Jesus teaches about the devil, the ruler of demons
14 One day, Jesus was telling a bad spirit to go out of a man. Because of the bad spirit, the man could not speak. But after it had gone out of him, the man could speak again. All the people that were watching were surprised at this. 15 But some people in the crowd were not happy with Jesus. They said, ‘This man can send demons out of people because Beelzebul gives him authority. That is Satan, the one who rules all the demons.’
11:15Beelzebul was a name that some people used for the devil.
16 Some other people wanted to test Jesus to see what he would do. So they asked him, ‘Do a miracle for us to see. Then we will know that God has sent you.’
17 But Jesus knew what those people were thinking. He said to them, ‘If armies in a country start to fight each other, they will destroy their own country. If people in one family fight against each other, they will destroy their own family. 18 So Satan would not fight against himself. If he did that, it would be the end of his kingdom. But you say that Beelzebul helps me to destroy demons. 19 If that is true, what do you say about your own disciples? They also send demons out of people. You would not say that it is Satan's power that helps them. So your own people show that you are wrong about this. 20 When I send demons out of people, I use the power of God. This shows that God has come to rule among you.
21 When a strong man has all the weapons he needs to fight with, he can take care of his own house. Nobody will be able to rob him of the things inside his house. 22 But someone may come who is stronger than he is. That man will attack him and beat him. The strong man believed his weapons would keep him safe. But the stronger man will take his weapons away. He will take the strong man's things and give them to other people.
11:22When Jesus commands bad spirits to leave people, they obey him. This shows that he is stronger than the devil. It was wrong to think that the devil was helping him.
23 If someone does not agree to help me, he is working against me. You should work with me to bring people to me for help. If you do not do that, you are making people run away from me.’
24 Jesus then said, ‘When a bad spirit goes out of a person, it travels through dry places. It looks for a new place to live. But maybe it does not find anywhere. So it says to itself, “I will return to the place where I lived before.” 25 Then it goes back to that person. It finds that the place is empty. Everything there is now good and clean. 26 So the bad spirit goes out and it brings back seven other spirits. They are even worse than itself. They all go into the person and they live there. Now the person's life is even worse than it was before.’
27 While Jesus was saying this, a woman in the crowd shouted out, ‘God has blessed the woman who gave birth to you! He has made the woman who fed you from her breasts very happy!’
28 Jesus replied, ‘It is the people who hear God's message who are happy. They are happy if they obey it.’
