Matthew 11-13

Matthew 11

¹And it came about that when Jesus had come to the end of giving these orders to his twelve disciples, he went away from there, teaching and preaching in their towns.

²Now when John had news in prison of the works of the Christ, he sent his disciples

³To say to him, Are you he who is to come, or are we waiting for another?

⁴And Jesus, answering, said to them, Go and give news to John of the things which you are seeing and hearing:

⁵The blind see; those who were not able to, are walking; lepers are made clean; those who were without hearing, now have their ears open; the dead come to life again, and the poor have the good news given to them.

⁶And a blessing will be on him who has no doubts about me.

⁷And when they were going away, Jesus, talking of John, said to all the people, What went you out into the waste land to see? a tall stem moving in the wind?

⁸But what went you out to see? a man delicately clothed? Those who have fair robes are in kings' houses.

⁹But why did you go out? to see a prophet? Yes, I say to you, and more than a prophet.

¹⁰This is he of whom it has been said, See, I send my servant before your face, who will make ready your way before you.

¹¹Truly I say to you, Among the sons of women there has not been a greater than John the Baptist: but he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.

¹²And from the days of John the Baptist till now, the kingdom of heaven is forcing its way in, and men of force take it.

¹³For all the prophets and the law were in force till John.

¹⁴And if you are able to see it, this is Elijah who was to come.

¹⁵He who has ears, let him give ear.

¹⁶But what comparison may I make of this generation? It is like children seated in the market-places, crying out to one another,

¹⁷We made music for you and you did not take part in the dance; we gave cries of sorrow and you made no signs of grief.

¹⁸For John came, taking no food or drink, and they say, He has an evil spirit.

¹⁹The Son of man has come feasting, and they say, See, a lover of food and wine, a friend of tax-farmers and sinners! And wisdom is judged to be right by her works.

²⁰Then he went on to say hard things to the towns where most of his works of power were done, because they had not been turned from their sins.

²¹Unhappy are you, Chorazin! Unhappy are you, Beth-saida! For if the works of power which were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have been turned from their sins in days gone by, clothing themselves in haircloth and putting dust on their heads.

²²But I say to you, It will be better for Tyre and Sidon in the day of judging, than for you.

²³And you, Capernaum, were you not to be lifted up to heaven? you will go down into hell: for if the works of power which were done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have been here to this day.

²⁴But I say to you that it will be better for the land of Sodom in the day of judging, than for you.

²⁵At that time Jesus made answer and said, I give praise to you, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have kept these things secret from the wise and the men of learning, and have made them clear to little children.

²⁶Yes, Father, for so it was pleasing in your eyes.

²⁷All things have been given to me by my Father; and no one has knowledge of the Son, but the Father; and no one has knowledge of the Father, but the Son, and he to whom the Son will make it clear.

²⁸Come to me, all you who are troubled and weighted down with care, and I will give you rest.

²⁹Take my yoke on you and become like me, for I am gentle and without pride, and you will have rest for your souls;

³⁰For my yoke is good, and the weight I take up is not hard.

Matthew 12

¹At that time Jesus went through the fields on the Sabbath day; and his disciples, being in need of food, were taking the heads of grain.

²But the Pharisees, when they saw it, said to him, See, your disciples do that which it is not right to do on the Sabbath.

³But he said to them, Have you no knowledge of what David did when he had need of food, and those who were with him?

⁴How he went into the house of God and took for food the holy bread which it was not right for him or for those who were with him to take, but only for the priests?

⁵Or is it not said in the law, how the Sabbath is broken by the priests in the Temple and they do no wrong?

⁶But I say to you that a greater thing than the Temple is here.

⁷But if these words had been in your minds, My desire is for mercy and not for offerings, you would not have been judging those who have done no wrong.

⁸For the Son of man is lord of the Sabbath.

⁹And he went from there into their Synagogue:

¹⁰And there was a man with a dead hand. And they put a question to him, saying, Is it right to make a man well on the Sabbath day? so that they might have something against him.

¹¹And he said to them, Which of you, having a sheep, if it gets into a hole on the Sabbath day, will not put out a helping hand and get it back?

¹²Of how much more value is a man than a sheep! For this reason it is right to do good on the Sabbath day.

¹³Then said he to the man, Put out your hand. And he put it out, and it was made as well as the other.

¹⁴But the Pharisees went out and made designs against him, how they might put him to death.

¹⁵And Jesus, having knowledge of this, went away from there, and a great number went after him; and he made them all well,

¹⁶Ordering them not to give people word of him:

¹⁷So that what was said by Isaiah the prophet might come true,

¹⁸See my servant, the man of my selection, my loved one in whom my soul is well pleased: I will put my Spirit on him, and he will make my decision clear to the Gentiles.

