Mark 3

3 ¹Once again Jesus entered the synagogue, and a man with a withered hand was there. ²They watched closely to see if he'd heal the man on the Sabbath, to accuse Jesus.

³Jesus said to the man with the withered hand, "Stand up and come forward." ⁴Then he asked them, "Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save life or to kill?" But they stayed silent. ⁵He looked around at them in anger, grieved by their hardness of heart, and told the man, "Stretch out your hand." He stretched it out, and his hand was restored.

⁶Then the Pharisees went out and immediately began plotting with the Herodians how they might destroy him.

Crowds Pursue the Healer

⁷Jesus withdrew with his disciples to the sea; a large crowd from Galilee followed, and from Judea, ⁸from Jerusalem, Idumea, beyond the Jordan, and the region around Tyre and Sidon—hearing all he was doing, a great crowd came to him. ⁹He told his disciples to keep a small boat ready, because of the crowd, so they wouldn't crush him. ¹⁰For he had healed so many that all who had diseases were pressing forward to touch him. ¹¹Whenever the unclean spirits saw him, they fell before him, shouting, "You are the Son of God!" ¹²But he firmly warned them not to reveal him.

The Twelve Are Appointed

¹³Jesus went up the mountain and called those he wanted; they came to him. ¹⁴He appointed twelve, named apostles, so they could be with him and he could send them out to preach, ¹⁵and to have authority to drive out demons. ¹⁶These are the twelve he appointed: Simon, to whom he gave the name Peter; ¹⁷James son of Zebedee, and John his brother, whom he named Boanerges, meaning Sons of Thunder; ¹⁸Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James son of Alphaeus, Thaddaeus, Simon the Zealot, ¹⁹and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.

A Kingdom That Cannot Fall

²⁰He went home; the crowd gathered again, so he and his disciples couldn't even eat. ²¹When his family heard, they went out to restrain him, for they said, "He's out of his mind." ²²The scribes who came down from Jerusalem said, "He has Beelzebul," and, "By the prince of demons he drives out demons."

²³So Jesus called them to him and spoke in parables: "How can Satan drive out Satan? ²⁴If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. ²⁵And if a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand. ²⁶And if Satan opposes himself and is divided, he cannot stand; his end has come. ²⁷No one can enter a strong man's house and take his goods without first tying up the strong man—then he can plunder the house.

²⁸Truly I tell you, all sins and insults against God will be forgiven children of mankind, whatever they say, ²⁹but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness; they are guilty of an eternal sin,"

³⁰for they were saying, "He has an unclean spirit."

The Father's Family

³¹His mother and brothers arrived and, standing outside, sent to him, calling him. ³²A crowd sat around him and said to him, "Look, your mother and your brothers are outside, asking for you."

³³He answered them, "Who are my mother and my brothers?" ³⁴Looking around at those sitting in a circle around him, he said, "Here are my mother and my brothers! ³⁵Whoever does the will of our Father is my brother and sister and mother."