Matthew 12:36-50 ▼

36 And I say to you, that every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account concerning it in the day of judgment;

37 for by your words you shall be justified, and by your words you shall be condemned."

38 Then some of the scribes and Pharisees answered Him, saying, "Teacher, we wish to see a sign from Thee."

39 And He, answering, said to them, "An evil and adulterous generation is seeking after a sign; and no sign shall be given to it, except the sign of Jonah the prophet.

40 For, as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so shall the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.

41 "The men of Nineveh will rise up in the judgment with this generation, and will condemn it; because they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and, behold, a greater than Jonah is here.

42 "A queen of the south will rise up in the judgment with this generation, and will condemn it; because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and, behold, a greater than Solomon is here.

43 "But, when the unclean spirit goes out from the man, it passes through waterless places, seeking rest, and finds it not.

44 Then it says, 'I will return into my house whence I came out;' and, having come, it finds it unoccupied, swept, and adorned.

45 Then it goes and takes along with itself seven other spirits more evil than itself, and, entering in, they dwell there; and the last state of that man becomes worse than the first. So shall it be also to this wicked generation."

46 While He was yet speaking to the multitudes, behold, His mother and His brothers were standing without, seeking to speak to Him.

47 [And one said to Him, "Behold, Thy mother and Thy brothers are standing without, seeking to speak to Thee."]

48 But He, answering, said to him that told Him, "Who is My mother, and who are My brothers?"

49 And stretching forth His hand toward His disciples, He said, "Behold, My mother and My brothers!

50 For whosoever does the will of My Father Who is in Heaven, he is My brother, and sister, and mother."