Matthew 12:33-43

A Tree Is Known by Its Fruit

33 ¹"Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree bad and its fruit bad, ²for the tree is known by its fruit.

34 ³You brood of vipers! How can you speak good, ⁴when you are evil? ⁵For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.

35 ⁶The good person out of his good treasure brings forth good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure brings forth evil.

36 I tell you, ⁷on the day of judgment ⁸people will give account for ⁹every careless word they speak,

37 for ¹⁰by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned."

The Sign of Jonah

38 Then some of the scribes and Pharisees answered him, saying, "Teacher, ¹¹we wish to see a sign from you."

39 But he answered them, ¹²"An evil and ¹³adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah.

40 For ¹⁴just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, ¹⁵so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.

41 ¹⁶The men of Nineveh will rise up at the judgment with this generation and ¹⁷condemn it, for ¹⁸they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and behold, ¹⁹something greater than Jonah is here.

42 ²⁰The queen of the South will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and behold, ²¹something greater than Solomon is here.

Return of an Unclean Spirit

43 "When ²²the unclean spirit has gone out of a person, it passes through ²³waterless places seeking rest, but finds none.