At that season Jesus went on the sabbath day through the grainfields; and his disciples were hungry and began to pluck ears and to eat.
But the Pharisees, when they saw it, said unto him, Behold, thy disciples do that which it is not lawful to do upon the sabbath.
But he said unto them, {1 Samuel 21:6.}Have ye not read what David did, when he was hungry, and they that were with him;
how he entered into the house of God, and {Some ancient authorities read they ate.}ate the showbread, which it was not lawful for him to eat, neither for them that were with him, but only for the priests?
Or have ye not read in the law, {Numbers 28:9, 10}that on the sabbath day the priests in the temple profane the sabbath, and are guiltless?
But I say unto you, that {Greek: a greater thing.}one greater than the temple is here.
But if ye had known what this meaneth, {Hosea 6:6}I desire mercy, and not sacrifice, ye would not have condemned the guiltless.
For the Son of man is lord of the sabbath.
And he departed thence, and went into their synagogue:
and behold, a man having a withered hand. And they asked him, saying, Is it lawful to heal on the sabbath day? that they might accuse him.
And he said unto them, What man shall there be of you, that shall have one sheep, and if this fall into a pit on the sabbath day, will he not lay hold on it, and lift it out?
How much then is a man of more value than a sheep! Wherefore it is lawful to do good on the sabbath day.
Then saith he to the man, Stretch forth thy hand. And he stretched it forth; and it was restored whole, as the other.
But the Pharisees went out, and took counsel against him, how they might destroy him.
And Jesus perceiving it withdrew from thence: and many followed him; and he healed them all,
and charged them that they should not make him known:
that it might be fulfilled which was spoken through Isaiah the prophet, saying,
{Isaiah 42:1 ff.}Behold, my {See marginal note on Acts 3:13.}servant whom I have chosen;
My beloved in whom my soul is well pleased:
I will put my Spirit upon him,
And he shall declare judgment to the {See marginal note on chapter 4:15.}Gentiles.
He shall not strive, nor cry aloud;
Neither shall any one hear his voice in the streets.
A bruised reed shall he not break,
And smoking flax shall he not quench,
Till he send forth judgment unto victory.
And in his name shall the {See marginal note on chapter 4:15.}Gentiles hope.
Then was brought unto him {Or, a demoniac}one possessed with a demon, blind and dumb: and he healed him, insomuch that the dumb man spake and saw.
And all the multitudes were amazed, and said, Can this be the son of David?
But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, This man doth not cast out demons, but {Or, in}by {Greek: Beelzebul.}Beelzebub the prince of the demons.
And knowing their thoughts he said unto them, Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand:
and if Satan casteth out Satan, he is divided against himself; how then shall his kingdom stand?
And if I {Or, in}by {Greek: Beelzebul.}Beelzebub cast out demons, {Or, in}by whom do your sons cast them out? therefore shall they be your judges.
But if I {Or, in}by the Spirit of God cast out demons, then is the kingdom of God come upon you.
Or how can one enter into the house of the strong man, and spoil his goods, except he first bind the strong man? and then he will spoil his house.
He that is not with me is against me, and he that gathereth not with me scattereth.
Therefore I say unto you, Every sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men; but the blasphemy against the Spirit shall not be forgiven.
And whosoever shall speak a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him; but whosoever shall speak against the Holy Spirit, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this {Or, age}world, nor in that which is to come.
Either make the tree good, and its fruit good; or make the tree corrupt, and its fruit corrupt: for the tree is known by its fruit.
Ye offspring of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.
The good man out of his good treasure bringeth forth good things: and the evil man out of his evil treasure bringeth forth evil things.
And I say unto you, that every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment.
For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.
Then certain of the scribes and Pharisees answered him, saying, Teacher, we would see a sign from thee.
But he answered and said unto them, An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it but the sign of Jonah the prophet:
for as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the {Greek: sea-monster.}whale; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.
The men of Nineveh shall stand up in the judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: for they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and behold, {Greek: more than.}a greater than Jonah is here.
The queen of the south shall rise up in the judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and behold, {Greek: more than.}a greater than Solomon is here.
But the unclean spirit, when {Or, it}he is gone out of the man, passeth through waterless places, seeking rest, and findeth it not.
