Knowing their thoughts, Jesus said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself will be laid waste, and a house divided against a house will fall.
Parallel translations
- WEB But he, knowing their thoughts, said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation. A house divided against itself falls.
- KJV But he, knowing their thoughts, said unto them, Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and a house divided against a house falleth.
- NKJV But He, knowing their thoughts, said to them: “Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and a house divided against a house falls.
- NASB But He knew their thoughts and said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste; and a house divided against itself falls.
- NLT He knew their thoughts, so he said, “Any kingdom divided by civil war is doomed. A family splintered by feuding will fall apart.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Jesus answers that a kingdom or house divided against itself collapses. Internal division leads to ruin.
Overview
Knowing their thoughts, Jesus exposes the absurdity of the Beelzebul charge with a principle of self-destruction. No realm survives if it works against itself. This sets up his argument that he cannot be casting out demons by demonic power.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 9
- Mark 3:23–27So Jesus called them together and began to speak to them in parables: “How can Satan drive out Satan?
- Matt 12:25–29Knowing 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.
- Isa 19:2–3“So I will incite Egyptian against Egyptian; brother will fight against brother, neighbor against neighbor, city against city, and kingdom against kingdom.
- Isa 9:20–21They carve out what is on the right, but they are still hungry; they eat what is on the left, but they are still not satisfied. Each one devours the flesh of his own offspring.
- John 2:25He did not need any testimony about man, for He knew what was in a man.
- Rev 2:23Then I will strike her children dead, and all the churches will know that I am the One who searches minds and hearts, and I will repay each of you according to your deeds.
- 2 Chr 13:16–17So the Israelites fled before Judah, and God delivered them into their hands.
- 2 Chr 10:16–19When all Israel saw that the king had refused to listen to them, they answered the king: “What portion do we have in David, and what inheritance in the son of Jesse? To your tents, O Israel! Look now to your own house, O David!” So all the Israelites went home,
- Matt 9:4But Jesus knew what they were thinking and said, “Why do you harbor evil in your hearts?
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Luke shows Jesus the Savior for all — outsiders, the poor, the nations — the one who, on the Emmaus road, opened all the Scriptures to show they were about himself.
How Luke 11:17 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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