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¹At that particular time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath, and His disciples were hungry and began to pick the heads of grain and eat them.

²But when the Pharisees saw this, they said to Him, "Look! Your disciples are doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath."

³He said to them, "Have you not read [in the Scriptures] what David did when he was hungry, he and those who accompanied him—

⁴how he went into the house of God, and they ate the consecrated bread, which was not lawful for him to eat nor for those with him, but for the priests only?

⁵Or have you not read in the Law, that on the Sabbath the priests in the temple break [the sanctity of] the Sabbath and yet are innocent?

⁶But I tell you that something greater than the temple is here.

⁷And if you had only known what this statement means, 'I desire compassion [for those in distress],and not [animal] sacrifice,' you would not have condemned the innocent.

⁸For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath."

⁹Leaving there, He went into their synagogue.

¹⁰A man was there whose hand was withered. And they asked Jesus, "Is it lawful and permissible to heal on the Sabbath?"—they asked this so that they might accuse Him and bring charges into court.

¹¹But He said to them, "What man is there among you who, if he has only one sheep and it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will not take hold of it and lift it out?

¹²How much more valuable then is a man than a sheep! So it is lawful and permissible to do good on the Sabbath."

¹³Then He said to the man, "Reach out your hand!" The man reached out and it was restored, as normal and healthy as the other.

¹⁴But the Pharisees went out and conspired against Him, discussing how they could destroy Him.

¹⁵Being aware of this, Jesus left there. Many followed Him, and He healed all of them [who were sick],

¹⁶and warned them not to tell [publicly] who He was.

¹⁷This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah:

¹⁸"Behold, My Servant whom I have chosen; My Beloved in whom My soul is well-pleased; I will put My Spirit upon Him, And He will proclaim justice to the nations.

¹⁹"He will not quarrel, nor cry out loudly; Nor will anyone hear His voice in the streets.

²⁰"A battered reed He will not break, And a smoldering wick He will not extinguish, Until He leads justice to victory.

²¹"And in His name the Gentiles (all the nations of the world) will hope [with confidence]."

²²Then a demon-possessed man who was blind and mute was brought to Jesus, and He healed him, so that the mute man both spoke and saw.

²³All the people wondered in amazement, and said, "Could this be the Son of David (the Messiah)?"

²⁴But the Pharisees heard it and said, "This man casts out demons only by [the help of] Beelzebul (Satan) the prince of the demons."

²⁵Knowing their thoughts Jesus said to them, "Any kingdom that is divided against itself is being laid waste; and no city or house divided against itself will [continue to] stand.

²⁶If Satan casts out Satan [that is, his demons], he has become divided against himself and disunited; how then will his kingdom stand?

²⁷If I cast out the demons by [the help of] Beelzebul (Satan), by whom do your sons drive them out? For this reason they will be your judges.

²⁸But if it is by the Spirit of God that I cast out the demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you [before you expected it].

²⁹Or how can anyone go into a strong man's house and steal his property unless he first overpowers and ties up the strong man? Then he will ransack and rob his house.

³⁰He who is not with Me [once and for all on My side] is against Me; and he who does not [unequivocally] gather with Me scatters.

³¹"Therefore I say to you, every sin and blasphemy [every evil, abusive, injurious speaking, or indignity against sacred things] will be forgiven people, but blasphemy against the [Holy] Spirit will not be forgiven.

³²Whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit [by attributing the miracles done by Me to Satan] will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come.

³³"Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree bad and its fruit bad; for the tree is recognized and judged by its fruit.

³⁴You brood of vipers, how can you speak good things when you are evil? For the mouth speaks out of that which fills the heart.

³⁵The good man, from his [inner] good treasure, brings out good things; and the evil man, from his [inner] evil treasure, brings out evil things.

³⁶But I tell you, on the day of judgment people will have to give an accounting for every careless or useless word they speak.

³⁷For by your words [reflecting your spiritual condition] you will be justified and acquitted of the guilt of sin; and by your words [rejecting Me] you will be condemned and sentenced."

