Matthew 12
All 50 verses in the Clear Bible Translation. Tap a verse to compare the KJV and read what it means.
Read Matthew 12 in the Bible reader, with audio →
- 1Around that time, Jesus was walking through the grain fields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry, so they started picking heads of grain and eating them.
- 2When the Pharisees saw this, they said to him, "Look! Your disciples are doing something that's not allowed on the Sabbath."
- 3Jesus replied, "Haven't you read what David did when he and his companions were hungry?
- 4He went into God's house and ate the sacred bread — which neither he nor his men were allowed to eat. Only the priests could eat it.
- 5Or have you not read in the Law that on the Sabbath days the priests in the temple violate the Sabbath and are blameless?
- 6But I say to you, that in this place there is one greater than the temple.
- 7But if you had known what this means, 'I will have mercy, and not sacrifice,' you would not have condemned the guiltless.
- 8The Son of Man is Lord even over the Sabbath."
- 9Jesus left that place and went into their synagogue.
- 10A man with a withered hand was there. Looking for a reason to accuse Jesus, they asked him, "Is it lawful to heal someone on the Sabbath?"
- 11He answered them, "If any of you had a sheep that fell into a pit on the Sabbath, wouldn't you grab it and pull it out?
- 12A person is worth far more than a sheep! So yes, it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath."
- 13Then he said to the man, "Stretch out your hand." The man stretched it out, and it was completely restored — as healthy as the other one.
- 14The Pharisees walked out and began plotting how they could destroy Jesus.
- 15When Jesus learned of this, he left that area. Large crowds followed him, and he healed them all.
- 16But he warned them not to tell others who he was.
- 17This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah:
- 18"Here is my servant, whom I have chosen — my beloved, in whom my soul is well pleased. I will put my Spirit on him, and he will proclaim justice to the nations.
- 19He won't argue or shout. No one will hear his voice yelling in the streets.
- 20He won't snap a bruised reed or snuff out a smoldering wick, until he brings justice to victory.
- 21And in his name, the nations will put their trust."
- 22Then a man possessed by a demon, blind and unable to speak, was brought to him. He healed him, so that the man could speak and see.
- 23The whole crowd was stunned. "Could this really be the Son of David?" they asked.
- 24But when the Pharisees heard this, they said, "He only drives out demons by the power of Beelzebub, the prince of demons."
- 25Jesus knew their thoughts and said to them, "Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to ruin, and every city or house divided against itself will not stand."
- 26If Satan is driving out Satan, he's fighting against himself. How could his kingdom possibly stand?
- 27And if I drive out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your children drive them out? Therefore, they will be your judges.
- 28But if I drive out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come to you.
- 29How can anyone enter a strong man's house and steal his possessions unless he first ties up the strong man? Then he can rob his house.
- 30Anyone who isn't with me is against me, and anyone who doesn't gather with me is scattering.
- 31Therefore, I tell you that every kind of sin and blasphemy will be forgiven to people, but blasphemy against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven to people.
- 32Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man can be forgiven. But anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven — not in this age, and not in the age to come.
- 33Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree corrupt and its fruit corrupt, for a tree is known by its fruit.
- 34You brood of vipers! How can you, being evil, say good things? For the mouth speaks from the abundance of the heart.
- 35A good person draws good things from the good stored up inside them. An evil person draws evil things from the evil stored up inside them.
- 36But I tell you, on the day of judgment, people will have to answer for every careless word they have spoken.
- 37For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.
- 38Then some of the scribes and Pharisees answered, saying, “Teacher, we want to see a sign from you.”
- 39But he answered them, “An evil and adulterous generation seeks a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah.”
- 40Just as Jonah spent 3 days and 3 nights in the belly of a great fish, the Son of Man will spend 3 days and 3 nights in the heart of the earth.
- 41On judgment day, the people of Nineveh will stand up and condemn this generation, because they repented when Jonah preached to them — and someone far greater than Jonah is here now.
- 42On judgment day, the Queen of the South will rise up and condemn this generation, because she traveled from the ends of the earth to hear Solomon's wisdom — and someone far greater than Solomon is here now.
- 43When the unclean spirit leaves a person, it wanders through dry places, seeking rest but finds none.
- 44Then it says, 'I'll go back to the house I left.' When it returns, it finds the place empty, swept clean, and neatly arranged.
- 45So it goes and brings along 7 other spirits even more wicked than itself. They all move in and settle there, and that person ends up worse off than before. That's exactly what will happen to this wicked generation."
- 46While Jesus was still speaking to the crowd, his mother and brothers arrived and stood outside, wanting to talk to him.
- 47Someone told him, "Your mother and brothers are standing outside, asking to speak with you."
- 48Jesus replied to the one who told him, "Who is my mother? And who are my brothers?"
- 49Then he gestured toward his disciples and said, "Here are my mother and my brothers!
- 50Anyone who does the will of my Father in heaven — that person is my brother, my sister, and my mother."