Matthew 12
12
Jesus is Lord of the Sabbath
Mk. 2:23-28; Lk. 6:1-5
1 At that time, Jesus went through the cornfields on the Sabbath. And His disciples were hungry, and they began to pluck heads of grain and to eat. 2 But when the Pharisees saw this, they said to Him, “Behold, Your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath.” 3 But He said to them, “Have you not read * what David did when he was hungry, and those with him, 4 how he entered the house of God, and they ate the bread * of the presentation, which it was not lawful for him to eat, nor for those with him, but for the priests alone? 5 Or have you not read in the Law that on the Sabbath the priests in the temple desecrate the Sabbath and are guiltless? 6 But I say to you that something greater than the temple is here! 7 And if you had known what this means: ‘I desire mercy and not sacrifice,’ * you would not have condemned the guiltless. 8 For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.”
The Healing of a Man with a Shrivelled Hand
Mk. 3:1·6; Lk. 6:6-11
9 And moving away from that place, He* came into their synagogue. 10 And behold, there was a man who had a shrivelled hand, and they asked Him, saying, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?”*—so that they might have a basis to accuse Him. 11 But He said to them, “What man is there among you who has a sheep, and if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will he not take hold of it and lift it out? 12 Then how much more valuable is a man than a sheep? So then, it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.” 13 Then He said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” And he stretched it out, and it was restored as sound as the other one. 14 But the Pharisees went out and took counsel against Him, how they might destroy Him.
Jesus is God’s Chosen Servant
15 Now Jesus, having known this, withdrew from that place, and large crowds* followed Him, and He healed them all. 16 And He warned them that they should not make Him known, 17 in order to fulfil what was spoken through Isaiah the prophet Isaiah, saying,
18 “Behold My Servant whom I have chosen,
My Beloved in whom My soul is well pleased.
I will put My Spirit on Him,
and He will declare justice to the Gentiles.
19 He will not quarrel, nor will He clamour,
nor will anyone hear His voice in the streets.
20 A bruised reed He will not break,
and a smoldering wick He will not quench,
until He brings justice to victory.
21 And in His name the Gentiles will place their hope.”*
Jesus and the Pharisees
Mk. 3:20-30; Lk 11:14-23; 12:10
22 Then there was brought to Him one possessed by a demon—blind and mute—and He healed him so that the mute could speak and see. 23 And all the crowds were astonished, and were saying, “Could this be the Son of David?” 24 But the Pharisees, having heard this, said, “This man does not cast out demons except by Beelzebul, the ruler of the demons.”
25 But knowing their thoughts, He said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and every city or house divided against itself will not stand. 26 And if Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself; how then will his kingdom stand? 27 And if I cast out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your sons cast them out? On account of this, they will be your judges. 28 But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. 29 Or how can someone enter the house of a strong man and rob his belongings, unless he first binds the strong man? And then he can thoroughly rob his house. 30 The one who is not aligned with Me is against Me; and the one who does not gather with Me scatters. 31 On account of this, I say to you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, * but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. 32 And whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him, neither in this age nor in the coming one.
A Tree and Its Fruit
Lk. 6:43-45
33 “Either make the tree good and its fruit is good, or make the tree rotten and its fruit is rotten, for the tree is known by its fruit. 34 Offspring of vipers! How can you, being evil, say good things? For from the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. 35 The good man * from his good treasure brings out good things, and the evil man * from his evil treasure brings out evil things. 36 But I say to you that every useless word that men speak, they will give an account for it on the day of judgment. 37 For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be pronounced guilty.”
The Sign of Jonah
Lk. 8:11-12; Lk. 11:29-32
38 Then some of the scribes and Pharisees replied to Him, saying, “Teacher, we want to see a sign from You.” 39 But in response, He said to them, “An evil and adulterous generation craves for a sign, and no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah the prophet. 40 For just as Jonah was in the belly of the huge fish for three days and three nights, so will the Son of Man be in the heart of the earth for three days and three nights. 41 The men of Nineveh will stand up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and behold, something greater than Jonah is here! 42 The queen of the South will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and behold, something greater than Solomon is here!
Return of an Unclean Spirit
Lk. 11:24-26
43 “Now when an unclean spirit departs from a person, it passes through waterless places, searching for rest, but finds none. 44 Then it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came out.’ And having arrived, it finds the house unoccupied, swept and put in proper order. 45 Then it goes and takes along with it seven other spirits more evil than itself, and after entering, they live there; and the last state of that man becomes worse than the first. So also will it be for this evil generation.”
Jesus' Mother and Brothers
Mk. 3:31-35; Lk. 8:19-21
46 And while He was still speaking to the crowds, behold, His mother and brothers were standing there* outside, seeking to speak to Him. 47 And someone said to Him, “Behold, Your mother and Your brothers are standing outside, seeking to speak to You.” 48 But in response, He said to the one who told Him, “Who is My mother, and who are My brothers?” 49 And having stretched out His hand towards His disciples, He said, “Behold My mother and My brothers! 50 For whoever does the will of My Father in heaven, * this is My brother and sister and mother.”
