Matthew 12-15

New Life Version

Jesus Teaches about the Day of Rest ^(A)

12 At that time Jesus walked through the grain-fields on the Day of Rest. His followers were hungry and began to pick off grain to eat. ² The proud religious law-keepers saw this. They said to Jesus, “See! Your followers do what the Law says not to do on the Day of Rest.” ³ He said to them, “Have you not read what David did when he and his men were hungry? ⁴ He went into the house of God and ate the special bread used in worship which was against the Law for him or those with him to eat! Only the Jewish religious leaders were to eat that special bread. ⁵ Have you not read in the Law how the religious leaders do that which is not right to do on the Day of Rest, and yet they are not guilty? ⁶ I tell you that Someone greater than the house of God is here. ⁷ If you had understood what the words mean, ‘I want loving-kindness and not a gift to be given,’ ^(B) you would not say a person is guilty who has done no wrong. ⁸ For the Son of Man is Lord of the Day of Rest.”

Jesus Heals on the Day of Rest ^(C)

⁹ From there Jesus went into their place of worship. ¹⁰ A man was there with a dried-up hand. The proud religious law-keepers asked Jesus, “Does the Law say it is right to heal on the Day of Rest?” They wanted something to say against Him. ¹¹ He said to them, “If one of you has a sheep which falls into a hole on the Day of Rest, will you not take hold of it and pull it out? ¹² How much better is a man than a sheep! So it is right to do good on the Day of Rest.” ¹³ Then He said to the man, “Put out your hand.” He held it out and it was made as well as the other. ¹⁴ The proud religious law-keepers went out and made plans against Him. They planned how they might kill Him.

Jesus Heals Many People ^(D)

¹⁵ Jesus knew this and went away from there. Many people followed Him and He healed all of them. ¹⁶ He told them to tell no one of Him. ¹⁷ It happened as the early preacher Isaiah said it would happen, saying, ¹⁸ “See! My Servant Whom I have chosen! My much Loved, in Whom My soul is well pleased! I will put My Spirit in Him. He will say to the nations what is right from wrong. ¹⁹ He will not fight or speak with a loud voice. No man will hear His voice in the streets. ²⁰ He will not break a broken branch. He will not put out a little fire until He makes things right. ²¹ In His name the nations will have hope.” ^(E)

A Nation That Cannot Stand ^(F)

²² Then they brought to Him a man who had a demon. He was blind and could not speak. Jesus healed him and he could talk and see. ²³ All the people were surprised and said, “Can this Man be the Son of David?” ²⁴ But when the proud religious law-keepers heard it, they said, “This Man puts out demons only by Satan, the leader of demons.”

²⁵ Jesus knew their thoughts and said to them, “Every nation divided into groups that fight each other is going to be destroyed. Every city or family divided into groups that fight each other will not stand. ²⁶ If the devil puts out the devil, he is divided against himself. How will his nation stand? ²⁷ If I put out demons by Satan, by whom do your followers put them out? So your followers will say if you are guilty. ²⁸ But if I put out demons by the Spirit of God, then the holy nation of God is come to you. ²⁹ How can anyone go into a strong man’s house and take away his things, unless he ties up the strong man first? Only then can he take things from his house.

The Sin That Cannot Be Forgiven

³⁰ “Whoever is not with Me is against Me. Whoever is not gathering with Me is sending everywhere. ³¹ I tell you, every sin and every bad word men speak against God will be forgiven, but bad words spoken against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven. ³² Whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven in this life or in the life to come.

The Sin of Saying Bad Things

³³ “A good tree gives good fruit. A bad tree gives bad fruit. A tree is known by its fruit. ³⁴ You family of snakes! How can you say good things when you are sinful? The mouth speaks what the heart is full of. ³⁵ A good man will speak good things because of the good in him. A bad man will speak bad things because of the sin in him. ³⁶ I say to you, on the day men stand before God, they will have to give an answer for every word they have spoken that was not important. ³⁷ For it is by your words that you will not be guilty and it is by your words that you will be guilty.”

