²² The scribes who came down from Jerusalem were saying, “He is possessed by ^[a]Beelzebul (Satan),” and “He is driving out the demons by the [power of the] ruler of the demons.”^{(A) 23} So He called them to Himself and spoke to them in ^[b]parables, “How can Satan drive out Satan? ²⁴ If a kingdom is divided [split into factions and rebelling] against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. ²⁵ And if a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand. ²⁶ And if Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand, but is coming to an end. ²⁷ But no one can go into a strong man’s house and steal his property unless he first overpowers and ties up the strong man, and then he will ransack and rob his house.^(B)

Pharisees’ Blasphemy

¹⁴ And [at another time] Jesus was casting out a demon, and it was [controlling a man so as to make him] mute; when the demon had gone out, the mute man spoke. And the crowds were awed.^{(A) 15} But some of them said, “He drives out demons by [the power of] ^[a]Beelzebul (Satan), the ruler of the demons.”