³⁸Then some of the scribes and Pharisees said to Him, "Teacher, we want to see a sign (attesting miracle) from You [proving that You are what You claim to be]."

³⁹But He replied and said to them, "An evil and adulterous generation [that is morally unfaithful to God] craves and demands a [miraculous] sign; but no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah;

⁴⁰for just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the sea monster, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.

⁴¹The men of Nineveh will stand up [as witnesses] at the judgment against this generation, and will condemn it because they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and now, something greater than Jonah is here.

⁴²The Queen of the South (Sheba) will stand up [as a witness] at the judgment against this generation, and will condemn it because she came from the ends of the earth to listen to the wisdom of Solomon; and now, something greater than Solomon is here.

⁴³"Now when the unclean spirit has gone out of a man, it roams through waterless (dry, arid) places in search of rest, but it does not find it.

⁴⁴Then it says, 'I will return to my house from which I came.' And when it arrives, it finds the place unoccupied, swept, and put in order.

⁴⁵Then it goes and brings with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and make their home there. And the last condition of that man becomes worse than the first. So will it also be with this wicked generation."

⁴⁶While He was still talking to the crowds, it happened that His mother and brothers stood outside, asking to speak to Him.

⁴⁷Someone said to Him, "Look! Your mother and Your brothers are standing outside asking to speak to You."

⁴⁸But Jesus replied to the one who told Him, "Who is My mother and who are My brothers?"

⁴⁹And stretching out His hand toward His disciples [and all His other followers], He said, "Here are My mother and My brothers!

⁵⁰For whoever does the will of My Father who is in heaven [by believing in Me, and following Me] is My brother and sister and mother."

¹That same day Jesus went out of the house and was sitting beside the sea [of Galilee].

²But such large crowds gathered around Him that He got into a boat and sat there [positioning Himself as a teacher], while the whole crowd stood on the shore.

³He told them many things in parables, saying, "Listen carefully: a sower went out to sow [seed in his field];

⁴and as he sowed, some seed fell beside the road [between the fields], and the birds came and ate it.

⁵Other seed fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil; and at once they sprang up because they had no depth of soil.

⁶But when the sun rose, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away.

⁷Other seed fell among thorns, and thorns came up and choked them out.

⁸Other seed fell on good soil and yielded grain, some a hundred times as much [as was sown], some sixty [times as much], and some thirty.

⁹He who has ears [to hear], let him hear and heed My words."

¹⁰Then the disciples came to Him and asked, "Why do You speak to the crowds in parables?"

¹¹Jesus replied to them, "To you it has been granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been granted.

¹²For whoever has [spiritual wisdom because he is receptive to God's word], to him more will be given, and he will be richly and abundantly supplied; but whoever does not have [spiritual wisdom because he has devalued God's word], even what he has will be taken away from him.

¹³This is the reason I speak to the crowds in parables: because while [having the power of] seeing they do not see, and while [having the power of] hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand and grasp [spiritual things].

¹⁴In them the prophecy of Isaiah is being fulfilled, which says, 'You will hear and keep on hearing, but never understand; And you will look and keep on looking, but never comprehend;

¹⁵For this nation's heart has grown hard, And with their ears they hardly hear, And they have [tightly] closed their eyes, Otherwise they would see with their eyes, And hear with their ears, And understand with their heart, and turn [to Me] And I would heal them [spiritually].'

¹⁶But blessed [spiritually aware, and favored by God] are your eyes, because they see; and your ears, because they hear.

¹⁷I assure you and most solemnly say to you, many prophets and righteous men [who were honorable and in right standing with God] longed to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.

¹⁸"Listen then to the [meaning of the] parable of the sower:

¹⁹When anyone hears the word of the kingdom [regarding salvation] and does not understand and grasp it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is the one on whom seed was sown beside the road.

²⁰The one on whom seed was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and at once welcomes it with joy;

²¹yet he has no [substantial] root in himself, but is only temporary, and when pressure or persecution comes because of the word, immediately he stumbles and falls away [abandoning the One who is the source of salvation].

