25. Jesus knew what the Pharisees were thinking. So he said to them, “Every kingdom that is fighting against itself will be destroyed. And every city that is divided will fall. And every family that is divided cannot succeed.
26. So if Satan forces out his own demons, then Satan is divided, and his kingdom will not continue.
27. You say that I use the power of Satan when I force out demons. If that is true, then what power do your people use when they force out demons? So your own people prove that you are wrong.
28. But if I use the power of God’s Spirit to force out demons, this shows that the kingdom of God has come to you.
29. “If anyone wants to enter a strong man’s house and steal his things, first he must tie up the strong man. Then he can steal the things from the strong man’s house.
30. “If anyone is not with me, then he is against me. He who does not work with me is working against me.
31. So I tell you, people can be forgiven for every sin they do. And people can be forgiven for every bad thing they say. But if anyone speaks against the Holy Spirit, then he will not be forgiven.
32. Anyone who says things against the Son of Man can be forgiven. But anyone who says things against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven. He will not be forgiven now or in the future.
33. “If you want good fruit, you must make the tree good. If your tree is not good, then it will have bad fruit. A tree is known by the kind of fruit it produces.
34. You snakes! You are evil people! How can you say anything good? The mouth speaks the things that are in the heart.
35. A good person has good things in his heart. And so he speaks the good things that come from his heart. But an evil person has evil in his heart. So he speaks the evil things that come from his heart.
36. And I tell you that people will have to explain about every careless thing they have said. This will happen on the Judgment Day.
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.”
38. Then some of the Pharisees and teachers of the law answered Jesus. They said, “Teacher, we want to see you work a miracle as a sign.”
39. Jesus answered, “Evil and sinful people are the ones who want to see a miracle for a sign. But no sign will be given to them. The only sign will be what happened to the prophet Jonah.
40. Jonah was in the stomach of the big fish for three days and three nights. In the same way, the Son of Man will be in the grave three days and three nights.