Notes
3 This is a reference to I Sam. 21:1-6
4 Greek loaves
7 Quoted from Hos. 6:6
9 Two ancient Greek manuscripts insert the name Jesus at this point, so that the reading becomes: Jesus came into their synagogue
10 Greek Sabbaths
15 Two ancient Greek manuscripts reads many
18-21 Quoted from Is. 42:1-4
31 Or people , as the term is generically understood. So also v. 36
35 Or person , as the term is generically understood. So also v. 45
46 The word there is used in the Greek text and is retained in this translation for exegetical purposes, though it may sound redundant in English
50 Greek the heavens
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Copyright © 2026 Michael Adeyemi Adegbola. This Scripture text is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Matthew 12
12
Jesus is Lord of the Sabbath
Mk. 2:23-28; Lk. 6:1-5
1 At that time, Jesus went through the cornfields on the Sabbath. And His disciples were hungry, and they began to pluck heads of grain and to eat. 2 But when the Pharisees saw this, they said to Him, “Behold, Your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath.” 3 But He said to them, “Have you not read * what David did when he was hungry, and those with him, 4 how he entered the house of God, and they ate the bread * of the presentation, which it was not lawful for him to eat, nor for those with him, but for the priests alone? 5 Or have you not read in the Law that on the Sabbath the priests in the temple desecrate the Sabbath and are guiltless? 6 But I say to you that something greater than the temple is here! 7 And if you had known what this means: ‘I desire mercy and not sacrifice,’ * you would not have condemned the guiltless. 8 For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.”
The Healing of a Man with a Shrivelled Hand
Mk. 3:1·6; Lk. 6:6-11
9 And moving away from that place, He* came into their synagogue. 10 And behold, there was a man who had a shrivelled hand, and they asked Him, saying, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?”*—so that they might have a basis to accuse Him. 11 But He said to them, “What man is there among you who has a sheep, and if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will he not take hold of it and lift it out? 12 Then how much more valuable is a man than a sheep? So then, it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.” 13 Then He said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” And he stretched it out, and it was restored as sound as the other one. 14 But the Pharisees went out and took counsel against Him, how they might destroy Him.
Jesus is God’s Chosen Servant
15 Now Jesus, having known this, withdrew from that place, and large crowds* followed Him, and He healed them all. 16 And He warned them that they should not make Him known, 17 in order to fulfil what was spoken through Isaiah the prophet Isaiah, saying,
18 “Behold My Servant whom I have chosen,
My Beloved in whom My soul is well pleased.
I will put My Spirit on Him,
and He will declare justice to the Gentiles.
19 He will not quarrel, nor will He clamour,
nor will anyone hear His voice in the streets.
20 A bruised reed He will not break,
and a smoldering wick He will not quench,
until He brings justice to victory.
21 And in His name the Gentiles will place their hope.”*
Jesus and the Pharisees
Mk. 3:20-30; Lk 11:14-23; 12:10
22 Then there was brought to Him one possessed by a demon—blind and mute—and He healed him so that the mute could speak and see. 23 And all the crowds were astonished, and were saying, “Could this be the Son of David?” 24 But the Pharisees, having heard this, said, “This man does not cast out demons except by Beelzebul, the ruler of the demons.”
25 But knowing their thoughts, He said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and every city or house divided against itself will not stand. 26 And if Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself; how then will his kingdom stand? 27 And if I cast out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your sons cast them out? On account of this, they will be your judges. 28 But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. 29 Or how can someone enter the house of a strong man and rob his belongings, unless he first binds the strong man? And then he can thoroughly rob his house. 30 The one who is not aligned with Me is against Me; and the one who does not gather with Me scatters. 31 On account of this, I say to you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, * but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. 32 And whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him, neither in this age nor in the coming one.
A Tree and Its Fruit
Lk. 6:43-45
33 “Either make the tree good and its fruit is good, or make the tree rotten and its fruit is rotten, for the tree is known by its fruit. 34 Offspring of vipers! How can you, being evil, say good things? For from the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. 35 The good man * from his good treasure brings out good things, and the evil man * from his evil treasure brings out evil things. 36 But I say to you that every useless word that men speak, they will give an account for it on the day of judgment. 37 For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be pronounced guilty.”
The Sign of Jonah
Lk. 8:11-12; Lk. 11:29-32
38 Then some of the scribes and Pharisees replied to Him, saying, “Teacher, we want to see a sign from You.” 39 But in response, He said to them, “An evil and adulterous generation craves for a sign, and no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah the prophet. 40 For just as Jonah was in the belly of the huge fish for three days and three nights, so will the Son of Man be in the heart of the earth for three days and three nights. 41 The men of Nineveh will stand up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and behold, something greater than Jonah is here! 42 The queen of the South will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and behold, something greater than Solomon is here!
Return of an Unclean Spirit
Lk. 11:24-26
43 “Now when an unclean spirit departs from a person, it passes through waterless places, searching for rest, but finds none. 44 Then it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came out.’ And having arrived, it finds the house unoccupied, swept and put in proper order. 45 Then it goes and takes along with it seven other spirits more evil than itself, and after entering, they live there; and the last state of that man becomes worse than the first. So also will it be for this evil generation.”
Jesus' Mother and Brothers
Mk. 3:31-35; Lk. 8:19-21
46 And while He was still speaking to the crowds, behold, His mother and brothers were standing there* outside, seeking to speak to Him. 47 And someone said to Him, “Behold, Your mother and Your brothers are standing outside, seeking to speak to You.” 48 But in response, He said to the one who told Him, “Who is My mother, and who are My brothers?” 49 And having stretched out His hand towards His disciples, He said, “Behold My mother and My brothers! 50 For whoever does the will of My Father in heaven, * this is My brother and sister and mother.”
Notes
3 This is a reference to I Sam. 21:1-6
4 Greek loaves
7 Quoted from Hos. 6:6
9 Two ancient Greek manuscripts insert the name Jesus at this point, so that the reading becomes: Jesus came into their synagogue
10 Greek Sabbaths
15 Two ancient Greek manuscripts reads many
18-21 Quoted from Is. 42:1-4
31 Or people , as the term is generically understood. So also v. 36
35 Or person , as the term is generically understood. So also v. 45
46 The word there is used in the Greek text and is retained in this translation for exegetical purposes, though it may sound redundant in English
50 Greek the heavens
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Copyright © 2026 Michael Adeyemi Adegbola. This Scripture text is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License (CC BY-SA 4.0).