bwe - Matthew:12-13

bwe@Matthew:12:1 @ About that time, Jesus was walking through the grain fields on a Sabbath day. His disciples were hungry. They began to pick some of the grain and to eat it.

bwe@Matthew:12:2 @ The Pharisees saw them. They said to Jesus, Look! Your disciples are doing what is not right on the Sabbath day.

bwe@Matthew:12:3 @ But Jesus said to them, Have you not read what David did? He and his men who were with him were hungry.

bwe@Matthew:12:4 @ He went into Gods house. Some bread was there for God. Davids men ate it. David did not have the right to eat it, nor the men who were with him. Only the priests have the right to eat it. But David took the bread and ate it. He also gave some of it to the men who were with him.

bwe@Matthew:12:5 @ Have you never read in the books of the law that the priests in the temple break the Sabbath law on the Sabbath day? They are not punished for it.

bwe@Matthew:12:6 @ I tell you, there is someone here who is greater than the temple.

bwe@Matthew:12:7 @ You do not know what this means, "I want you to be kind; I do not want a sacrifice." If you knew, then you would not have said what they did was wrong. What they did was not wrong.

bwe@Matthew:12:8 @ The Son of Man rules over the Sabbath day.

bwe@Matthew:12:9 @ Jesus left that place and went into the meeting house.

bwe@Matthew:12:10 @ There was a man whose hand was thin and weak. The people asked Jesus, Is it right to heal a man on the Sabbath day? They wanted to find something wrong about Jesus.

bwe@Matthew:12:11 @ Jesus said to them, If one of you had a sheep and it fell into a hole on the Sabbath day, would you not take hold of it and pull it out?

bwe@Matthew:12:12 @ A man is worth much more than a sheep. So it is right to do good things on the Sabbath day.

bwe@Matthew:12:13 @ Then he said to the man, Hold out your hand. The man held out his hand and it was made well like the other hand.

bwe@Matthew:12:14 @ Then the Pharisees went out and planned together how to kill Jesus.

bwe@Matthew:12:15 @ Jesus knew about their plan, so he went away from there. Many people followed him and he healed them all.

bwe@Matthew:12:16 @ He told them not to tell where he was.

bwe@Matthew:12:17 @ So what Isaiah the prophet of God said, came true.

bwe@Matthew:12:18 @ He said, This is my servant. I have chosen him. I love him. I am very pleased with him. I will put my Spirit on him. He will judge the people who are not Jews.

bwe@Matthew:12:19 @ He will not fight or shout. No one will hear his voice in the streets.

bwe@Matthew:12:20 @ He will not break a stick that is already bent. He will not put out a light that burns only a little. What is right will win, because he will make it win.

bwe@Matthew:12:21 @ Those who are not Jews will believe in him.

bwe@Matthew:12:22 @ Then the people brought a man to Jesus. The man had a bad spirit in him. He was blind and could not talk. Jesus healed him. Then the man could talk and see.

bwe@Matthew:12:23 @ All the people were surprised. They said, Is he Davids son?

bwe@Matthew:12:24 @ The Pharisees heard about it. They said, This man drives out bad spirits by the help of Beelzebub, the chief of bad spirits.

bwe@Matthew:12:25 @ Jesus knew what they were thinking. He said to them, If one part of any country fights against the other part of the country, that country is broken down. If one part of any city or family fights against the other part of it, it cannot stand.

bwe@Matthew:12:26 @ If Satan drives out Satan, he fights against himself. How then will his kingdom stand?

bwe@Matthew:12:27 @ If I drive out bad spirits by Beelzebub, how do your own people drive them out? Let them judge you.

bwe@Matthew:12:28 @ But if I drive out bad spirits by Gods Spirit, then Gods kingdom is here with you now.

bwe@Matthew:12:29 @ If anyone wants to go into a strong mans house and steal his things, he must first tie the strong man. Then he can steal his things.

bwe@Matthew:12:30 @ Anyone who is not with me, is against me. Anyone who does not work with me is working against me.

bwe@Matthew:12:31 @ That is why I tell you this. All wrong things that people do or say, will be forgiven. But people who say wrong things against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven.

bwe@Matthew:12:32 @ Anyone who says anything against the Son of Man will be forgiven. But anyone who says anything against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven. He will not be forgiven in this world or in the next world.

bwe@Matthew:12:33 @ Either make a tree good and its fruit good, or make a tree bad and its fruit bad. People know what kind of tree it is by the fruit on it.

bwe@Matthew:12:34 @ You family of snakes! How can you say good things? You are wrong! The mouth will say what is in the heart.

bwe@Matthew:12:35 @ A good man has stored up good things in his heart, so he will say good things. A bad man has stored up wrong things in his heart, so he will say wrong things.

bwe@Matthew:12:36 @ I tell you this. On the day when people are judged, they will pay for every empty word they have said.

bwe@Matthew:12:37 @ Because of your words, you will be called good. Or because of your words, you will be punished.