Jesus Tells about Jonah ^(G)

³⁸ Then some of the teachers of the Law and the proud religious law-keepers said to Jesus, “Teacher, we would like to have you do something special for us to see.” ³⁹ He said to them, “The sinful people of this day look for something special to see. There will be nothing special to see but the powerful works of the early preacher Jonah. ⁴⁰ Jonah was three days and three nights in the stomach of a big fish. The Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the grave also. ⁴¹ The men of the city of Nineveh will stand up with the people of this day on the day men stand before God. Those men will say these people are guilty because the men of Nineveh were sorry for their sins and turned from them when Jonah preached. And see, Someone greater than Jonah is here!

⁴² “The queen of the south will stand up with the people of this day on the day men stand before God. She will say that these people are guilty because she came from the ends of the earth to listen to the wise sayings of Solomon. And see, Someone greater than Solomon is here!

A Person Filled with Bad or Good ^(H)

⁴³ “When a demon is gone out of a man, it goes through dry places to find rest. It finds none. ⁴⁴ Then it says, ‘I will go back into my house from which I came.’ When it goes back, it sees that it is empty. But it sees that the house has been cleaned and looks good. ⁴⁵ Then it goes out and comes back bringing with it seven demons more sinful than itself. They go in and live there. In the end that man is worse than at first. It will be like this with the sinful people of this day.”

The New Kind of Family ^(I)

⁴⁶ While Jesus was still talking to the people, His mother and His brothers came and stood outside. They wanted to talk to Him. ⁴⁷ Someone said to Him, “Your mother and brothers are outside and want to talk to you.” ⁴⁸ Jesus said, “Who is My mother? And who are My brothers?” ⁴⁹ He put out His hand to His followers and said, “See, these are My mother and My brothers! ⁵⁰ Whoever does what My father in heaven wants him to do is My brother and My sister and My mother.”

Jesus Teaches with Picture-Stories ^(J)

13 That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat down by the shore of the lake. ² Then He got in a boat and sat down because so many people had gathered around Him. Many people were standing on the shore.

The Picture-Story of the Man Who Planted Seeds

³ Jesus taught them many things by using picture-stories. He said, “A man went out to plant seeds. ⁴ As he planted the seeds, some fell by the side of the road. The birds came and ate the seeds. ⁵ Some seeds fell between rocks. The seeds came up at once because there was so little ground. ⁶ When the sun was high in the sky, they dried up and died because they had no root. ⁷ Some seeds fell among thorns. The thorns grew and did not give the seeds room to grow. ⁸ Some seeds fell on good ground and gave much grain. Some gave one hundred times as much grain. Some gave sixty times as much grain. Some gave thirty times as much grain. ⁹ You have ears, then listen.”

Why Jesus Used Picture-Stories

¹⁰ The followers of Jesus came to Him and said, “Why do You speak to them in picture-stories?” ¹¹ He said to the followers, “You were given the secrets about the holy nation of heaven. The secrets were not given to the others. ¹² He who has will have more given to him. He will have even more than enough. But he who has little will have even that taken away from him.

¹³ “This is why I speak to them in picture-stories. They have eyes but they do not see. They have ears but they do not hear and they do not understand. ¹⁴ It happened in their lives as Isaiah said it would happen. He said, ‘You hear and hear but do not understand. You look and look but do not see. ¹⁵ The hearts of these people have become fat. They hear very little with their ears. They have closed their eyes. If they did not do this, they would see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their hearts. Then they would be changed in their ways, and I would heal them.’ ^{(K) 16} But how great are your eyes because they see. How great are your ears because they hear. ¹⁷ For sure, I tell you, that many early preachers and men right with God have wanted to see the things you see, but they did not see them. They wanted to hear the things you hear, but they did not hear them.

Jesus Tells about the Man Who Planted Seeds

¹⁸ “Listen to the picture-story of the man who planted seeds in the ground. ¹⁹ When anyone hears the Word about the holy nation and does not understand it, the devil comes and takes away what was put in his heart. He is like the seed that fell by the side of the road. ²⁰ The seed which fell between rocks is like the person who receives the Word with joy as soon as he hears it. ²¹ Its root is not deep and it does not last long. When troubles and suffering come because of the Word, he gives up and falls away. ²² The seed which fell among thorns is like the person who hears the Word but the cares of this life, and the love for money let the thorns come up and do not give the seed room to grow and give grain. ²³ The seed which fell on good ground is like the one who hears the Word and understands it. He gives much grain. Some seed gives one hundred times as much grain. Some gives sixty times as much grain. Some gives thirty times as much grain.”

