# Every kingdom divided against itself is made desolate, and every city or house divided against itself will not stand
Jesus uses a proverb to respond to the Pharisees. Both of these statements mean the same thing. They emphasize that it would not make sense for Beelzebul to use his power to fight other demons. (See: [[rc://en/ta/man/translate/writing-proverbs]] and [[rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-parallelism]])
# Every kingdom divided against itself is made desolate
Here "kingdom" refers to those who live in the kingdom. This can be translated in active form. Alternate translation: "A kingdom will not last when its people fight among themselves" (See: [[rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-metonymy]] and [[rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-activepassive]])
Here "city" refers to the people who live there, and "house" refers to a family. Being "divided against itself" represents its people fighting each other. Alternate translation: "it ruins a city or a family when the people fight each other" (See: [[rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-metonymy]] and [[rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-metaphor]])
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