bwe@Matthew:12:38 @ Then some of the scribes and Pharisees said to him, Teacher, we want you to show us a sign.

bwe@Matthew:12:39 @ But Jesus answered them, The people today are bad. They have gone away from God. They want a sign. No sign will be given them but the sign of the prophet Jonah.

bwe@Matthew:12:40 @ Jonah was inside the big sea animal for three days and three nights. So the Son of Man will be in the ground for three days and three nights.

bwe@Matthew:12:41 @ When people are judged, the men of the city of Nineveh will stand up and speak against the people of today. The people of Nineveh stopped their wrong ways when Jonah told them Gods word. And the one who is here is greater than Jonah.

bwe@Matthew:12:42 @ When people are judged, the Queen of the South will stand up and speak against the people of today. She came a long way to hear the wise talk of Solomon. And the one who is here is greater than Solomon.

bwe@Matthew:12:43 @ When a bad spirit has gone out of a man, he goes through dry places. He looks for a place to rest, but he does not find any.

bwe@Matthew:12:44 @ Then he says, "I will go back to my house from where I came." When he comes back, he finds it is empty, clean, and all fixed up.

bwe@Matthew:12:45 @ Then he goes and brings seven other spirits with him. They are worse than he is. They go in and live there. Now the man is worse than he was at first. That is how it will be for the wrong people of today.

bwe@Matthew:12:46 @ While Jesus was still talking to the people, his mother and brothers stood outside. They wanted to talk to him.

bwe@Matthew:12:47 @ Someone told him, Your mother and your brothers are standing outside. They want to talk to you.

bwe@Matthew:12:48 @ But to the man who told him, he said, Who is my mother? Who are my brothers?

bwe@Matthew:12:49 @ He pointed to his disciples and said, These people are my mother and my brothers!

bwe@Matthew:12:50 @ Anyone who obeys my Father in heaven is my brother, my sister, and my mother.

bwe@Matthew:13:1 @ That day Jesus left the house and sat down by the sea side.

bwe@Matthew:13:2 @ Many people came to where he was. So he got into a boat and sat down. All the people stood on the land by the water.

bwe@Matthew:13:3 @ He taught the people many things by telling them stories. He said, Listen, a man went out to sow some seed.

bwe@Matthew:13:4 @ As he sowed it, some of the seed fell on the road. Birds came and ate the seed.

bwe@Matthew:13:5 @ Some seed fell on the stony ground. Not much earth covered the stones. The seed started to grow right away because it was not deep in the ground.

bwe@Matthew:13:6 @ When the sun began to shine, it was too hot for the new plants. They died because they had no roots.

bwe@Matthew:13:7 @ Some seed fell among the weeds. The weeds grew up and made the new plants die.

bwe@Matthew:13:8 @ But some seed fell on good ground. The seed grew and the plants gave more seed. Some plants gave thirty seeds. Some gave sixty. And some gave a hundred.

bwe@Matthew:13:9 @ Everyone who has ears, listen!

bwe@Matthew:13:10 @ The disciples came to Jesus and asked him, Why do you tell the people these stories?

bwe@Matthew:13:11 @ Jesus answered them, You can learn the secret things about the kingdom of heaven. But they cannot learn them.

bwe@Matthew:13:12 @ Anyone who already has something will get more, and he will have plenty. But he who does not have anything, even the little that he has will be taken away from him.

bwe@Matthew:13:13 @ That is why I tell them stories. They look, but they do not see. They listen, but they do not hear or understand.

bwe@Matthew:13:14 @ They make what Isaiah the prophet said long ago, come true. Isaiah said: "You will listen and listen, but you will not understand. You will look and look, but you will not see.

bwe@Matthew:13:15 @ The hearts of these people have no feeling. They do not hear well with their ears. And they have shut their eyes. They do not want to see with their eyes. They do not want to hear with their ears. They do not want to understand in their hearts. They do not want to turn to me. If they did turn, I would heal them."

bwe@Matthew:13:16 @ God is blessing your eyes because they see. God is blessing your ears because they hear.

bwe@Matthew:13:17 @ I tell you the truth. Many prophets and good men wanted to see what you see, but they did not see them. They wanted to hear what you hear, but they did not hear them.

bwe@Matthew:13:18 @ So listen to hear what the story means, about the man who sowed the seed.

bwe@Matthew:13:19 @ People listen to the message about the kingdom of heaven. If anyone does not understand it, the devil comes along and takes the message out of his heart. That person is like the seed which fell on the road.

bwe@Matthew:13:20 @ Some seed fell on the stony ground. That is like a person who hears the message and right away he is glad to hear it.

bwe@Matthew:13:21 @ But it does not go down deep in his heart. He believes it for a short time. When trouble or a hard time comes because of the message, he stops believing.

bwe@Matthew:13:22 @ Some seed fell among the weeds. That is like the person who hears the message. But he thinks about the things of this world. He wants to get money to be happy. These things push the message out of his heart. No good comes from it.

