Matthew:12-13

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* At that time Jesus walked through the wheatfields one Sabbath Day ; and his disciples were hungry , and began to pluck some ears of wheat and to eat them . * But the Pharisees , when they perceived it , said to him . "Look ! Your disciples are doing what it is not lawful to do on the Sabbath !" * "Have you not read ," answered Jesus , "what David did when he was hungry , and his men , too ? * "How he went into the House of God , and there they ate the loaves of the Presence , which neither he nor his men were permitted to eat , but the priests only ? * "Have you not read in the Law how on the Sabbath the priests in the Temple break the Sabbath and are guiltless ? * "But I tell you that One is here who is greater than the temple . * "And if you knew what this means , "It is mercy I desire , not sacrifice , * "you would not have condemned the guiltless . For the Son of man is Lord of the Sabbath ." * As he passed along he went into their synagogue , and there he saw a man with a withered hand . * And in order to get a charge against him they asked him , "Is it permitted to heal on the Sabbath ?" (So that they might have something to accuse him .) * "Is there a man of you ," he replied , "who has but a single sheep , who will not lay hold of it and lift it out , if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath Day ? * "And how much more is a man worth than a sheep ? Therefore it is right to do good on the Sabbath ." * Then he said to the man , "Stretch out your hand ." * The man stretched it out , and it had become sound like the other . But when the Pharisees came out , they consulted together how they might destroy him . * So when Jesus knew it , he withdrew from that place , and numbers of people followed him . * He cured them all ; but he strictly forbade them to blaze abroad his doings , * that the word spoken through Isaiah , the prophet , might be fulfilled . * Behold my servant whom I have chosen , My beloved , in whom my soul delights ; I will breathe my spirit upon him , and he shall announce justice to the Gentiles * He will not strive nor cry aloud , Nor shall anyone hear is voice in the streets * The bruised reed will not break ; The dimly burning wick will not quench ; Till he has led justice on to victory . * And in his name shall the Gentiles hope . * Then they brought to him a blind and deaf demoniac ; and he healed him , so that the dumb both spoke and saw . * And all the crowds were amazed , and he began to say , "Can this be the Son of David ?" * When the Pharisees heard it they said , "It is only by the aid of Beelzebub , the Prince of the demons , that this fellow is driving out demons ." * Because Jesus knew what was in their minds , he said to them . "Any kingdom divided against itself will become desolate ; and any city or household divided against himself will not stand . * "So if Satan drives out Satan , he is divided against himself ; how then will his kingdom stand ? * "And if I am casting out demons in the power of Beelzebub , in whose power do your sons cast them out ? So they themselves shall be your judges . * "But if it is in the power of the Spirit of God is already upon you . * "Or how can any one enter the strong mans house and carry off his goods without first binding the strong man ? Then he can rob his house . * "He who is not with me is against me ; and he who is not gathering with me , scatters . * "Therefore I tell you that every sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven men ; but the blasphemy against the Holy Spirit shall not be forgiven . * "And if any man say a word against the Son of man , it shall be forgiven him ; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit , it shall not be forgiven him , either in this age or in that which is to come . * "Either make the tree good and its fruit good , or make the tree corrupt and its fruit corrupt ; for by its fruit the tree is known . * "You generation of vipers ! How can you speak good , when you are evil ? For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of . "When the time of fruit drew near , he sent his slaves to the vine-dressers seized to get his fruit . * "A good man out of his good treasure brings forth good ; and from his evil treasure a bad man brings out evil . * "I tell you that for every careless word that men speak they shall give account on the day of judgment . * "For by your words you will each be justified , and by your words be condemned ." * Then some of the Scribes and Pharisees accosted him . "Teacher ," they said , "we want to see some sign from you ." * In reply Jesus told them . "An evil and faithless generation seeks a sign , and no sign will be given them except the sign of the prophet Jonah . * "For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the sea - monsters belly , so the Son of man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth . * "The men of Nineveh will stand up in the Judgment with this generation and condemn it , because they repented under the preaching of Jonah , and lo ! a greater than Jonah is here ! * "The Queen of the South will rise in the judgment with this generation , and condemn it , because she came from the ends of the earth to listen to the wisdom of Solomon ; and lo ! a greater than Solomon is here ! * "Whenever an unclean spirit leaves a man , it wanders through waterless places , seeking rest but finding none . * "Then it says , "I will go back to my house which I left ;and on arrival finds it empty , swept , and garnished . * "Then it goes and brings with it seven other spirits worse than itself ; and they enter in and dwell there . And the last state of that man is worse than the first . So shall it be with this wicked generation ." * While he was still talking to the crowd , his mother and brothers were standing outside , desiring to speak to him . * So some one told him , "Your mother and brothers are standing outside , and wanting to speak to you ." * But he answered the man who told him , "Who is my mother and who are my brothers ?" * And stretching his hand toward his disciples , he said , * "Behold my mother and my brothers ! For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven , is my brother and sister and mother ." * On that same day , after Jesus had left the house , he took his seat on the seashore ; * and such a great crowd gathered about him that he got into a boat and sat in it , while all the crowd stood on the beach . * Then he told them many truths in parables . "Behold ," he said , "the sower went forth to sow ; * and as he sowed , some seed fell by the roadside , and the birds came and ate it . * Some fell on rocky ground where there was not much earth . Now because it had no