Mark 3

₁Again he entered the synagogue, and a man was there with a withered hand. ₂And they watched Jesus, to see whether he would heal him on the Sabbath, so that they might accuse him. ₃And he said to the man with the withered hand, “Come here.” ₄And he said to them, “Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save life or to kill?” But they were silent. ₅And he looked around at them with anger, grieved at their hardness of heart, and said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and his hand was restored. ₆The Pharisees went out and immediately held counsel with the Herodians against him, how to destroy him.

₇Jesus withdrew with his disciples to the sea, and a great crowd followed, from Galilee and Judea ₈and Jerusalem and Idumea and from beyond the Jordan and from around Tyre and Sidon. When the great crowd heard all that he was doing, they came to him. ₉And he told his disciples to have a boat ready for him because of the crowd, lest they crush him, ₁₀for he had healed many, so that all who had diseases pressed around him to touch him. ₁₁And whenever the unclean spirits saw him, they fell down before him and cried out, “You are the Son of God.” ₁₂And he strictly ordered them not to make him known.

₁₃And he went up on the mountain and called to him those whom he desired, and they came to him. ₁₄And he appointed twelve (whom he also named apostles) so that they might be with him and he might send them out to preach ₁₅and have authority to cast out demons. ₁₆He appointed the twelve: Simon (to whom he gave the name Peter); ₁₇James the son of Zebedee and John the brother of James (to whom he gave the name Boanerges, that is, Sons of Thunder); ₁₈Andrew, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas, and James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus, and Simon the Zealot, ₁₉and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.

₂₀Then he went home, and the crowd gathered again, so that they could not even eat. ₂₁And when his family heard it, they went out to seize him, for they were saying, “He is out of his mind.”

₂₂And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem were saying, “He is possessed by Beelzebul,” and “by the prince of demons he casts out the demons.” ₂₃And he called them to him and said to them in parables, “How can Satan cast 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 has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand, but is coming to an end. ₂₇But no one can enter a strong man’s house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man. Then indeed he may plunder his house.

₂₈“Truly, I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the children of man, and whatever blasphemies they utter, ₂₉but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin”— ₃₀for they were saying, “He has an unclean spirit.”

₃₁And his mother and his brothers came, and standing outside they sent to him and called him. ₃₂And a crowd was sitting around him, and they said to him, “Your mother and your brothers are outside, seeking you.” ₃₃And he answered them, “Who are my mother and my brothers?” ₃₄And looking about at those who sat around him, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! ₃₅For whoever does the will of God, he is my brother and sister and mother.”