Matthew · 50 verses
Matthew 12
Every verse links to the people and places named in it, and to the passages readers connect it with.
The chapter
What happens here
Atlas's own reading, written from this chapter and nothing else, and published only once a person has approved it. Each scene names the verses it covers; the names inside it link to the people and places they name.
The unclean spirit leaves a man, finds no rest, and returns with seven worse companions to a house now vacant, swept clean, and put in order.
Grain, mercy, and a withered handvv. 1–16
Jesus and His hungry disciples pass through the grainfields on the Sabbath, where the Pharisees discover that even breakfast can become a legal dispute. Jesus answers with David, consecrated bread, priests at the temple, and the rather splendid announcement that the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath. In the synagogue, a man with a withered hand supplies the next test. Jesus heals him; the Pharisees respond by plotting His death, while the crowds follow and are healed under strict instructions not to advertise the matter.
A quiet servant, a divided kingdom, and a very untidy returnvv. 17–45
The chapter pauses to place Jesus beside Isaiah’s quiet Servant: no street quarrel, no public cry, and no breaking of the bruised reed. Then a blind and mute man is brought to Him, and the man can speak and see. The crowds wonder whether Jesus is the Son of David; the Pharisees offer a darker explanation, naming Beelzebul. Jesus replies that a divided kingdom cannot stand, and that a strong man’s house is not plundered without first tying up its owner. The argument turns upon words, fruit, and the Spirit, before the scribes and Pharisees demand a sign. They receive Jonah, Nineveh, the Queen of the South, and Solomon—along with the curious domestic warning about an unclean spirit that returns to a freshly ordered house with seven worse spirits in tow.
The family waiting outsidevv. 46–50
While Jesus is still speaking to the crowds, His mother and brothers stand outside wanting to speak with Him. Someone carries the message in. Jesus looks towards His disciples and gives the room a new family arrangement—not by denying the visitors outside, but by pointing to those who do the will of His Father in heaven.
The text
Read it
Berean Standard Bible, public domain. Names the Hebrew and Greek put in the verse link to the person, place or people they name; the address beside each verse is a link to that verse, which is what a reader copies and shares.
Matt 12:1At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry and began to pick the heads of grain and eat them.
Matt 12:2When the Pharisees saw this, they said to Him, “Look, Your disciples are doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath.”
Matt 12:3Jesus replied, “Have you not read what David did when he and his companions were hungry?
Matt 12:4He entered the house of God, and he and his companions ate the consecrated bread, which was not lawful for them to eat, but only for the priests.
Matt 12:5Or haven’t you read in the Law that on the Sabbath the priests in the temple break the Sabbath and yet are innocent?
Matt 12:6But I tell you that One greater than the temple is here.
Matt 12:7If only you had known the meaning of ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the innocent.
Matt 12:9Moving on from there, Jesus entered their synagogue,
Matt 12:10and a man with a withered hand was there. In order to accuse Jesus, they asked Him, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?”
Matt 12:11He replied, “If one of you has a sheep and it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will he not take hold of it and lift it out?
Matt 12:12How much more valuable is a man than a sheep! Therefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.”
Matt 12:13Then Jesus said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” So he stretched it out, and it was restored to full use, just like the other.
Matt 12:14But the Pharisees went out and plotted how they might kill Jesus.
Matt 12:15Aware of this, Jesus withdrew from that place. Large crowds followed Him, and He healed them all,
Matt 12:16warning them not to make Him known.
Matt 12:17This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah:
Matt 12:18“Here is My Servant, whom I have chosen, My beloved, in whom My soul delights. I will put My Spirit on Him, and He will proclaim justice to the nations.
Matt 12:19He will not quarrel or cry out; no one will hear His voice in the streets.
Matt 12:20A bruised reed He will not break, and a smoldering wick He will not extinguish, till He leads justice to victory.
Matt 12:21In His name the nations will put their hope.”
Matt 12:22Then a demon-possessed man who was blind and mute was brought to Jesus, and He healed the man so that he could speak and see.
Matt 12:23The crowds were astounded and asked, “Could this be the Son of David?”
Matt 12:24But when the Pharisees heard this, they said, “Only by Beelzebul, the prince of demons, does this man drive out demons.”
Matt 12:25Knowing their thoughts, Jesus said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself will be laid waste, and every city or household divided against itself will not stand.
Matt 12:26If Satan drives out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then can his kingdom stand?
Matt 12:27And if I drive out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your sons drive them out? So then, they will be your judges.
