If I drive out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your own followers drive them out? That is why they will be your judges!

But if I drive out demons by the power of God, then the kingdom of God has come to you.

"Whenever an unclean spirit goes out of a person, it wanders through dry places looking for a place to rest but doesn't find any. So it says, "I will go back to my home that I left.'

When it gets back home, it finds it swept clean and put in order.

Then it goes and brings with it seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they all go in and settle there. And so the final condition of that person is worse than the first."

But he said, "Instead, how blessed are those who hear God's word and obey it!"

Now as the crowds continued to throng around Jesus, he went on to say, "This people living today are an evil generation. It craves a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah,

The queen of the south will stand up at the judgment and condemn the people living today, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon. But look, something greater than Solomon is here!

The men of Nineveh will stand up at the judgment and condemn the people living today, because they repented at the preaching of Jonah. But look, something greater than Jonah is here!"

"No one lights a lamp and puts it in a hiding place or under a basket, but on a lamp stand, so that those who enter may see its light.

Your eye is the lamp of your body. When your eye is healthy, your whole body is full of light. But when it's evil, your body is full of darkness.

Now if your whole body is full of light, with no part of it in darkness, it will be as full of light as when a lamp gives you light with its rays."

After Jesus had said this, a Pharisee invited him to have a meal with him. So Jesus went and took his place at the table.

So give what is inside to the poor, and then everything will be clean for you.

"How terrible it will be for you Pharisees! You give a tenth of your mint, spices, and every kind of herb, but you neglect justice and the love of God. These are the things you should have practiced, without neglecting the others.

How terrible it will be for you Pharisees! You love to have the places of honor in the synagogues and to be greeted in the marketplaces.

How terrible it will be for you! You are like unmarked graves people walk on them without realizing it."

Jesus said, "How terrible it will be for you experts in the Law, too! You load people with burdens that are hard to carry, yet you don't even lift a finger to ease those burdens.

How terrible it will be for you! You build monuments for the prophets, and it was your ancestors who killed them!

from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah, who died between the altar and the sanctuary. Yes, I tell you, it will be charged against this generation!

How terrible it will be for you experts in the Law! You have taken away the key to knowledge. You didn't go in yourselves, and you kept out those who were trying to go in."

Meanwhile, the people had gathered by the thousands and were trampling on one another. Jesus began to speak first to his disciples. "Watch out for the yeast that is, the hypocrisy of the Pharisees!

Therefore, what you have said in darkness will be heard in the daylight, and what you have whispered in private rooms will be shouted from the housetops."

"Five sparrows are sold for two pennies, aren't they? Yet not one of them is forgotten by God.

When people bring you before synagogue leaders, rulers, or authorities, don't worry about how you will defend yourselves or what you will say,

because at that time the Holy Spirit will teach you what you are to say."

So he began to think to himself, "What should I do, since I have no place to store my crops?'

Then he said, "This is what I'll do. I'll tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and I'll store all my grain and goods in them.

Then I'll say to myself, "You've stored up plenty of good things for many years. Take it easy, eat, drink, and enjoy yourself."'

That's how it is with the person who stores up treasures for himself rather than with God."

Then Jesus told his disciples, "That's why I'm telling you to stop worrying about your life what you will eat or about your body what you will wear,

Consider the crows. They don't plant or harvest, they don't even have a storeroom or barn, yet God feeds them. How much more valuable are you than birds!

Can any of you add an hour to the length of your life by worrying?

"So stop concerning yourselves about what you will eat or what you will drink, and stop being distressed,

because it is the unbelievers who are concerned about all these things. Surely your Father knows that you need them!

"Sell your possessions, and give the money to the poor. Make yourselves wallets that don't wear out a dependable treasure in heaven, where no thief can get close and no moth can destroy anything.

How blessed are those servants whom the master finds watching for him when he comes! I tell all of you with certainty, he himself will put on an apron, make them sit down at the table, and go around and serve them.

But be sure of this: if the homeowner had known at what time the thief were coming, he would have watched and would not have let his house be broken into.

So be ready, because the Son of Man is coming at a time when you don't expect him."

The Lord said, "Who, then, is the faithful and careful servant manager whom his master will put in charge of giving all his other servants their share of food at the right time?

But if that servant says to himself, "My master is taking a long time to come back,' and begins to beat the other servants and to eat, drink, and get drunk,

the master of that servant will come on a day when he doesn't expect him and at an hour that he doesn't know. Then his master will punish him severely and assign him a place with unfaithful people.

That servant who knew what his master wanted but didn't prepare himself or do what was wanted will receive a severe beating.

But the servant who did things that deserved a beating without knowing it will receive a light beating. Much will be required from everyone to whom much has been given. But even more will be demanded from the one to whom much has been entrusted."

"I've come to set the earth on fire, and how I wish it were already ablaze!

I have a baptism to be baptized with, and what stress I am under until it's completed!

Do you think that I came to bring peace on earth? Not at all, I tell you, but rather division!

Then Jesus told the crowds, "When you see a cloud coming in from the west, you immediately say, "There's going to be a storm,' and that's what happens.