The Picture-Story of the Good Seed and the Weed Seed

²⁴ Jesus told them another picture-story. He said, “The holy nation of heaven is like a man who planted good seed in his field. ²⁵ During the night someone who hated him came and planted weed seed with the good seed in his field and went away. ²⁶ When the good seed started to grow and give grain, weeds came up also.

²⁷ “The servants of the man who planted the seed came and said to him, ‘Sir, did you not plant good seed in your field? Why does it have weeds also?’ ²⁸ The man who planted the seed said, ‘Someone who hates me has done this.’ The servants asked him, ‘Should we go and pull the weeds out from among the good grain?’ ²⁹ He said, ‘No, because if you pull out the weeds, the good grain will come up also. ³⁰ Let them grow together until the time to gather the grain. Then I will say to the workmen, “Gather the weeds first and put them together to be burned. Then gather the good grain into my building.”’”

The Picture-Story of the Mustard Seed

³¹ Jesus told them another picture-story. He said, “The holy nation of heaven is like mustard seed which a man planted in his field. ³² It is the smallest of seeds. But when it is full-grown, it is larger than the grain of the fields and it becomes a tree. The birds of the sky come and stay in its branches.”

The Picture-Story of the Yeast

³³ Jesus gave them another picture-story. He said, “The holy nation of heaven is like yeast that a woman put into three pails of flour until it had become much more than at first.”

³⁴ Jesus told all these things using picture-stories to the many people. He did not speak to them without using picture-stories. ³⁵ It happened as the early preacher said it would happen, “I will open My mouth in picture-stories. I will tell things which have been kept secret from the beginning of the world.” ^(L)

Jesus Tells about the Weed Seed

³⁶ After Jesus sent the people away, He went into the house. His followers came to Him and said, “Tell us what You mean by the picture-story of the weeds in the field.” ³⁷ Jesus said, “He Who plants the good seed is the Son of Man. ³⁸ The field is the world. The good seeds are the children of the holy nation. The weeds are the children of the devil. ³⁹ The devil is the one who got in and planted the weeds. The time to gather is the end of the world. The men who gather are the angels. ⁴⁰ As the weeds are gathered together and burned in the fire, so will it be in the end of the world. ⁴¹ The Son of Man will send His angels. They will gather out of His holy nation all things that cause people to sin and those who do sin. ⁴² They will put them into a stove of fire. There will be loud crying and grinding of teeth. ⁴³ Then the ones right with God will shine as the sun in the holy nation of their Father. You have ears, then listen!”

The Picture-Stories of the Gold Buried in the Field and of Buying a Pearl

⁴⁴ “The holy nation of heaven is like a box of riches buried in a field. A man found it and then hid it again. In his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.

⁴⁵ “Again, the holy nation of heaven is like a man who buys and sells. He is looking for good pearls. ⁴⁶ When he finds one good pearl worth much money, he goes and sells all that he has and buys it.

The Picture-Story of the Fish Net

⁴⁷ “The holy nation of heaven is like a big net which was let down into the sea. It gathered fish of every kind. ⁴⁸ When it was full, they took it to the shore. They sat down and put the good fish into pails. They threw the bad fish away. ⁴⁹ It will be like this in the end of the world. Angels will come and take the sinful people from among those who are right with God. ⁵⁰ They will put the sinful people into a stove of fire where there will be loud crying and grinding of teeth.”

⁵¹ Jesus asked them, “Have you understood all these picture-stories?” They said, “Yes, Lord!” ⁵² He said to them, “Every teacher of the Law who has become a follower of the holy nation of heaven is like a man who owns his house. He takes new and old riches from his house.”

