Matthew 11:22-12:28

International Standard Version

²² Indeed I tell you, it will be more bearable for Tyre and Sidon on Judgment Day than for you!

²³ “And you, Capernaum! You won’t be lifted up to heaven, will you? You’ll go down to Hell!^[a] Because if the miracles that happened in you had taken place in Sodom, it would have remained to this day. ²⁴ Indeed I tell you, it will be more bearable for the land of Sodom on Judgment Day than for you!”

Jesus Praises the Father and Invites the Disciples to Come to Him^(A)

²⁵ At that time Jesus said, “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from wise and intelligent people and have revealed them to infants. ²⁶ Yes, Father, because this is what was pleasing to you. ²⁷ All things have been entrusted to me by my Father. No one fully knows the Son except the Father, and no one fully knows the Father except the Son and the person to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.

²⁸ “Come to me, all of you who are weary and loaded down with burdens, and I will give you rest. ²⁹ Place my yoke on you and learn from me, because I am gentle and humble,^[b] and you will find rest for your souls,^{[c] 30} because my yoke is pleasant,^[d] and my burden is light.”

Jesus is Lord of the Sabbath^(B)

12 At that time, Jesus walked through the grain fields on a Sabbath.^[e] His disciples became hungry and began picking heads of grain to eat. ² When the Pharisees saw this, they told him, “Look! Your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath!”

³ But he told them, “Haven’t you read what David did when he and his companions were hungry? ⁴ How is it that he went into the house of God and ate the Bread of the Presence, which was not lawful for him and his companions to eat but was reserved^[f] for the priests? ⁵ Or haven’t you read in the Law that on every Sabbath^[g] the priests in the Temple violate the Sabbath^[h] and yet are innocent?^{[i] 6} But I tell you, something greater than the Temple is here! ⁷ If you had known what ‘I want mercy and not sacrifice’^[j] means, you would not have condemned the innocent, ⁸ for the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.”

Jesus Heals a Man with a Paralyzed Hand^(C)

⁹ Moving on from there, Jesus^[k] went into their synagogue. ¹⁰ Suddenly, a man with a paralyzed hand appeared. The people^[l] asked Jesus^[m] if it was lawful to heal on Sabbath days,^[n] intending to accuse him of doing something wrong.

¹¹ But he asked them, “Is there a man among you who, if he had one sheep and it fell into a ditch on the Sabbath, wouldn’t take hold of it and pull it out? ¹² How much more is a human being worth than a sheep! So it is lawful to do good on Sabbath days.”^[o]

¹³ Then he told the man, “Hold out your hand.” He held it out and it became normal, as healthy as his other hand. ¹⁴ The Pharisees, however, went out and plotted against Jesus^[p] to kill him.

Jesus, God’s Chosen Servant

¹⁵ When Jesus became aware of this, he left that place. Many crowds^[q] followed him, and he healed all of them, ¹⁶ ordering them not to make him known. ¹⁷ This was to fulfill what was declared by the prophet Isaiah when he said,

Jesus is Accused of Working with Beelzebul^(D)

²² Then a demon-possessed man who was blind and unable to talk was brought to him. Jesus^[x] healed him so that the man^[y] could speak and see. ²³ All the crowds were amazed and kept saying, “This man isn’t the Son of David, is he?”

²⁴ But when the Pharisees heard this, they said, “This man drives out demons only by Beelzebul, the ruler of the demons.”

²⁵ He knew what they were thinking and told them, “Every kingdom divided against itself is destroyed, and every city or household divided against itself will not stand. ²⁶ So if Satan drives out Satan, he is divided against himself. How, then, can his kingdom stand? ²⁷ If I drive out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your own followers^[z] drive them out? That is why they will be your judges! ²⁸ But if I drive out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come to you.