Matthew 12:25-35

25 Jesus knew what they were thinking, and so he said to them, "Any country that divides itself into groups which fight each other will not last very long. And any town or family that divides itself into groups which fight each other will fall apart.

26 So if one group is fighting another in Satan's kingdom, this means that it is already divided into groups and will soon fall apart!

27 You say that I drive out demons because Beelzebul gives me the power to do so. Well, then, who gives your followers the power to drive them out? What your own followers do proves that you are wrong!

28 No, it is not Beelzebul, but God's Spirit, who gives me the power to drive out demons, which proves that the Kingdom of God has already come upon you.

29 "No one can break into a strong man's house and take away his belongings unless he first ties up the strong man; then he can plunder his house. ¹

30 "Anyone who is not for me is really against me; anyone who does not help me gather is really scattering. ²

31 For this reason I tell you: people can be forgiven any sin and any evil thing they say; but whoever says evil things against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven.

32 Anyone who says something against the Son of Man can be forgiven; but whoever says something against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven - now or ever. ³

33 "To have good fruit you must have a healthy tree; if you have a poor tree, you will have bad fruit. A tree is known by the kind of fruit it bears. ⁴

34 You snakes - how can you say good things when you are evil? For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of. ⁵

35 A good person brings good things out of a treasure of good things; a bad person brings bad things out of a treasure of bad things.

Cross References

• 1. +212.29Tobit 8.3.
• 2. 12.30Mark 9.40.
• 3. 12.32Luke 12.10.
• 4. 12.33 +2Si 27.6; +1Mt 7.20;Luke 6.44.
• 5. 12.34 aMatthew 3.7; 23.33;Luke 3.7; bMatthew 15.18;Luke 6.45.

Footnotes

• [a]. evil thing they say; [or] evil thing they say against God.