Matthew 12:15-37 When Jesus perceived what they were doing He withdrew from that place. Many people followed Him and He healed all of them.

AUV⁽ⁱ⁾ ¹⁵ When Jesus perceived what they were doing He withdrew from that place. Many people followed Him and He healed all of them. ¹⁶ Then He urged them not to reveal His [true] identity, ¹⁷ so what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah would be fulfilled when he said, ¹⁸ [Isa. 13:1ff] “Look, see my [i.e., God’s] servant whom I have chosen; my dear One [i.e., Jesus] with whom my soul is very pleased: I will put my Holy Spirit on Him, and He will proclaim judgment to the [unconverted] Gentiles. ¹⁹ He will not be contentious nor shout out [loudly]. Neither will anyone hear His voice [raised] in the streets. ²⁰ He will not [even] break a wilted stalk or put out a smoldering [lamp] wick until He exercises judgment [upon mankind through the Gospel] in order to bring about victory [i.e., in people’s lives]. ²¹ So, in His name the [unconverted] Gentiles will have hope.” ²² Then a person dominated by an evil spirit, who was [also] blind and mute, was brought to Jesus. He healed the man so that he was able [both] to speak and see [again]. ²³ All the crowds of people were amazed and said, “Can this [Jesus] be the son of David?” ²⁴ But when the Pharisees heard this, they said, “This man does not drive out evil spirits except by [the power of] Beelzebub, the chief of evil spirits.” ²⁵ Knowing their thoughts Jesus said to them, “Every kingdom [plagued] with internal division will end in ruin. And every city or household divided from within will not survive. ²⁶ If Satan drives out Satan, he is divided against himself, [so] how then can his kingdom stand? ²⁷ And if I drive out evil spirits by [the power of] Beelzebub, by whom do they [i.e., your people] drive them out? So, they become your judges. ²⁸ But if I drive out evil spirits by [the power of] the Holy Spirit, then [that is evidence that] the kingdom of God has come into your midst [i.e., by my presence and ministry]. ²⁹ Or, how can someone enter a strong man’s house and steal his belongings unless he first ties up the strong man? Only then will he be able to steal [his belongings] from his house. ³⁰ The person who is not on my side is [actually] against me. And the person who does not gather [people to me] is [actually] driving them away [from me]. ³¹ Therefore I tell you, people will be forgiven of every sin and abusive word spoken [against God]. But abusive words spoken against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven. ³² And whoever speaks an [abusive] word against the Son of man will be forgiven [of it], but whoever speaks [an abusive word] against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven [of it], not in this world nor the one to come. ³³ Either be a healthy tree and produce wholesome fruit, or be a diseased tree and produce rotten fruit, for [the quality of] a tree will be recognized by [the quality of] its fruit. ³⁴ You children of snakes! Since you are evil, how do you expect to speak good things? For the mouth speaks what the heart is filled with. ³⁵ The good person produces good things from his storehouse of goodness. But the evil person produces bad things from his storehouse of evil. ³⁶ And I say to you, a person will [have to] give an account [to God] on the day of judgment for every careless word he had spoken [while on earth]. ³⁷ For you will be considered righteous by the words [you speak] and you will be condemned by the words [you speak].”