Then he saith, I will return into my house whence I came out; and when {Or, it}he is come, {Or, it}he findeth it empty, swept, and garnished.
Then goeth {Or, it}he, and taketh with {Or, itself}himself seven other spirits more evil than {Or, itself}himself, and they enter in and dwell there: and the last state of that man becometh worse than the first. Even so shall it be also unto this evil generation.
While he was yet speaking to the multitudes, behold, his mother and his brethren stood without, seeking to speak to him.
{Some ancient authorities omit verse 47.}And one said unto him, Behold, thy mother and thy brethren stand without, seeking to speak to thee.
But he answered and said unto him that told him, Who is my mother? and who are my brethren?
And he stretched forth his hand towards his disciples, and said, Behold, my mother and my brethren!
For whosoever shall do the will of my Father who is in heaven, he is my brother, and sister, and mother.
Querverweise zu Matthäus 12,45 Mt 12,45
But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, This man doth not cast out demons, but {Or, in}by {Greek: Beelzebul.}Beelzebub the prince of the demons.
Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte; and when he is become so, ye make him twofold more a son of {Greek: Gehenna.}hell than yourselves.
Then goeth {Or, it}he, and taketh to him seven other spirits more evil than {Or, itself}himself; and they enter in and dwell there: and the last state of that man becometh worse than the first.
But the husbandmen, when they saw the son, said among themselves, This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and take his inheritance.
And they took him, and cast him forth out of the vineyard, and killed him.
When therefore the lord of the vineyard shall come, what will he do unto those husbandmen?
They say unto him, He will miserably destroy those miserable men, and will let out the vineyard unto other husbandmen, who shall render him the fruits in their seasons.
Jesus saith unto them, Did ye never read in the scriptures, {Psalm 118:22 f.}The stone which the builders rejected,The same was made the head of the corner;This was from the Lord,And it is marvelous in our eyes?
Therefore say I unto you, The kingdom of God shall be taken away from you, and shall be given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof.
{Some ancient authorities omit verse 44.}And he that falleth on this stone shall be broken to pieces: but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will scatter him as dust.
And he asked him, What is thy name? And he saith unto him, My name is Legion; for we are many.
For as touching those who were once enlightened {Or, having both tasted of…and being made…and having tasted &c.}and tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Spirit,
and {Or, tasted the word of God that it is good}tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the age to come,
and then fell away, it is impossible to renew them again unto repentance; {Or, the while}seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame.
For the land which hath drunk the rain that cometh oft upon it, and bringeth forth herbs meet for them for whose sake it is also tilled, receiveth blessing from God:
but if it beareth thorns and thistles, it is rejected and nigh unto a curse; whose end is to be burned.
Fill ye up then the measure of your fathers.
Ye serpents, ye offspring of vipers, how shall ye escape the judgment of {Greek: Gehenna.}hell?
Therefore, behold, I send unto you prophets, and wise men, and scribes: some of them shall ye kill and crucify; and some of them shall ye scourge in your synagogues, and persecute from city to city:
that upon you may come all the righteous blood shed on the earth, from the blood of Abel the righteous unto the blood of Zachariah son of Barachiah, whom ye slew between the sanctuary and the altar.
Verily I say unto you, All these things shall come upon this generation.
O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, that killeth the prophets, and stoneth them that are sent unto her! how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!
Behold, your house is left unto you {Some ancient authorities omit desolate.}desolate.
For I say unto you, Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.
{The two oldest Greek manuscripts, and some other authorities, omit from verse 9 to the end. Some other authorities have a different ending to the Gospel.}Now when he was risen early on the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, from whom he had cast out seven demons.
For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more a sacrifice for sins,
but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and a {Or, jealously}fierceness of fire which shall devour the adversaries.
A man that hath set at nought Moses' law dieth without compassion on the word of two or three witnesses:
of how much sorer punishment, think ye, shall he be judged worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant wherewith he was sanctified {Greek: a common thing.}an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace?
For we know him that said, {Deuteronomy 32:35}Vengeance belongeth unto me, I will recompense. And again, {Deuteronomy 32:36}The Lord shall judge his people.
It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
Ye blind guides, that strain out the gnat, and swallow the camel!