²²And the one on whom seed was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but the worries and distractions of the world and the deceitfulness [the superficial pleasures and delight] of riches choke the word, and it yields no fruit.

²³And the one on whom seed was sown on the good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands and grasps it; he indeed bears fruit and yields, some a hundred times [as much as was sown], some sixty [times as much], and some thirty."

²⁴Jesus gave them another parable [to consider], saying, "The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field.

²⁵But while his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds [resembling wheat] among the wheat, and went away.

²⁶So when the plants sprouted and formed grain, the weeds appeared also.

²⁷The servants of the owner came to him and said, 'Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? Then how does it have weeds in it?'

²⁸He replied to them, 'An enemy has done this.' The servants asked him, 'Then do you want us to go and pull them out?'

²⁹But he said, 'No; because as you pull out the weeds, you may uproot the wheat with them.

³⁰Let them grow together until the harvest; and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, "First gather the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned; but gather the wheat into my barn."'"

³¹He gave them another parable [to consider], saying, "The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field;

³²and of all the seeds [planted in the region] it is the smallest, but when it has grown it is the largest of the garden herbs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air find shelter in its branches."

³³He told them another parable, "The kingdom of heaven is like leaven, which a woman took and worked into three measures of flour until all of it was leavened."

³⁴All these things Jesus said to the crowds in parables, and He said nothing to them without [using] a parable.

³⁵This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet: "I will open My mouth in parables; I will utter things [unknown and unattainable] that have been hidden [from mankind] since the foundation of the world."

³⁶Then He left the crowds and went into the house. And His disciples came to Him saying, "Explain [clearly] to us the parable of the weeds in the field."

³⁷He answered, "The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man,

³⁸and the field is the world; and [as for] the good seed, these are the sons of the kingdom; and the weeds are the sons of the evil one;

³⁹and the enemy who sowed them is the devil, and the harvest is the end of the age; and the reapers are angels.

⁴⁰So just as the weeds are gathered up and burned in the fire, so will it be at the end of the age.

⁴¹The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all things that offend [those things by which people are led into sin], and all who practice evil [leading others into sin],

⁴²and will throw them into the furnace of fire; in that place there will be weeping [over sorrow and pain] and grinding of teeth [over distress and anger].

⁴³Then the righteous [those who seek the will of God] will shine forth [radiating the new life] like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears [to hear], let him hear and heed My words.

⁴⁴"The kingdom of heaven is like a [very precious] treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and hid again; then in his joy he goes and sells all he has and buys that field [securing the treasure for himself].

⁴⁵"Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls,

⁴⁶and upon finding a single pearl of great value, he went and sold all that he had and bought it.

⁴⁷"Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a dragnet which was lowered into the sea, and gathered fish of every kind,

⁴⁸and when it was full, they dragged it up on the beach; and they sat down and sorted out the good fish into baskets, but the worthless ones they threw away.

⁴⁹So it will be at the end of the age; the angels will come and separate the wicked from the righteous

⁵⁰and throw the wicked into the furnace of fire; in that place there will be weeping [over sorrow and pain] and grinding of teeth [over distress and anger].

⁵¹"Have you understood all these things [in the lessons of the parables]?" They said to Jesus, "Yes."

⁵²He said to them, "Therefore every scribe who has become a disciple of the kingdom of heaven is like the head of a household, who brings out of his treasure things that are new and fresh and things that are old and familiar."

⁵³When Jesus had finished these parables, He left there.

⁵⁴And after coming to [Nazareth] His hometown, He began teaching them in their synagogue, and they were astonished, and said, "Where did this Man get this wisdom and these miraculous powers [what is the source of His authority]?

⁵⁵Is not this the carpenter's son? Is not His mother called Mary? And are not His brothers, James and Joseph and Simon and Judas?

⁵⁶And His sisters, are they not [living here] among us? Where then did this Man get all this [wisdom and power]?"

⁵⁷And they took offense at Him [refusing to believe in Him]. But Jesus said to them, "A prophet is not without honor except in his hometown and in his own household."

⁵⁸And He did not do many miracles there [in Nazareth] because of their unbelief.