of Jonah, and look, one greater than Jonah is here. ⁴²The queen of the south will rise up in judgment with this generation, and find it guilty; for she came from the far ends of the earth that she might hear Solomon's wisdom, and look one greater than Solomon is here. ⁴³When an unclean spirit goes out of a man, it travels in places where there is no water, and seeks rest, and does not find it. ⁴⁴Then it says, I will return to my own house where I came from; so it comes back and finds it empty, warm, and well furnished. ⁴⁵Then it goes away and brings with it 7 other spirits worse than itself, and they enter and live in it; and the end of that man becomes worse than at first. Such will happen to this evil generation.

⁴⁶While he was speaking to the people, his mother and his brothers came and stood outside, and wanted to speak with him. ⁴⁷Then a man said to him, Look, your mother and your brothers are standing outside, and they want to speak with you. ⁴⁸But he answered and said to him who told him, Who is my mother and who are my brothers? ⁴⁹And he pointed his hand to his disciples and said, Look my mother, and look my brothers. ⁵⁰For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven, he is my brother and my sister and my mother.