For our wrestling is not against {Greek: blood and flesh.}flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the world-rulers of this darkness, against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.
But we are not {Greek: of shrinking back.}of them that shrink back unto perdition; but of them that have faith unto the {Or, gaining}saving of the soul.
Therefore, behold, I send unto you prophets, and wise men, and scribes: some of them shall ye kill and crucify; and some of them shall ye scourge in your synagogues, and persecute from city to city:
having eyes full of {Greek: an adulteress.}adultery, and that cannot cease from sin; enticing unstedfast souls; having a heart exercised in covetousness; children of cursing;
forsaking the right way, they went astray, having followed the way of Balaam the son of {Many ancient authorities read Bosor.}Beor, who loved the hire of wrong-doing;
but he was rebuked for his own transgression: a dumb ass spake with man's voice and stayed the madness of the prophet.
These are springs without water, and mists driven by a storm; for whom the blackness of darkness hath been reserved.
For, uttering great swelling words of vanity, they entice in the lusts of the flesh, by lasciviousness, those who are just escaping from them that live in error;
promising them liberty, while they themselves are bondservants of corruption; for of {Or, what}whom a man is overcome, of the same is he also brought into bondage.
For if, after they have escaped the defilements of the world through the knowledge of {Many ancient authorities read our.}the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein and overcome, the last state is become worse with them than the first.
For it were better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after knowing it, to turn back from the holy commandment delivered unto them.
It has happened unto them according to the true proverb, {Proverbs 26:11.}The dog turning to his own vomit again, and the sow that had washed to wallowing in the mire.
Therefore also said the wisdom of God, I will send unto them prophets and apostles; and some of them they shall kill and persecute;
that the blood of all the prophets, which was shed from the foundation of the world, may be required of this generation;
from the blood of Abel unto the blood of Zachariah, who perished between the altar and the {Greek: house.}sanctuary: yea, I say unto you, it shall be required of this generation.
If any man see his brother sinning a sin not unto death, {Or, he shall ask and shall give him life, even to them &c.}he shall ask, and God will give him life for them that sin not unto death. There is {Or, sin}a sin unto death: not concerning this do I say that he should make request.
And when he drew nigh, he saw the city and wept over it,
saying, {Or, O that thou hadst known}If thou hadst known in {Some ancient authorities read this thy day.}this day, even thou, the things which belong unto {Some ancient authorities read thy peace.}peace! but now they are hid from thine eyes.
For the days shall come upon thee, when thine enemies shall cast up a {Greek: palisade.}bank about thee, and compass thee round, and keep thee in on every side,
and shall dash thee to the ground, and thy children within thee; and they shall not leave in thee one stone upon another; because thou knewest not the time of thy visitation.
All unrighteousness is sin: and there is {Or, sin}a sin not unto death.
If I had not come and spoken unto them, they had not had sin: but now they have no excuse for their sin.
He that hateth me hateth my Father also.
If I had not done among them the works which none other did, they had not had sin: but now have they both seen and hated both me and my Father.
But these rail at whatsoever things they know not: and what they understand naturally, like the creatures without reason, in these things are they {Or, corrupted Compare 2 Peter 2:12 margin.}destroyed.
Woe unto them! for they went in the way of Cain, and {Or, cast themselves away through}ran riotously in the error of Balaam for hire, and perished in the gainsaying of Korah.
These are they who are {Or, spots}hidden rocks in your love-feasts when they feast with you, shepherds that without fear feed themselves; clouds without water, carried along by winds; autumn trees without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots;
wild waves of the sea, foaming out their own {Greek: shames.}shame; wandering stars, for whom the blackness of darkness hath been reserved for ever.
according as it is written, {Isaiah 29:10; Deuteronomy 29:4.}God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear, unto this very day.
And David saith, {Psalm 69:22 f.}Let their table be made a snare, and a trap,And a stumblingblock, and a recompense unto them:
Let their eyes be darkened, that they may not see,And bow thou down their back always.
who both killed the Lord Jesus and the prophets, and drove out us, and please not God, and are contrary to all men;
forbidding us to speak to the Gentiles that they may be saved; to fill up their sins always: but the wrath is come upon them to the uttermost.