depth of soil , it sprang up at once ; * but when the sun rose it was scorched , and withered away because it had no root . * Some fell among thorns , and the thorns sprang up and choked it . * But some fell on good soil , and bore a crop , some a hundredfold , some sixty , some thirty . * He who has ears , let him hear !" * Now when his disciples came up to him , they said , * "Why do you speak to them in parables ?" Jesus answered . "To you it has been granted to understand the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven ; but to them it has not been granted . * "For whoever holds , to him shall more be given , and he shall have abundance ; but whoever does not hold , from him shall be taken away even what he holds . * "This is why I speak to them in parables , because seeing they do not see , and hearing they do not hear , nor do they understand . * And in them is being fulfilled that prophecy of Isaiah which says . "Hearing you will hear and not understand ; Seeing you will see and not perceive ; * For the heart of his people is made fat , Their ears are dull of hearing ; Their eyes , too , have they closed , Lest some day their eyes should perceive , And their ears should hear , And their heart should understand and turn , And I should heal them . * "But happy are your eyes , because they see , and your ears because they hear . * "In solemn truth I tell you that many prophets and holy men have seen it not , and to hear what you are hearing , and have not heard it . * "Listen then , to the parable of the sower . * "Whenever any one hears the message of the kingdom , and does not understand it , the Evil One comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart . * "This is the seed sown by the wayside . And the word , and at once receives it with joy . * "But he has no root in himself ; he continues for a time , but when trouble arises , or persecutions , on account of the word , at once he stumbles and falls . * "And the seed sown among thorns is he who hears the word , but the anxieties of the age and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word , and it becomes unfruitful . * "But the seed sown in good soil is he who hears the word and understands it , who indeed bears fruit , and makes now an hundredfold , now sixty , now thirty ." * He told them another parable . "The kingdom of heaven ," he said , "is like a man who sowed good seed in his field ; * "but while men were asleep his enemy came and sowed tares among his wheat and went away . * "And when the blade shot up and formed the wheat-kernel , then the tares also appeared . * "The slaves of the owner went to him and said . "Was it not good seed , sir , that you sowed in your field ? From whence then , do you get tares ? * "It is an enemy who has done this , he answered . "The slaves said to him , Do you want us to go and collect them ? * "No , he answered , for fear lest while you are collecting the tares , you at the same time pull up the wheat . * "Let both grow together until harvest , and at harvest-time I will tell the reapers to first gather the tares and tie them in bundles for burning , but to bring all the wheat into my store-house ." * He set forth to them another parable , saying . "The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard-seed which a man took and planted in his field . * "This is indeed the smallest of seeds , but when it is grown it is greater than any herb , and becomes a tree , so that the winged things of the sky come and roost in its branches ." * He told them another parable . He said , "The kingdom of heaven is like leaven which a woman took and hid in three measures of flour , until the whole was leavened ." * Jesus told all this to the crowd in parables ; indeed he never spoke to them except in parables , * in fulfilment of the word spoken by the prophet , I will open my mouth in parables , I will utter things kept secret since the foundation of the world ." * After he had sent the people away and gone into the house , his disciples came to him and said , "Explain to us the parable about the weeds in the field ." * "The sower of the seed ," he answered , "is the Son of man ; * "the field is the world ; the good seed is the sons of the kingdom ; the weeds , the sons of the Evil One . * "The enemy who sows the weeds is the Devil . The harvest is the end of the age . The reapers are the angels . * "Just as the weeds are collected together and burnt with fire , so will it be at the end of the age . * "The son of man will send forth his angels , and they will gather out of his kingdom all hindrances , and whoever practises iniquity , * "and will throw them into the fiery furnace . There will be the weeping and the gnashing of teeth . * "And then shall the just shine forth like the sun in the kingdom of their Father . Let him who has ears to hear , listen ! * "The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure buried in the ground , which a man finds but buries again , and then in his joy goes and sells all that he has and buys that land . * "Again , the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of beautiful pearls . * "When he finds one of great price , he goes and sells everything he has and buys it . * "Again , the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was cast into the sea and gathered fish of every kind . * "When it was full they hauled it upon the beach , and sat down and sorted the good fish into baskets , but threw the worthless fish away . * "So will it be at the end of the age . The angels will go forth and separate the wicked from the righteous , and fling them into the furnace of fire . * "There shall be the weeping and the gnashing of teeth . * "Have you understood all this ?" he asked . "We have ," they answered him . * "Then ," said he , "every scribe who has been instructed in the kingdom of heaven is like a householder who brings out of his storehouse new things and old ." * After Jesus had finished these parables , he withdrew from that place , * and came into his own country , where he continued teaching the people in their synagogues , until they were amazed . "Where did he get such wisdom ?" they said , "and such wondrous powers ? * "Is not this the carpenters son ? Is not his mother called Mary ? and his brothers Jamesand Joseph and Simon and Judas ? * "Are not his sisters all living among us ? Where , then , did he get all these powers ?" * This kept them from believing in him . Wherefore Jesus said , "A prophet is not without honor except in his own country and among his own family ." * And he did no mighty works there , because of their lack of faith . * Just then Herod , the Tetrarch , heard of Jesus fame , and said to his courtiers .

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