Matthew 12:22-35

Then some people brought a man to Jesus. This man was blind and could not talk, because he had a demon. Jesus healed the man, and the man could talk and see. All the people were amazed. They said, “Perhaps this man is the Son of David!” The Pharisees heard the people saying this. The Pharisees said, “Jesus uses the power of Beelzebul to force demons out of people. Beelzebul is the ruler of demons.” Jesus knew what the Pharisees were thinking. So he said to them, “Every kingdom that is fighting against itself will be destroyed. And every city that is divided will fall. And every family that is divided cannot succeed. So if Satan forces out his own demons, then Satan is divided, and his kingdom will not continue. You say that I use the power of Satan when I force out demons. If that is true, then what power do your people use when they force out demons? So your own people prove that you are wrong. But if I use the power of God’s Spirit to force out demons, this shows that the kingdom of God has come to you. “If anyone wants to enter a strong man’s house and steal his things, first he must tie up the strong man. Then he can steal the things from the strong man’s house. “If anyone is not with me, then he is against me. He who does not work with me is working against me. So I tell you, people can be forgiven for every sin they do. And people can be forgiven for every bad thing they say. But if anyone speaks against the Holy Spirit, then he will not be forgiven. Anyone who says things against the Son of Man can be forgiven. But anyone who says things against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven. He will not be forgiven now or in the future. “If you want good fruit, you must make the tree good. If your tree is not good, then it will have bad fruit. A tree is known by the kind of fruit it produces. You snakes! You are evil people! How can you say anything good? The mouth speaks the things that are in the heart. A good person has good things in his heart. And so he speaks the good things that come from his heart. But an evil person has evil in his heart. So he speaks the evil things that come from his heart.