Some People Say Jesus Is Possessed by an Evil Spirit^(A)

²⁰ Then Jesus went ·home [into a house], but again a crowd gathered. There were so many people that Jesus and his followers could not eat. ²¹ When his ·family [own people] heard this, they went to ·get [seize; take charge of] him because they thought he was out of his mind. ²² But the ·teachers of the law [scribes] from Jerusalem were saying, “·Beelzebul [^Canother name for Satan] is ·living inside [possessing] him! He uses power from the ·ruler [prince] of demons to ·force [drive; cast] demons out of people.”

²³ So Jesus called the people together and ·taught them with stories [^Lspoke to them in parables; ^CGreek parabolē, which can mean stories and analogies of various kinds]. He said, ·“Satan will not force himself out of people. [^L“How can Satan drive out Satan?] ²⁴ A kingdom that is ·divided [at war with itself] cannot ·continue [stand], ²⁵ and a ·family [household; ^Lhouse] that is divided cannot ·continue [stand]. ²⁶ And if Satan ·is [rises; rebels] against himself and ·fights against his own people [is divided], he cannot ·continue [stand]; that is the end of Satan. ²⁷ No one can enter a strong man’s house and ·steal [seize; plunder] his things unless he first ·ties up [binds] the strong man [Is. 49:24–25]. Then he can ·steal [seize; plunder] things from the house. [^CSatan is the strong man and his possessions are the people Jesus is freeing from Satan’s power.] ²⁸ I tell you the truth, all sins that people do and all ·the things people say against God [blasphemies] can be forgiven. ²⁹ But anyone who ·speaks against [blasphemes] the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven; he is guilty of ·a sin that continues forever [a sin with eternal consequences; ^Lan eternal sin].”

³⁰ Jesus said this because the teachers of the law said that he had an ·evil [defiling; ^Lunclean] spirit inside him.

Jesus Heals a Demon Possessed Man^(A)

³² When the two men were leaving, [^Llook; behold] some people brought to Jesus ·another man who could not talk because he had a demon in him [a mute, demon-possessed man]. ³³ After Jesus ·forced the demon to leave the man [drove/cast out the demon], he ·was able [began] to speak. The crowd was amazed and said, “·We have never seen anything like this [^LNothing like this has ever been seen/happened] in Israel.”

³⁴ But the Pharisees said, “He forces [drives; casts] demons out by the power of the ·prince [ruler] of demons.”

²⁴ When the Pharisees heard this, they said, “This man uses the power of Beelzebul [^Canother name for Satan], the ruler of demons, to ·force [drive; cast] demons out of people.”

²⁵ Jesus knew what the Pharisees were thinking, so he said to them, “Every kingdom that is ·divided against [at war with] itself ·will be destroyed [is doomed/headed for ruin]. And any city or ·family [^Lhouse] that is ·divided against [at war with] itself will not ·continue [survive; stand]. ²⁶ And if Satan ·forces out himself [^Ldrives/casts out Satan], then Satan is ·divided against [at war with] himself, and ·his kingdom will not continue [^Lhow will his kingdom stand?]. ²⁷ You say that I use the power of Beelzebul [v. 24] to ·force [drive; cast] out demons. If that is true, then what power do your ·people [own exorcists; followers; ^Lsons] use to ·force [drive; force] out demons? So they will be your judges. ²⁸ But if I use the power of God’s Spirit to ·force [drive; cast] out demons, then the kingdom of God has ·come to you [arrived among you; or overtaken you; caught you unaware].

²⁹ “·If anyone wants to [^LOr how can anyone…?] enter a strong person’s house and ·steal [seize; plunder] his things, he must first ·tie up [bind] the strong person. Then he can ·steal [seize; plunder] the things from the house. [^CSatan is the strong man and his possessions are the people Jesus is freeing from Satan’s power.]

The Sin Against the Holy Spirit^(A)

³⁰ “Whoever is not with me is against me. Whoever does not ·work [gather] with me ·is working against me [scatters; ^Cprobably a reference to gathering or scattering a flock; John 10:12]. ³¹ So I tell you, people can be forgiven for every sin and ·everything they say against God [blasphemy]. But whoever ·speaks [blasphemes] against the ·Holy Spirit [^LSpirit] will not be forgiven. ³² Anyone who speaks against the Son of Man can be forgiven, but anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, ·now or in the future [^Lneither in this age, nor the one to come].

People Know You by Your Words

³³ “If you want good fruit, you must ·make the tree good [grow a good/healthy tree]. If ·your tree is not good [you grow a bad/unhealthy tree], it will have bad fruit. A tree is ·known [identified; recognized] by the kind of fruit it produces. ³⁴ You ·snakes [^Tbrood/offspring of vipers]! You are evil people, so how can you say anything good? [^LFor] The mouth speaks the things that ·are in [overflow from] the heart. ³⁵ Good people ·have good things in their hearts, and so they say good things [^Lbring forth good things from the good treasure/storehouse]. But evil people ·have evil in their hearts, so they say evil things [^Lbring forth evil things from the evil treasure/storehouse]. ³⁶ And I tell you that on the judgment day people will ·be responsible [give an accounting; answer] for every ·careless [idle; thoughtless; unhelpful] ·thing [word] they have said. ³⁷ ·The words you have said will be used to judge you. Some of your words will prove you right, but some of your words will prove you guilty [^LFor by your words you will be acquitted/justified, and by your words you will be condemned].”

Jesus’ Power Is from God^(A)

¹⁴ One time Jesus was ·sending [driving; casting] out a demon ·who could not talk [or who was making a man mute]. When the demon came out, the man who had been unable to speak, then spoke. The ·people were [crowd was] amazed. ¹⁵ But some of them said, “Jesus uses the power of Beelzebul [^Canother name for Satan], the ruler of demons, to ·force [drive; cast] demons out of people.”

¹⁷ But knowing their thoughts, he said to them, “Every kingdom that is ·divided against [at war with] itself ·will be destroyed [is doomed/heading for ruin]. And a ·family [^Lhouse] that is ·divided against [at war with] itself will ·not continue [^Lfall]. ¹⁸ So if Satan is divided against himself, ·his kingdom will not continue [^Lhow will his kingdom stand?]. [^LFor] You say that I use the power of Beelzebul [v. 15] to ·force [drive; cast] out demons. ¹⁹ But if I use the power of Beelzebul to ·force [drive; cast] out demons, what power do your ·people [own exorcists; followers; ^Lsons] use to ·force [drive; cast] demons out? So they will ·be your judges. ²⁰ But if I use the ·power [^Lfinger] of God to ·force [drive; cast] out demons, then the kingdom of God has ·come to [arrived among] you.

²¹ “When a strong person ·with many weapons [fully armed] guards his own ·house [villa; or palace; ^Ca large building with a courtyard], his possessions are safe. ²² But when someone stronger comes and ·defeats [overpowers; conquers] him, the stronger one will take away the ·weapons [armor] ·the first man trusted [on which he relied] and will ·give away the possessions [^Ldivide his plunder].

²³ “Anyone who is not with me is against me, and anyone who does not ·work [^Lgather] with me ·is working against me [scatters; ^Cthe metaphor is probably to gathering or scattering a flock; John 10:12].

¹⁰ “Anyone who speaks [^La word] against the Son of Man can be forgiven, but anyone who ·speaks [^Lblasphemes] against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven [Matt. 12:31–32; Mark 3:28–30].