¹⁹His coming will not be with fighting or loud cries; and his voice will not be lifted up in the streets.

²⁰The crushed stem will not be broken by him; and the feebly burning light will he not put out, till he has made righteousness overcome all.

²¹And in his name will the Gentiles put their hope.

²²Then they took to him one with an evil spirit, who was blind and had no power of talking: and he made him well so that he had the power of talking and seeing.

²³And all the people were surprised and said, Is not this the Son of David?

²⁴But the Pharisees, hearing of it, said, This man only sends evil spirits out of men by Beelzebub, the ruler of evil spirits.

²⁵And having knowledge of their thoughts he said to them, Every kingdom having division in itself is made waste, and every town or house having division in itself will come to destruction.

²⁶And if Satan sends out Satan, he makes war against himself; how then will he keep his kingdom?

²⁷And if I by Beelzebub send evil spirits out of men, by whom do your sons send them out? So let them be your judges.

²⁸But if I by the Spirit of God send out evil spirits, then is the kingdom of God come on you.

²⁹Or how may one go into a strong man's house and take his goods, if he does not first put cords round the strong man? and then he may take his goods.

³⁰Whoever is not with me is against me; and he who does not take part with me in getting people together, is driving them away.

³¹So I say to you, Every sin and every evil word against God will have forgiveness; but for evil words against the Spirit there will be no forgiveness.

³²And whoever says a word against the Son of man, will have forgiveness; but whoever says a word against the Holy Spirit, will not have forgiveness in this life or in that which is to come.

³³Make the tree good, and its fruit good; or make the tree bad, and its fruit bad; for by its fruit you will get knowledge of the tree.

³⁴You offspring of snakes, how are you, being evil, able to say good things? because out of the heart's store come the words of the mouth.

³⁵The good man out of his good store gives good things; and the evil man out of his evil store gives evil things.

³⁶And I say to you that in the day when they are judged, men will have to give an account of every foolish word they have said.

³⁷For by your words will your righteousness be seen, and by your words you will be judged.

³⁸Then some of the scribes and Pharisees, hearing this, said to him, Master, we are looking for a sign from you.

³⁹But he, answering, said to them, An evil and false generation is looking for a sign; and no sign will be given to it but the sign of the prophet Jonah:

⁴⁰For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the stomach of the great fish, so will the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.

⁴¹The men of Nineveh will come up in the day of judging and give their decision against this generation: because they were turned from their sins at the preaching of Jonah; and now a greater than Jonah is here.

⁴²The queen of the South will come up in the day of judging and give her decision against this generation: for she came from the ends of the earth to give ear to the wisdom of Solomon; and now a greater than Solomon is here.

⁴³But the unclean spirit, when he is gone out of a man, goes through dry places looking for rest, and getting it not.

⁴⁴Then he says, I will go back into my house from which I came out; and when he comes, he sees that there is no one in it, but that it has been made fair and clean.

⁴⁵Then he goes and takes with him seven other spirits worse than himself, and they go in and make it their living-place: and the last condition of that man is worse than the first. Even so will it be with this evil generation.

⁴⁶While he was still talking to the people, his mother and his brothers came, desiring to have talk with him.

⁴⁷And one said to him, See, your mother and your brothers are outside, desiring to have talk with you.

⁴⁸But he in answer said to him who gave the news, Who is my mother and who are my brothers?

⁴⁹And he put out his hand to his disciples and said, See, my mother and my brothers!

⁵⁰For whoever does the pleasure of my Father in heaven, he is my brother, and sister, and mother.

Matthew 13

¹On that day Jesus went out of the house and was seated by the seaside.

²And great numbers of people came together to him, so that he got into a boat; and the people took up their position by the sea.

³And he gave them teaching in the form of a story, saying, A man went out to put seed in the earth;

⁴And while he did so, some seeds were dropped by the wayside, and the birds came and took them for food:

⁵And some of the seed went among the stones, where it had not much earth, and straight away it came up because the earth was not deep:

⁶And when the sun was high, it was burned; and because it had no root it became dry and dead.

⁷And some seeds went among thorns, and the thorns came up and they had no room for growth:

⁸And some, falling on good earth, gave fruit, some a hundred, some sixty, some thirty times as much.

⁹He who has ears, let him give ear.

¹⁰And the disciples came and said to him, Why do you say things to them in the form of stories?

¹¹And he said to them in answer, To you is given the knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given.

¹²Because whoever has, to him will be given, and he will have more; but from him who has not, even what he has will be taken away.

¹³For this reason I put things into the form of stories; because they see without seeing, and give ear without hearing, and the sense is not clear to them.