Matt 12:28But if I drive out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.
Matt 12:29Or again, how can anyone enter a strong man’s house and steal his possessions, unless he first ties up the strong man? Then he can plunder his house.
Matt 12:30He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters.
Matt 12:31Therefore I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven.
Matt 12:32Whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the one to come.
Matt 12:33Make a tree good and its fruit will be good, or make a tree bad and its fruit will be bad, for a tree is known by its fruit.
Matt 12:34You brood of vipers, how can you who are evil say anything good? For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks.
Matt 12:35The good man brings good things out of his good store of treasure, and the evil man brings evil things out of his evil store of treasure.
Matt 12:36But I tell you that men will give an account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken.
Matt 12:37For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned.”
Matt 12:38Then some of the scribes and Pharisees said to Him, “Teacher, we want to see a sign from You.”
Matt 12:39Jesus replied, “A wicked and adulterous generation demands a sign, but none will be given it except the sign of the prophet Jonah.
Matt 12:40For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.
Matt 12:41The men of Nineveh will stand at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and now One greater than Jonah is here.
Matt 12:42The Queen of the South will rise 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 now One greater than Solomon is here.
Matt 12:43When an unclean spirit comes out of a man, it passes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it.
Matt 12:44Then it says, ‘I will return to the house I left.’ On its return, it finds the house vacant, swept clean, and put in order.
Matt 12:45Then it goes and brings with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and dwell there. And the final plight of that man is worse than the first. So will it be with this wicked generation.”
Matt 12:46While Jesus was still speaking to the crowds, His mother and brothers stood outside, wanting to speak to Him.
Matt 12:47Someone told Him, “Look, Your mother and brothers are standing outside, wanting to speak to You.”
Matt 12:48But Jesus replied, “Who is My mother, and who are My brothers?”
Matt 12:49Pointing to His disciples, He said, “Here are My mother and My brothers.
Matt 12:50For whoever does the will of My Father in heaven is My brother and sister and mother.”
01 — Also here
Who else the chapter reaches
Names written in the English are linked in the text above. These are the ones that are not: an entity the Hebrew or Greek names under a spelling the translation does not use, or one reached only by an assertion about a verse of this chapter.
Named in the Hebrew or Greek somewhere in this chapter, under a form the English renders differently — the registry's Ludim against the translation's Ludites — so there is no word in the sentence to hang the link on.
Reached by an assertion Atlas extracted from a verse of this chapter rather than by a name written in it — a pronoun, a title, or a participant the sentence carries without naming. This layer is model-read and measured at 88.6–90.3% precision, and it is kept separate from the names above for that reason.
02 — Read alongside
Where this is echoed
Readers' own connections, from OpenBible's crowd-voted cross-references — agreement about relevance, and not scholarly confidence. 561 passages were voted onto 49 verses of this chapter; the 16 shown lead on votes, and each is listed at the verse it was voted onto most strongly.
- 36Ecclesiastes 12:14For God will bring every deed into judgment, along with every hidden thing, whether good or evil.
- 18Isaiah 42:1“Here is My Servant, whom I uphold, My Chosen One, in whom My soul delights. I will put My Spirit on Him, and He will bring justice to the nations.
- 34Luke 6:45The good man brings good things out of the good treasure of his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil treasure of his heart. For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks.
- 34Matthew 15:18But the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart, and these things defile a man.
- 36Romans 2:16on the day when God will judge men’s secrets through Christ Jesus, as proclaimed by my gospel.
- 37Proverbs 13:3He who guards his mouth protects his life, but the one who opens his lips invites his own ruin.
- 7Hosea 6:6For I desire mercy, not sacrifice, and the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.
- 33Luke 6:43–44No good tree bears bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit.
- 36Revelation 20:12And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne. And books were opened, and one of them was the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their deeds, as recorded in the books.
- 31 Samuel 21:3–6Now then, what do you have on hand? Give me five loaves of bread, or whatever can be found.”
- 50Luke 8:21But He replied, “My mother and brothers are those who hear the word of God and carry it out.”
- 36Jude 1:14–15Enoch, the seventh from Adam, also prophesied about them: “Behold, the Lord is coming with myriads of His holy ones
- 30Mark 9:40For whoever is not against us is for us.
- 7Matthew 9:13But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”
- 33Matthew 7:16–20By their fruit you will recognize them. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles?
- 50Mark 3:35For whoever does the will of God is My brother and sister and mother.”
Onward