< Mark 3 >
1 Another time He went into the synagogue, and there was a man there with a withered hand.
2 So they watched Him closely, whether He would heal him on the Sabbath, so that they might accuse Him.
3 Well, He says to the man with the withered hand, “Come out in the middle!”
4 Then He said to them: “Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?” But they remained silent.
5 After looking around at them with anger, being grieved at the hardness of their hearts, He says to the man, “Stretch out your hand!” So he stretched, and his hand was restored as healthy as the other!
6 Then the Pharisees went straight out, and with the Herodians started hatching a plot against Him, how they might destroy Him.
7 Jesus withdrew with His disciples to the sea; and a large crowd from Galilee followed Him—also from Judea,
8 from Jerusalem, from Idumea and beyond Jordan; even those around Tyre and Sidon. A huge crowd came to Him, having heard the sorts of things He kept doing.
9 So He told His disciples that a small boat should be kept ready for Him because of the crowd, lest they should press in on Him.
10 Because He had healed many, so that as many as had afflictions were pushing toward Him so as to touch Him.
11 And the unclean spirits—whenever one saw Him, he would fall down before Him and cry out, saying, “You are the son of God!”
12 And He kept giving them strict orders that they should not make Him known.
13 He went up on the mountain and summoned those whom He wanted, and they came to Him.
14 He appointed twelve, that they might be with Him and that He might send them out to preach
15 —also to have authority to heal sicknesses and to cast out demons:
16 namely Peter (a name He gave to Simon);
17 James son of Zebedee, and John the brother of James (and a name He gave to them was Boanerges, that is, ‘Sons of thunder’);
18 Andrew, Phillip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James son of Alphaeus, Thaddaeus, Simon the Cananite;
19 and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed Him.
20 Then they went into a house; and again a multitude gathered, so that they were not even able to eat bread.
21 Well upon hearing this His family came to apprehend Him, because they were saying, “He is out of his mind!”
22 Then some scribes who had come down from Jerusalem started saying, “He has Beelzebul,” and “It is by the ruler of the demons that he casts out demons.”
23 So summoning them He started saying to them in parables: “How can Satan cast out Satan?
24 If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand.
25 And if a household is divided against itself, that household cannot stand.
26 And if Satan has risen up against himself and become divided, he cannot stand, but is finished.
27 No one can plunder the strong man's goods, invading his house, unless he first binds the strong man—then he may plunder the house.
28 “Assuredly I say to you: all the sins of the sons of men can be forgiven, including whatever blasphemies they may utter;
29 but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is subject to eternal condemnation” (aiōn , aiōnios )
30 —because they were saying, “He has an unclean spirit.”
31 Then His brothers and His mother came, and standing outside they sent to Him, calling Him.
32 A crowd was sitting around Him; so they said to Him, “Look, your mother and your brothers and your sisters are outside asking for you.”
33 He answered them saying, “Who is my mother or my brothers?”
34 And looking around at those seated in a circle around Him He said: “Behold my mother and my brothers!
35 Because whoever does the will of God, the same is my brother, my sister, my mother.”