¹⁴And for them the words of Isaiah have come true, Though you give ear, you will not get knowledge; and seeing, you will see, but the sense will not be clear to you:

¹⁵For the heart of this people has become fat and their ears are slow in hearing and their eyes are shut; for fear that they might see with their eyes and give hearing with their ears and become wise in their hearts and be turned again to me, so that I might make them well.

¹⁶But a blessing be on your eyes, because they see; and on your ears, because they are open.

¹⁷For truly, I say to you that prophets and upright men had a desire to see the things which you see, and saw them not; and to have knowledge of the words which have come to your ears, and they had it not.

¹⁸Give ear, then, to the story of the man who put the seed in the earth.

¹⁹When the word of the kingdom comes to anyone, and the sense of it is not clear to him, then the Evil One comes, and quickly takes away that which was put in his heart. He is the seed dropped by the wayside.

²⁰And that which went on the stones, this is he who, hearing the word, straight away takes it with joy;

²¹But having no root in himself, he goes on for a time; and when trouble comes or pain, because of the word, he quickly becomes full of doubts.

²²And that which was dropped among the thorns, this is he who has the word; and the cares of this life, and the deceits of wealth, put a stop to the growth of the word and it gives no fruit.

²³And the seed which was put in good earth, this is he who gives ear to the word, and gets the sense of it; who gives fruit, some a hundred, some sixty, some thirty times as much.

²⁴And he gave them another story, saying, The kingdom of heaven is like a man who put good seed in his field:

²⁵But while men were sleeping, one who had hate for him came and put evil seeds among the grain, and went away.

²⁶But when the green stem came up and gave fruit, the evil plants were seen at the same time.

²⁷And the servants of the master of the house came and said to him, Sir, did you not put good seed in your field? how then has it evil plants?

²⁸And he said, Someone has done this in hate. And the servants say to him, Is it your pleasure that we go and take them up?

²⁹But he says, No, for fear that by chance while you take up the evil plants, you may be rooting up the grain with them.

³⁰Let them come up together till the getting in of the grain; and then I will say to the workers, Take up first the evil plants, and put them together for burning: but put the grain into my store-house.

³¹He put another story before them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed which a man took and put in his field:

³²Which is smaller than all seeds; but when it has come up it is greater than the plants, and becomes a tree, so that the birds of heaven come and make their resting-places in its branches.

³³Another story he gave to them: The kingdom of heaven is like leaven, which a woman took, and put in three measures of meal, till it was all leavened.

³⁴All these things Jesus said to the people in the form of stories; and without a story he said nothing to them:

³⁵That it might come true which was said by the prophet, Opening my mouth, I will give out stories; I will give knowledge of things kept secret from before all time.

³⁶Then he went away from the people, and went into the house; and his disciples came to him, saying, Make clear to us the story of the evil plants in the field.

³⁷And he made answer and said, He who puts the good seed in the earth is the Son of man;

³⁸And the field is the world; and the good seed is the sons of the kingdom; and the evil seeds are the sons of the Evil One;

³⁹And he who put them in the earth is Satan; and the getting in of the grain is the end of the world; and those who get it in are the angels.

⁴⁰As then the evil plants are got together and burned with fire, so will it be in the end of the world.

⁴¹The Son of man will send out his angels, and they will take out of his kingdom everything which is a cause of error, and all those who do wrong,

⁴²And will put them into the fire; there will be weeping and cries of sorrow.

⁴³Then will the upright be shining as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him give ear.

⁴⁴The kingdom of heaven is like a secret store of wealth in a field, which a man came across and put back again; and in his joy he goes and gives all he has, to get that field.

⁴⁵Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a trader searching for beautiful jewels.

⁴⁶And having come across one jewel of great price, he went and gave all he had in exchange for it.

⁴⁷Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net, which was put into the sea and took in every sort of fish:

⁴⁸When it was full, they took it up on the sands; and seated there they put the good into vessels, but the bad they put away.

⁴⁹So will it be in the end of the world: the angels will come and take out the bad from the good,

⁵⁰And will put them into the fire: there will be weeping and cries of sorrow.

⁵¹Are all these things now clear to you? They say to him, Yes.

⁵²And he said to them, For this reason every scribe who has become a disciple of the kingdom of heaven is like the owner of a house, who gives out from his store things new and old.

⁵³And when Jesus had come to the end of these stories he went away from there.

⁵⁴And coming into his country, he gave them teaching in their Synagogue, so that they were greatly surprised and said, Where did this man get this wisdom and these works of power?

⁵⁵Is not this the woodworker's son? is not his mother named Mary? and his brothers James and Joseph and Simon and Judas?

⁵⁶And his sisters, are they not all with us? from where, then, has he all these things?

⁵⁷And they were bitter against him. But Jesus said to them, A prophet is nowhere without honour but in his country and among his family.

⁵⁸And the works of power which he did there were small in number because they had no faith.