Pharisees’ Blasphemy

^14 (A)And He was casting out a demon, and it was mute; when the demon had gone out, the mute man spoke; and the crowds were amazed. ¹⁵ But some of them said, “He casts out demons ^(B)by ^(C)Beelzebul, the ruler of the demons.” ¹⁶ Others, ^[a]to test Him, ^(D)were demanding of Him a ^[b]sign from heaven. ^17 (E)But He knew their thoughts and said to them, “^[c]Any kingdom divided against itself is laid waste; and a house divided against ^[d]itself falls. ¹⁸ If ^(F)Satan also is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand? For you say that I cast out demons by ^(G)Beelzebul. ¹⁹ And if I by ^(H)Beelzebul cast out demons, by whom do your sons cast them out? So they will be your judges. ²⁰ But if I cast out demons by the ^(I)finger of God, then ^(J)the kingdom of God has come upon you. ²¹ When ^[e]a strong man, fully armed, guards his own house, his possessions are ^[f]undisturbed. ²² But when someone stronger than he attacks him and overpowers him, he takes away from him all his armor on which he had relied and distributes his plunder. ^23 (K)He who is not with Me is against Me; and he who does not gather with Me, scatters.

²⁴ “^(L)When the unclean spirit goes out of ^[g]a man, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, and not finding any, it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ ²⁵ And when it comes, it finds it swept and put in order. ²⁶ Then it goes and takes along seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they go in and live there; and the last state of that man becomes worse than the first.”

²⁷ While ^[h]Jesus was saying these things, one of the women in the crowd raised her voice and said to Him, “^(M)Blessed is the womb that bore You and the breasts at which You nursed.” ²⁸ But He said, “On the contrary, blessed are ^(N)those who hear the word of God and observe it.”

The Sign of Jonah

²⁹ As the crowds were increasing, He began to say, “^(O)This generation is a wicked generation; it ^(P)seeks for a ^[i]sign, and yet no ^[j]sign will be given to it but the ^[k]sign of Jonah. ³⁰ For just as ^(Q)Jonah became a ^[l]sign to the Ninevites, so will the Son of Man be to this generation. ³¹ The ^(R)Queen of the South will rise up with the men of this generation at the judgment and condemn them, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and behold, something greater than Solomon is here. ³² The men of Nineveh will stand up with this generation at the judgment and condemn it, because ^(S)they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and behold, something greater than Jonah is here.

³³ “^(T)No one, after lighting a lamp, puts it away in a cellar nor under a basket, but on the lampstand, so that those who enter may see the light. ^34 (U)The eye is the lamp of your body; when your eye is ^[m]clear, your whole body also is full of light; but when it is ^[n]bad, your body also is full of darkness. ³⁵ Then watch out that the light in you is not darkness. ³⁶ If therefore your whole body is full of light, with no dark part in it, it will be wholly illumined, as when the lamp illumines you with its rays.”

Woes upon the Pharisees

³⁷ Now when He had spoken, a Pharisee *asked Him to have lunch with him; and He went in, and reclined at the table. ³⁸ When the Pharisee saw it, he was surprised that He had not first ^[o](V)ceremonially washed before the ^[p]meal. ³⁹ But ^(W)the Lord said to him, “Now ^(X)you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and of the platter; but ^[q]inside of you, you are full of robbery and wickedness. ^40 (Y)You foolish ones, did not He who made the outside make the inside also? ⁴¹ But ^(Z)give that which is within as charity, and ^[r]then all things are ^(AA)clean for you.

⁴² “^(AB)But woe to you Pharisees! For you ^(AC)pay tithe of mint and rue and every kind of garden herb, and yet disregard justice and the love of God; but these are the things you should have done without neglecting the others. ⁴³ Woe to you Pharisees! For you ^(AD)love the chief seats in the synagogues and the respectful greetings in the market places. ^44 (AE)Woe to you! For you are like ^[s]concealed tombs, and the people who walk over them are unaware of it.”