They Do Not Believe in Jesus in Nazareth ^(M)

⁵³ When Jesus had finished these picture-stories, He went away from there. ⁵⁴ He came to His own town and taught them in their places of worship. They were surprised and wondered, saying, “Where did this Man get this wisdom? How can He do these powerful works? ⁵⁵ Is not this the son of the man who makes things from wood? Is not Mary His mother? Are not James and Joseph and Simon and Judas His brothers? ⁵⁶ And are not all His sisters here? Then where did He get all these things?” ⁵⁷ And they were ashamed of Him and turned away because of Him. Jesus said to them, “One who speaks for God is shown no respect in his own town and in his own house.”

⁵⁸ He did not do many powerful works there because they did not put their trust in Him.

John the Baptist Is Put in Prison ^(N)

14 At that time King Herod heard much about Jesus. ² He said to his helpers, “This must be John the Baptist. He has risen from the dead. That is why these powerful works are done by him.” ³ For Herod had taken John and put him in prison. It was because of Herodias, the wife of his brother Philip. ⁴ For John had said to him, “It is against the Law for you to have her.” ⁵ He would have killed John but he was afraid of the people. The people thought John was one who spoke for God.

John the Baptist Is Killed ^(O)

⁶ On Herod’s birthday the daughter of Herodias danced in front of them. Herod was made happy by her. ⁷ He promised he would give her anything she asked. ⁸ Because her mother told her to do it, she said, “Give me the head of John the Baptist on a plate.” ⁹ The king was sorry. But he said for it to be given because he had promised and because of those who were eating with him. ¹⁰ He sent to the prison and had John’s head cut off. ¹¹ It was brought in on a plate and given to the girl. She brought it to her mother. ¹² Then the followers of John came and took his body and buried it. They went and told Jesus.

The Feeding of the Five Thousand ^(P)

¹³ When Jesus heard that John had been killed, He went from there by boat to a desert. He wanted to be alone. When the people knew it, they followed after Him by land from the cities. ¹⁴ When He got out of the boat, He saw many people. He had loving-pity for them and healed those who were sick.

¹⁵ When it was evening, His followers came to Him. They said, “This is a desert. The day is past. Send the people away so they may go into the towns and buy food for themselves.” ¹⁶ Jesus said to them, “They do not have to go away. Give them something to eat.” ¹⁷ They said to Him, “We have only five loaves of bread and two fish.” ¹⁸ Jesus said, “Bring them to Me.” ¹⁹ He told the people to sit down on the grass. Then He took the five loaves of bread and two fish. He looked up to heaven and gave thanks. He broke the loaves in pieces and gave them to His followers. The followers gave them to the people. ²⁰ They all ate and were filled. They picked up twelve baskets full of pieces of bread and fish after the people were finished eating. ²¹ About five thousand men ate. Women and children ate also.

Jesus Walks on the Water ^(Q)

²² At once Jesus had His followers get into the boat. He told them to go ahead of Him to the other side while He sent the people away. ²³ After He had sent them away, He went up the mountain by Himself to pray. When evening came, He was there alone. ²⁴ By this time the boat was far from land and was being thrown around by the waves. The wind was strong against them.

²⁵ Just before the light of day, Jesus went to them walking on the water. ²⁶ When the followers saw Him walking on the water, they were afraid. They said, “It is a spirit.” They cried out with fear. ²⁷ At once Jesus spoke to them and said, “Take hope. It is I. Do not be afraid!”

²⁸ Peter said to Jesus, “If it is You, Lord, tell me to come to You on the water.” ²⁹ Jesus said, “Come!” Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water to Jesus. ³⁰ But when he saw the strong wind, he was afraid. He began to go down in the water. He cried out, “Lord, save me!” ³¹ At once Jesus put out His hand and took hold of him. Jesus said to Peter, “You have so little faith! Why did you doubt?”

³² When Jesus and Peter got into the boat, the wind stopped blowing. ³³ Those in the boat worshiped Jesus. They said, “For sure, You are the Son of God!”

People Are Healed at Gennesaret ^(R)

³⁴ When they had gone over to the other side, they came to the land of Gennesaret. ³⁵ When the men of that land saw it was Jesus, they sent word into all the country around. They brought all who were sick to Jesus. ³⁶ They begged Him that they might touch the bottom of His coat. As many as touched the bottom of His coat were healed.

