Mark 2:23-3:19

English Standard Version

Jesus Is Lord of the Sabbath

²³^(A)One Sabbath he was going through the grainfields, and as they made their way, his disciples ^(B)began to pluck heads of grain. ²⁴And the Pharisees were saying to him, “Look, ^(C)why are they doing ^(D)what is not lawful on the Sabbath?” ²⁵And he said to them, ^(E)“Have you never read ^(F)what David did, when he was in need and was hungry, he and those who were with him: ²⁶how he entered the house of God, in the time of^[a] ^(G)Abiathar the high priest, and ate ^(H)the bread of the Presence, which it is not lawful for any but the priests to eat, and also gave it to those who were with him?” ²⁷And he said to them, ^(I)“The Sabbath was made for man, ^(J)not man for the Sabbath. ²⁸So ^(K)the Son of Man is lord even of the Sabbath.”

A Man with a Withered Hand

3 ^(L)Again ^(M)he entered the synagogue, and a man was there with a withered hand. ²And ^(N)they watched Jesus,^[b] 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, ^(O)“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 ^(P)looked around at them with anger, grieved at ^(Q)their hardness of heart, and said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” ^(R)He stretched it out, and his hand was restored. ⁶^(S)The Pharisees went out and immediately ^(T)held counsel with ^(U)the Herodians against him, how to destroy him.

A Great Crowd Follows Jesus

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

The Twelve Apostles

¹³^(AI)And he went up on the mountain and called to him those ^(AJ)whom he desired, and they came to him. ¹⁴^(AK)And he appointed twelve (whom he also named apostles) so that they might be with him and he might send them out to preach ¹⁵^(AL)and have authority to cast out demons. ¹⁶He appointed the twelve: ^(AM)Simon (to whom ^(AN)he gave the name Peter); ¹⁷^(AO)James 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 ^(AP)Matthew, and Thomas, and James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus, and Simon the Zealot,^[c] ¹⁹and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.