When you see a south wind blowing, you say, "It's going to be hot,' and so it is.

You hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of the earth and the sky, yet you don't know how to interpret the present time?"

"Why don't you judge for yourselves what is right?

I tell you, you will never get out of there until you pay back the last penny!"

At that time, some people who were there told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices.

What about those eighteen people who were killed when the tower at Siloam fell on them? Do you think they were worse offenders than all the other people living in Jerusalem?

Then Jesus told them this parable: "A man had a fig tree that had been planted in his vineyard. He went to look for fruit on it but didn't find any.

So he told the gardener, "Look here! For three years I've been coming to look for fruit on this tree but I haven't found any. Cut it down! Why should it waste the soil?'

But the gardener replied, "Sir, leave it alone for one more year, until I dig around it and fertilize it.

Maybe next year it will bear fruit. If not, then cut it down.'"

The Lord replied to him, "You hypocrites! Doesn't each of you on the Sabbath untie his ox or donkey and lead it out of its stall to give it some water?

Even as he was saying this, all of his opponents were blushing with shame. But the rest of the crowd was rejoicing at all the wonderful things he was doing.

So Jesus went on to say, "What is the kingdom of God like? What can I compare it to?

It is like a mustard seed that someone took and planted in his garden. It grew and became a tree, and the birds of the sky nested in its branches."

Again he said, "To what can I compare the kingdom of God?

It's like yeast that a woman took and mixed with three measures of flour until all of it was leavened."

Then you will say, "We ate and drank with you, and you taught in our streets.'

People will come from east and west, and from north and south, and will eat in the kingdom of God.

At that hour some Pharisees came and told Jesus, "Leave and get away from here, because Herod wants to kill you!"

He told them, "Go and tell that fox, "Listen! I am driving out demons and healing today and tomorrow, and on the third day I will finish my work.

But I must be on my way today, tomorrow, and the next day, because it's not possible for a prophet to be killed outside of Jerusalem.'

One Sabbath, Jesus went to the house of a leader of the Pharisees to eat a meal. The guests were watching Jesus closely.

So Jesus asked the Pharisees and experts in the Law, "Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath or not?"

Then he asked them, "If your son or ox falls into a well on the Sabbath day, you would pull him out immediately, wouldn't you?"

"When you are invited by someone to a wedding banquet, don't sit down at the place of honor in case someone more important than you was invited by the host.

But when you are invited, go and sit down at the place of least honor. Then, when your host comes, he will tell you, "Friend, move up higher,' and you will be honored in the presence of everyone who eats with you.

Instead, when you give a banquet, make it your habit to invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind.

Now one of those eating with him heard this and told him, "How blessed is the person who will eat in the kingdom of God!"

When it was time for the banquet, he sent his servant to tell those who were invited, "Come! Everything is now ready.'

Every single one of them began asking to be excused. The first told him, "I bought a field, and I need to go out and inspect it. Please excuse me.'

Another said, "I bought five pairs of oxen, and I'm on my way to try them out. Please excuse me.'

The servant said, "Sir, what you ordered has been done, and there is still room.'

Then the master told the servant, "Go out into the streets and the lanes and make the people come in, so that my house may be full.

Because I tell all of you, none of those men who were invited will taste anything at my banquet.'"

"Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. He will first sit down and estimate the cost to see whether he has enough money to finish it, won't he?

and say, "This person started a building but couldn't finish it.'

It's suitable neither for the soil nor for the manure pile. People throw it away. Let the person who has ears to hear, listen!"

"Suppose one of you has 100 sheep and loses one of them. He leaves the 99 in the wilderness and looks for the one that is lost until he finds it, doesn't he?

When he finds it, he puts it on his shoulders and rejoices.

"Or suppose a woman has ten coins and loses one of them. She lights a lamp, sweeps the house, and searches carefully until she finds it, doesn't she?

When she finds it, she calls her friends and neighbors together and says, "Rejoice with me, because I have found the coin that I lost!'

A few days later, the younger son gathered everything he owned and traveled to a distant country. There he wasted it all on wild living.

So he went out to work for one of the citizens of that country, who sent him into his fields to feed pigs.

"Then he came to his senses and said, "How many of my father's hired men have more food than they can eat, and here I am starving to death!

But the father told his servants, "Hurry! Bring out the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet.

Bring the fattened calf and kill it, and let's eat and celebrate!

So he called to one of the servants and asked what was happening.

"Then the older son became angry and wouldn't go into the house. So his father came out and began to plead with him.

But he answered his father, "Listen! All these years I've worked like a slave for you. I've never disobeyed a command of yours. Yet you've never given me so much as a young goat for a festival so I could celebrate with my friends.

So he called for him and asked him, "What's this I hear about you? You can't be my manager any longer. Now give me a report about your management!'

"Then the servant manager told himself, "What should I do? My master is taking my position away from me. I'm not strong enough to plow, and I'm ashamed to beg.

I know what I'll do so that people will welcome me into their homes when I'm dismissed from my job.'