⁴⁵ One of the ^[t](AF)lawyers *said to Him in reply, “Teacher, when You say this, You insult us too.” ⁴⁶ But He said, “Woe to you ^(AG)lawyers as well! For ^(AH)you weigh men down with burdens hard to bear, ^[u]while you yourselves will not even touch the burdens with one of your fingers. ^47 (AI)Woe to you! For you build the ^[v]tombs of the prophets, and it was your fathers who killed them. ⁴⁸ So you are witnesses and approve the deeds of your fathers; because it was they who killed them, and you build their tombs. ⁴⁹ For this reason also ^(AJ)the wisdom of God said, ‘^(AK)I will send to them prophets and apostles, and some of them they will kill and some they will ^[w]persecute, ⁵⁰ so that the blood of all the prophets, shed ^(AL)since the foundation of the world, may be ^[x]charged against this generation, ⁵¹ from ^(AM)the blood of Abel to ^(AN)the blood of Zechariah, who was killed between the altar and the house of God; yes, I tell you, it shall be ^[y]charged against this generation.’ ⁵² Woe to you ^[z](AO)lawyers! For you have taken away the key of knowledge; ^(AP)you yourselves did not enter, and you hindered those who were entering.”

⁵³ When He left there, the scribes and the Pharisees began to be very hostile and to question Him closely on many subjects, ^54 (AQ)plotting against Him ^(AR)to catch ^[aa]Him in something He might say.

God Knows and Cares

12 Under these circumstances, after ^[a]so many thousands of ^[b]people had gathered together that they were stepping on one another, He began saying to His disciples first of all, “^(A)Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. ^2 (B)But there is nothing covered up that will not be revealed, and hidden that will not be known. ³ Accordingly, whatever you have said in the dark will be heard in the light, and what you have ^[c]whispered in the inner rooms will be proclaimed upon ^(C)the housetops.

⁴ “I say to you, ^(D)My friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that have no more that they can do. ⁵ But I will ^[d]warn you whom to fear: ^(E)fear the One who, after He has killed, has authority to cast into ^[e](F)hell; yes, I tell you, fear Him! ⁶ Are not ^(G)five sparrows sold for two ^[f]cents? Yet not one of them is forgotten before God. ^7 (H)Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not fear; you are more valuable than many sparrows.

⁸ “And I say to you, everyone who ^(I)confesses Me before men, the Son of Man will confess him also before the angels of God; ⁹ but ^(J)he who denies Me before men will be denied ^(K)before the angels of God. ^10 (L)And everyone who ^[g]speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; but he who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him. ¹¹ When they bring you before ^(M)the synagogues and the rulers and the authorities, do not ^(N)worry about how or what you are to speak in your defense, or what you are to say; ¹² for ^(O)the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say.”

Covetousness Denounced

¹³ Someone ^[h]in the crowd said to Him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the family inheritance with me.” ¹⁴ But He said to him, “^(P)Man, who appointed Me a judge or arbitrator over you?” ¹⁵ Then He said to them, “^(Q)Beware, and be on your guard against every form of greed; for not even when one has an abundance does his life consist of his possessions.” ¹⁶ And He told them a parable, saying, “The land of a rich man was very productive. ¹⁷ And he began reasoning to himself, saying, ‘What shall I do, since I have no place to store my crops?’ ¹⁸ Then he said, ‘This is what I will do: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. ¹⁹ And I will say to my soul, “Soul, ^(R)you have many goods laid up for many years to come; take your ease, eat, drink and be merry.”’ ²⁰ But God said to him, ‘^(S)You fool! This very night ^[i](T)your soul is required of you; and ^(U)now who will own what you have prepared?’ ²¹ So is the man who ^(V)stores up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.”

²² And He said to His disciples, “^(W)For this reason I say to you, ^[j]do not worry about your ^[k]life, as to what you will eat; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. ²³ For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing. ²⁴ Consider the ^(X)ravens, for they neither sow nor reap; they have no storeroom nor ^(Y)barn, and yet God feeds them; how much more valuable you are than the birds! ²⁵ And which of you by worrying can add a single ^[l](Z)hour to his ^[m]life’s span? ²⁶ If then you cannot do even a very little thing, why do you worry about other matters? ²⁷ Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; but I tell you, not even ^(AA)Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these. ²⁸ But if God so clothes the grass in the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, how much more will He clothe you? ^(AB)You men of little faith! ²⁹ And do not seek what you will eat and what you will drink, and do not ^(AC)keep worrying. ³⁰ For ^[n]all these things the nations of the world eagerly seek; but your Father knows that you need these things. ³¹ But seek His kingdom, and ^(AD)these things will be added to you. ^32 (AE)Do not be afraid, ^(AF)little flock, for ^(AG)your Father has chosen gladly to give you the kingdom.

³³ “^(AH)Sell your possessions and give to charity; make yourselves money belts which do not wear out, ^(AI)an unfailing treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near nor moth destroys. ³⁴ For ^(AJ)where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.