Matthew 12

₁Jesus and his disciples walked in a wheat_field. It was on a Sabbath day. His disciples were hungry and they started to pick heads_of_wheat to eat. ₂When the Pharisees saw it, they said to Jesus: ‘Why are your disciples picking wheat on the Sabbath day? The laws say we may not work on a Sabbath day.’

₃Jesus said to them: ‘Did you not read what David did when he and his men were hungry and they had no food? ₄David went into the temple and he ate the holy bread on the table that only the priests may eat. ₅And the laws of Moses say that the priests must work in the temple on the Sabbath day. But no one says they are wrong or they break the law of the Sabbath day when they do that. ₆I tell you: There is Someone here who is much more important than the temple and that is I. ₇You must understand what these words in the Old_Testament mean:

If you could understand these words, then you would not accuse my disciples. They have done nothing wrong. ₈I, the Son of man, am Lord and I can decide what people may do on the Sabbath day.’

₉Jesus went to their synagogue. ₁₀There was a man with a crippled hand. Some of the Jews wanted to accuse Jesus of doing something wrong. They asked Jesus: ‘Is it right to heal a person on the Sabbath day?’ ₁₁Jesus said to them: ‘If one of you has a sheep and the sheep falls into a water hole on the Sabbath day, what will you do? You will immediately grab the sheep and take it out of the water. ₁₂People are much more important to God than a sheep, and so it is right to do good on the Sabbath day.’

₁₃Jesus looked at the people and then He said to the man: ‘Put out your hand.’ The man put out his hand and his hand was healed. It was good like his other hand.

₁₄The Pharisees went out, and made plans to kill Jesus.

₁₅Jesus knew what the Pharisees wanted to do and He went away from that town. There were many people who followed Jesus. He healed all the sick people. ₁₆But Jesus said they must not tell other people about Him. ₁₇Jesus said that because the prophet Isaiah had written:

₂₂The people brought a man to Jesus. He was blind and he could not speak. He had a demon in him. Jesus healed the man and he could talk and see again. ₂₃All the people were amazed. They said: ‘Maybe Jesus is the Son of David, the Messiah. Could He be?’

₂₄When the teachers_of_the_Laws heard this, they said: ‘Jesus chases_out_demons but Beelzebul, the leader of the demons, helps Him to do it.’

₂₅Jesus knew what they were thinking and He said to them: ‘When the people of a land fight with each other, they will not live very long. And when a family can not work together, that family will not stay together. ₂₆What you say is that Satan drives out Satan. If Satan fights against himself, that will be the end of him. ₂₇And if Beelzebul helps Me to chase_demons out of people, who then is helping your own followers that chase_demons out of people? Your own followers show that you are wrong. ₂₈It is the Spirit of God who helps Me to chase_out_demons and that shows that God has started to rule over you. ₂₉It will not be easy for a person to go into the home of a strong man and steal his money and things. No, he must first tie the strong man, then he can take everything in his house.

₃₀A person who is not for Me is against Me. If you do not help to bring people to God, then you are chasing them away from God. ₃₁I tell you this and it is sure: God will forgive people everything when they sin and say bad things against God. But if a person says anything bad against the Holy_Spirit, then God will never forgive that person. ₃₂If someone says something bad against the Son of man, God will forgive him, but if anyone says anything bad against the Holy_Spirit, then God will never forgive him, not in this_life, or in the life that will come after this_life.’

₃₃Jesus also said: ‘You know that a good tree has good fruit and a bad tree has bad fruit. You know what tree it is when you see what fruit it has. ₃₄You are like snakes. You are bad people. Why can't you say something that is good? The things that a person says show what is in his heart and what he thinks. ₃₅Good people have lots of good things in their hearts. They always speak good and friendly words. But bad people have lots of bad things in their hearts. That is why they always say bad things. ₃₆I tell you: On the day when God judges everyone, every person will have to answer God about everything that he has said, and every word that was not right. ₃₇God will judge you on the words that you have said and He will decide if you are guilty or innocent.’

₃₈Some of the teachers_of_the_Laws and Pharisees came to Jesus. They said to Him: ‘Teacher, we want You to show us a miracle so that we can see that You come from God.’

₃₉Jesus said to them: ‘You want a sign because you are bad and you do not want to believe. You want to see it. God will not give you a sign. The only sign that you will get is the sign of the prophet Jonah. ₄₀Jonah was in the stomach of a big fish for 3 days and 3 nights just as I, the Son of man, will also be in the tomb for 3 days and 3 nights. ₄₁On the day when God judges everyone, the people of the city of Nineveh will live again and they will be with the people who live now. When Jonah preached to them, the people of Nineveh turned their lives to God and they started to live as He wanted. When God judges everyone, the people of Nineveh will say that you are guilty and that God must punish you. And I tell you, there is Someone here who is much more important than Jonah, and that is I. ₄₂On that day when God judges everyone, the Queen_of_the_South will live again and she will accuse you and say you are guilty and that God must punish you. She came very far from her land to come and listen to the wisdom of King Solomon. And I tell you, there is Someone here who is more important than King Solomon, and that is I.’

₄₃Jesus also said: ‘When an evil_spirit goes out of a person, he goes to places where there is no water and he looks for a place where he can live. If he does not find a place where he can live, ₄₄he will say: “I will go back to my first house, to the man in whom I lived before.” Then the evil_spirit goes back to that person and he sees that man is like an empty house. It is clean and neat. ₄₅Then he takes 7 other spirits that are worse than himself and they all go with him and they go in and make their home in that person. Then that person becomes worse than he was before. That is how it will be with you bad people of today.’

₄₆Jesus was busy talking to a lot of people in a house. His mother, Mary, and his brothers were outside the house. They wanted to talk to Jesus. ₄₇One of the men said to Jesus: ‘Your mother and your brothers are outside. They want to talk to You.’ ₄₈But Jesus said to him: ‘Who is my mother and who are my brothers?’ ₄₉Jesus pointed with his hand to his disciples and He said: ₅₀‘These people are my mother and my brothers. Everyone who does what my Father in heaven wants, that person is my brother or my sister or my mother.’