21. and in him all peoples will put their hope.”
22. Then some people brought to Jesus a man who was blind and could not talk because he had a demon. Jesus healed the man, so that he was able to talk and see.
23. The crowds were all amazed at what Jesus had done. “Could he be the Son of David?” they asked.
24. When the Pharisees heard this, they replied, “He drives out demons only because their ruler Beelzebul gives him power to do so.”
25. Jesus knew what they were thinking, 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.
30. “Anyone who is not for me is really against me; anyone who does not help me gather is really scattering.
31. And so I tell you that 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.
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.
34. You snakes — how can you say good things when you are evil? For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of.
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.
36. “You can be sure that on Judgement Day everyone will have to give account of every useless word he has ever spoken.
37. Your words will be used to judge you — to declare you either innocent or guilty.”
38. Then some teachers of the Law and some Pharisees spoke up. “Teacher,” they said, “we want to see you perform a miracle.”
39. “How evil and godless are the people of this day!” Jesus exclaimed. “You ask me for a miracle? No! The only miracle you will be given is the miracle of the prophet Jonah.
40. In the same way that Jonah spent three days and nights in the big fish, so will the Son of Man spend three days and nights in the depths of the earth.
41. On Judgement Day the people of Nineveh will stand up and accuse you, because they turned from their sins when they heard Jonah preach; and I tell you that there is something here greater than Jonah!