bwe@Matthew:13:23 @ Some seed fell on good ground. That is like a person who hears the message and understands it. Much good comes from it. Some people are like the seed that gave a hundred more seeds. Some people are like the seed that gave sixty. Some people are like the seed that gave thirty.

bwe@Matthew:13:24 @ Jesus told the people another story. He said, The kingdom of heaven is like this. A man sowed good seed in his field.

bwe@Matthew:13:25 @ While people were sleeping, a bad man came and sowed weeds among the good seed. Then he went away.

bwe@Matthew:13:26 @ The good seed grew and the plants gave more seeds. Then the weeds grew too.

bwe@Matthew:13:27 @ The servants came and said to the man who owned the field, "Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How did the weeds get here?"

bwe@Matthew:13:28 @ He answered them, "A bad man has done this." They asked him, "Do you want us to go and pull up the weeds?"

bwe@Matthew:13:29 @ "No," said the man. "If you pull up the weeds, then the good plants will come up with them.

bwe@Matthew:13:30 @ Let them both grow together until the harvest time. When it is time to cut it, I will say to the men who cut it, Cut the weeds first. Tie them in bundles to be burned. Then put the grain into my storehouse."

bwe@Matthew:13:31 @ Jesus told the people another story. He said, The kingdom of heaven is like this. A man took a mustard seed and planted it in his field.

bwe@Matthew:13:32 @ A mustard seed is the smallest of all seeds. But the plant that grows from it is bigger than other plants. It is like a tree. It is so big that birds come and live in the branches.

bwe@Matthew:13:33 @ Jesus told them another story. He said, The kingdom of heaven is like this. A woman took yeast and mixed it with many cups of flour. The yeast went all through the flour.

bwe@Matthew:13:34 @ Jesus told the people all these things in stories. He did not tell them anything without a story.

bwe@Matthew:13:35 @ What the prophet of God said long ago, came true. He said, I will use stories. I will tell things that have been secret since the world was made.

bwe@Matthew:13:36 @ Then Jesus left the people and went into the house. His disciples came to him. They said, Tell us the meaning of the story about the weeds in the field.

bwe@Matthew:13:37 @ Jesus answered, The person who sows the good seed is the Son of Man.

bwe@Matthew:13:38 @ The field is the world. The good seed means the people who belong to the kingdom. The weeds mean those who belong to the bad one.

bwe@Matthew:13:39 @ The bad man who planted the weeds is the devil. The harvest time is the end of this world. The men who cut the harvest are angels.

bwe@Matthew:13:40 @ The weeds are gathered and burned in a fire. That is the way it will be at the end of the world.

bwe@Matthew:13:41 @ The Son of Man will send his angels. They will gather everything that is bad and the people who do bad things. They will take them out of his kingdom.

bwe@Matthew:13:42 @ They will put them into the big fire. There they will cry and make a noise with their teeth.

bwe@Matthew:13:43 @ Then the people who are right with God will shine like the sun in their Fathers kingdom. Everyone who has ears, listen.

bwe@Matthew:13:44 @ The kingdom of heaven is like this. Something worth a lot of money is buried in a field. A man found it and covered it again. He was so glad that he went and sold everything he had. Then he bought that field.

bwe@Matthew:13:45 @ The kingdom of heaven is like this. A trader was looking for fine stones called pearls.

bwe@Matthew:13:46 @ He found a pearl that was worth a lot of money. Then he went and sold everything he had and bought it.

bwe@Matthew:13:47 @ The kingdom of heaven is like this. A fish net was thrown into the sea. It caught all kinds of fish.

bwe@Matthew:13:48 @ When it was full, the men pulled it to the land. They sat down and picked out the good fish into baskets. But they threw the bad fish away.

bwe@Matthew:13:49 @ That is the way it will be at the end of the world. The angels will come and take the bad people away from the good people.

bwe@Matthew:13:50 @ They will put the bad people into the never-ending hell fire. There they will cry and make a noise with their teeth.

bwe@Matthew:13:51 @ Jesus asked, Have you understood all these stories? The disciples said, Yes.

bwe@Matthew:13:52 @ Then Jesus said to them, So anyone who knows the law and has learned about the kingdom of heaven, is like the headman of a house. He can bring both new things and old things out of what he has stored up.

bwe@Matthew:13:53 @ When Jesus had finished telling these stories, he went away from there.

bwe@Matthew:13:54 @ He went back to his home town and he taught people in their meeting house. They were very much surprised and said, Where did he learn all this? Where did he get the power to do these big works?

bwe@Matthew:13:55 @ Is he not the carpenters son? Is not Mary his mother? Are not James, Joseph, Simon, and Judas his brothers?

bwe@Matthew:13:56 @ Are not his sisters all here with us? Where did he get all this?

bwe@Matthew:13:57 @ They did not understand Jesus. Jesus said to them, Other people honour a man who is a prophet. But the people in his own country and home do not honour him.

bwe@Matthew:13:58 @ Jesus could not do many big works in that place because the people did not believe in him.

bwe@Matthew:14:1 @ At this time Herod the ruler heard of Jesus.