Matthew 12:22-32 - A House Divided Cannot Stand
22 Then a blind and dumb demoniac was brought to him, and he healed him, so that the dumb man spoke and saw. 23 And all the crowds were amazed; they said, "Can this be the Son of David?"
24 But when the Pharisees heard of it they said, "This fellow only casts out daemons by Beelzebul the prince of daemons."
25 As Jesus knew what they were thinking, he said to them, "Any realm divided against itself comes to ruin, any city or house divided against itself will never stand; 26 and if Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself; how then can his realm stand? 27 Besides, if I cast out daemons by Beelzebul, by whom do your sons cast them out? Thus they will be your judges. 28 But if I cast out daemons by the Spirit of God, then the Reign of God has reached you already. 29 Why, how can anyone enter the strong man's house and plunder his goods, unless he first of all binds the strong man? Then he can plunder his house. 30 He who is not with me is against me, and he who does not gather with me scatters. 31 I tell you therefore, men will be forgiven any sin and blasphemy, but they will not be forgiven for blaspheming the Spirit. 32 Whoever says a word against the Son of man will be forgiven, but whoever speaks against the holy Spirit will never be forgiven, neither in this world nor in the world to come.
20 but the crowd gathered again, so that it was impossible even to have a meal. 21 And when his family heard this, they set out to get hold of him, for what they said was, "He is out of his mind."
22 But the scribes who had come down from Jerusalem said, "He has Beelzebul," and "It is by the prince of daemons that he casts out daemons."
23 So he called them and said to them by way of parable, "How can Satan cast out Satan? 24 If a realm is divided against itself, that realm cannot stand: 25 if a household is divided against itself, that household cannot stand: 26 and if Satan has risen against himself and is divided, he cannot stand, he comes to an end.
27 No one can enter the strong man's house and plunder his goods unless first of all he binds the strong man; then he can plunder his house. 28 I tell you truly, the sons of men shall be forgiven all their sins, and all the blasphemies they may utter, 29 but whoever blasphemes against the holy Spirit is never forgiven, he is guilty of an eternal sin." 30 (This was because they said, "He has an unclean spirit.")
14 He was casting out a dumb daemon, and when the daemon had gone out the dumb man spoke. The crowds marvelled, 15 but some of them said, "It is by Beelzebul the prince of daemons that he casts out daemons." 16 Others by way of tempting him demanded he should give them a Sign from heaven.
17 He knew what they were thinking about, so he said to them, "Any realm divided against itself comes to ruin, house after house falls down; 18 and if Satan is divided against himself, how can his realm stand? You say I am casting out daemons by Beelzebul? 19 If I cast out daemons by Beelzebul, by whom do your sons cast them out? Thus they will be your judges. 20 But if it is by the finger of God that I cast daemons out, then the Reign of God has reached you already. 21 When the strong man in armour guards his homestead, his property is undisturbed; 22 but when a stronger man attacks and conquers him, he seizes the panoply on which he relied and divides up the spoil. 23 He who is not with me is against me, and he who does not gather with me scatters.