1 At that time Jesus was going through the grainfields on the Sabbath, and his disciples, being hungry, began to pick heads of grain and eat them.
2 The Pharisees saw it and said to him, "See, your disciples are doing something that is not lawful to do on the Sabbath."
3 He replied, "Have you not read what David did when he and those with him were hungry,
4 how he went into the house of God and ate the showbread, which was not lawful for him or his companions to eat, but for the priests alone?
5 Or have you not read in the law that on the Sabbath the priests in the temple violate the Sabbath and yet are without guilt?
6 But I say to you that one greater than the temple is here.
7 And if you had known what this means, 'Mercy is what I want, and not sacrifice,' you would not have condemned the innocent.
8 For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath as well."
9 Leaving that place, he went into their synagogue.
10 And there was a man whose hand was shriveled. They questioned him, "Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?"—so that they could bring a charge against him.
11 He said to them, "Which man among you, if he owns a single sheep and it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will not grab hold of it and pull it out?
12 How much more is a man worth than a sheep! So it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath."
13 Then he said to the man, "Hold out your hand." He held it out, and it was restored to health, just like the other.
14 The Pharisees, however, went out and plotted against him how they might destroy him.
15 Jesus, aware of this, withdrew from there; and large crowds followed him, and he healed them all,
16 and he ordered them not to make him known,
17 in order that the word spoken through Isaiah the prophet would be fulfilled:
18 "Look, my Servant whom I have chosen, my Beloved in whom my soul has delighted. I will place my Spirit on him, and he will announce judgment to the Gentiles.
19 He will not wrangle or shout, and no one will hear his voice in the streets.
20 He will not break a bruised reed, and he will not put out a smoldering wick, until he leads judgment on to victory.
21 And the Gentiles will put their hope in his name."
22 Then a demon-possessed man who was blind and unable to speak was brought to him, and he healed him, so that the blind and mute man could both speak and see.
23 All the crowds were astonished and said, "Is this man perhaps the Son of David?"
24 But the Pharisees, hearing it, said, "This fellow drives out demons only by Beelzebub, the ruler of the demons."
25 Jesus knew what they were thinking and said to them, "Any kingdom split against itself is brought to ruin, and any town or household split against itself will not stand.
26 And if Satan drives out Satan, he has been split against himself; how, then, will his kingdom stand?
27 And if I drive out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your sons drive them out? For this reason they will be your judges.
28 But if I drive out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has arrived upon you.
29 Or how is anyone able to go into the strong man's house and carry off his possessions unless he first ties up the strong man? Then he will ransack his house.
30 The one who is not with me is against me, and the one who does not gather with me scatters abroad.
31 For this reason I say to you, people will be forgiven every sin and blasphemy, but blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven them.
32 Anyone who says a word against the Son of Man, he will be forgiven; but anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, neither in this age nor in the one that is coming.
33 Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree rotten and its fruit rotten; for it is by the fruit that the tree is recognized.
34 Offspring of vipers, how are you able to say good things when you are evil? For the mouth speaks from what fills the heart.
35 The good man brings out good things from the good treasure of his heart, and the evil man brings out evil things from his evil treasure.
36 But I say to you that every useless word people speak, they will render an account for it in the day of judgment.
37 For on the basis of your words you will be justified, and on the basis of your words you will be condemned."
38 Then some of the scribes and Pharisees responded to him, "Teacher, we would like to see a sign from you."
39 He answered them, "A wicked and adulterous generation demands a sign, yet it will be given no sign except the sign of Jonah the prophet.
40 For just as Jonah was in the belly of the sea creature three days and three nights, so the Son of Man will be in the heart of the earth three days and three nights.
41 The men of Nineveh will stand up at the judgment along with this generation and will condemn it, because they repented at what Jonah preached; and look, something greater than Jonah is here.
42 The queen of the south will be raised at the judgment along with this generation and will condemn it, because she came from the far ends of the earth to listen to Solomon's wisdom; and look, something greater than Solomon is here.
43 Whenever the unclean spirit leaves a man, it roams through dry places looking for rest and does not find any.
44 Then it says, 'I will go back to my house that I left.' And when it arrives, it finds the house standing empty, swept clean, and put in order.
45 Then it goes off and brings along seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and settle there; and the final condition of that man ends up worse than the first. That is how it will be with this wicked generation as well."
46 While he was yet talking to the crowds, his mother and brothers were standing outside, wanting to speak with him.
47 Someone told him, "Look, your mother and your brothers are standing outside, wanting to speak with you."
48 But he replied to the man who had told him, "Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?"
49 Then, extending his hand toward his disciples, he said, "See, my mother and my brothers!
50 For anyone who does the will of my Father who is in heaven, that one is my brother and sister and mother."