Jesus Speaks Sharp Words to the Leaders ^(S)

15 Some of the teachers of the Law and the proud religious law-keepers from Jerusalem came to Jesus. They asked, ² “Why do Your followers not obey the teaching that was given to them by our fathers? They do not wash their hands before they eat.” ³ Jesus said to them, “Why do you break the Law of God by trying to keep their teaching? ⁴ For God said, ‘Show respect to your father and mother.’ ^(T) And, ‘He who curses his father or mother will be put to death.’ ^{(U) 5} But you say that if a man says to his parents that anything he has, that might have been of help to them, is already given to God, ⁶ he does not have to show respect by helping his father and mother. You are putting aside the Word of God to keep their teaching. ⁷ You who pretend to be someone you are not, Isaiah told about you. He said, ⁸ ’These people show respect to Me with their mouth, but their heart is far from Me. ⁹ Their worship of Me is worth nothing. They teach what men have made up.’” ^(V)

¹⁰ Jesus called the people to Him and said to them, “Listen and understand this! ¹¹ It is not what goes into a man’s mouth that makes his mind and heart sinful. It is what comes out of a man’s mouth that makes him sinful.”

¹² His followers came to Him. They said, “Did You know the proud religious law-keepers were ashamed and turned away because of You when they heard this?” ¹³ He said, “Every plant that My Father in heaven did not plant will be pulled up by the roots. ¹⁴ Let them alone. They are blind leaders of the blind. If one blind man leads another blind man, they will both fall into a hole.”

¹⁵ Then Peter said to Jesus, “Tell us this picture-story so we can understand it.” ¹⁶ Jesus said, “Do you not understand yet? ¹⁷ Do you not understand that whatever goes into the mouth goes into the stomach and then out of the body? ¹⁸ But whatever comes from the mouth has come out of the heart. These things make the man unclean inside. ¹⁹ For out of the heart come bad thoughts, killing other people, sex sins of a married person, sex sins of a person not married, stealing, lying, speaking against God. ²⁰ These are the things that make the man unclean inside. It does not make a man sinful to eat with hands that have not been washed.”

Jesus Puts a Demon Out of a Girl ^(W)

²¹ Jesus went from there to the cities of Tyre and Sidon. ²² A woman came from the land of Canaan. She cried out to Jesus and said, “Take pity on me, Lord, Son of David! My daughter has a demon and is much troubled.” ²³ But Jesus did not speak a word to her. His followers kept asking, saying, “Send her away for she keeps calling us.” ²⁴ He said, “I was sent only to the Jewish people who are lost.” ²⁵ Then she came and got down before Jesus and worshiped Him. She said, “Lord, help me!” ²⁶ But He said, “It is not right to take children’s food and throw it to the dogs.” ²⁷ She said, “Yes, Lord, but even the dogs eat the pieces that fall from the table of their owners.” ²⁸ Jesus said to her, “Woman, you have much faith. You will have what you asked for.” Her daughter was healed at that very time.

Jesus Heals All Who Come to Him

²⁹ Jesus went from there and came to the Sea of Galilee. Then He went up the mountain and sat down. ³⁰ Many people came to Him. They brought with them those who were not able to walk. They brought those who were not able to see. They brought those who were not able to hear or speak and many others. Then they put them at the feet of Jesus and He healed them. ³¹ All the people wondered. They saw how those who could not speak were now talking. They saw how those who could not walk were now walking. They saw how those who could not see were now seeing, and they gave thanks to the God of the Jews.

The Feeding of the Four Thousand ^(X)

³² Then Jesus called His followers to Him. He said, “I pity these people because they have been with Me three days and they have no food. I do not want to send them home without food. They might get too weak as they go.” ³³ The followers said to Jesus, “Where can we get enough bread to feed them all in this desert?” ³⁴ Jesus said to them, “How many loaves of bread do you have?” They said, “Seven loaves and a few small fish.” ³⁵ He told the people to sit down on the ground. ³⁶ Then He took the seven loaves of bread and the fish and gave thanks. He broke them and gave them to His followers. The followers gave them to the people. ³⁷ They all ate and were filled. They picked up seven baskets full of pieces of bread and fish after the people finished eating. ³⁸ Four thousand men ate. Women and children ate also. ³⁹ After this Jesus sent the people away. Then He got into a boat and came to a place called Magadan.