Women Support Jesus

8 Soon afterward, ^[a]Jesus began going around from one city and village to another, ^(A)proclaiming and preaching the kingdom of God. The twelve were with Him, ² and also ^(B)some women who had been healed of evil spirits and sicknesses: ^(C)Mary who was called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out, ³ and Joanna the wife of Chuza, ^(D)Herod’s ^(E)steward, and Susanna, and many others who were contributing to their support out of their private means.

²⁰ And He *came ^[a](A)home, and the ^(B)crowd *gathered again, ^(C)to such an extent that they could not even eat ^[b]a meal. ²¹ And when ^(D)His own ^[c]people heard about this, they came out to take custody of Him; for they were saying, “^(E)He has lost His senses.” ²² The scribes who came down ^(F)from Jerusalem were saying, “He ^[d]is possessed by ^[e](G)Beelzebul,” and “^(H)He casts out the demons by the ruler of the demons.” ^23 (I)And so He called them to Himself and began speaking to them in ^(J)parables: “How can ^(K)Satan cast out Satan? ²⁴ And if a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. ²⁵ If a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand. ²⁶ And if ^(L)Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand, but ^[f]he is finished! ^27 (M)But no one can enter the strong man’s house and plunder his property unless he first ties up the strong man, and then he will plunder his house.

²⁸ “^(N)Truly I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the sons and daughters of men, and whatever blasphemies they commit; ²⁹ but ^(O)whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin”— ³⁰ because they were saying, “He has an unclean spirit.”

The Pharisees Rebuked

^22 (A)Then a ^(B)demon-possessed man who was blind and unable to speak was brought to ^[a]Jesus, and He healed him so that the man who was unable to speak talked and ^[b]could see. ²³ And all the crowds were amazed and were saying, “This man cannot be the ^(C)Son of David, can he?” ²⁴ But when the Pharisees heard this, they said, “This man ^(D)casts out demons only by ^[c]Beelzebul the ruler of the demons.”

^25 (E)And ^(F)knowing their thoughts, Jesus said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste; and no city or house divided against itself will stand. ²⁶ And if ^(G)Satan is casting out Satan, he ^[d]has become divided against himself; how then will his kingdom stand? ²⁷ And if ^(H)by ^[e]Beelzebul I cast out the demons, ^(I)by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore, they will be your judges. ²⁸ But ^(J)if I cast out the demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. ²⁹ Or, how can anyone enter the strong man’s house and carry off his property, unless he first ties up the strong man? And then he will plunder his house.

The Unpardonable Sin

^30 (K)The one who is not with Me is against Me; and the one who does not gather with Me scatters.

³¹ “^(L)Therefore I say to you, every sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven people, but blasphemy against the Spirit shall not be forgiven. ^32 (M)And whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man, it shall be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it shall not be forgiven him, either in ^(N)this age or in the age to come.

Words Reveal Character

³³ “Either ^[f]assume the tree to be good as well as its fruit good, or ^[g]assume the tree to be bad as well as its fruit bad; for ^(O)the tree is known by its fruit. ^34 (P)You ^[h]offspring of vipers, how can you, being evil, express any good things? ^(Q)For the mouth speaks from that which fills the heart. ^35 (R)The good person brings out of his good treasure good things; and the evil person brings out of his evil treasure evil things. ³⁶ But I tell you that for every ^[i]careless word that people ^[j]speak, they will give an account of it on the ^(S)day of judgment. ³⁷ For ^[k]by your words you will be justified, and ^[l]by your words you will be condemned.”

The Desire for Signs

³⁸ Then some of the scribes and Pharisees said to Him, “Teacher, ^(T)we want to see a ^[m]sign from You.” ³⁹ But He answered and said to them, “^(U)An evil and adulterous generation craves a ^[n]sign; and so no ^[o]sign will be given to it except the ^[p]sign of Jonah the prophet; ⁴⁰ for just as ^(V)Jonah was in the stomach of the sea monster for three days and three nights, so will ^(W)the Son of Man be in the heart of the earth for ^(X)three days and three nights. ^41 (Y)The men of Nineveh will stand up with this generation at the judgment, and will condemn it because ^(Z)they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and behold, something ^(AA)greater than Jonah is here. ^42 (AB)The Queen of the South will rise up with this generation at the judgment and will condemn it, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and behold, something ^(AC)greater than Solomon is here.

⁴³ “^(AD)Now when the unclean spirit comes out of a person, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, and does not find it. ⁴⁴ Then it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came’; and when it comes, it finds it unoccupied, swept, and put in order. ⁴⁵ Then it goes and brings along with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they come in and live there; and ^(AE)the last condition of that person becomes worse than the first. That is the way it will also be with this evil generation.”

^31 (A)Then His mother and His brothers *came, and while standing outside they sent word to Him, calling for Him. ³² And a crowd was sitting around Him, and they *said to Him, “Behold, Your mother and Your brothers are outside looking for You.” ³³ Answering them, He *said, “Who are My mother and My brothers?” ³⁴ And looking around at those who were sitting around Him, He *said, “^(B)Here are My mother and My brothers! ³⁵ For whoever ^(C)does the will of God, this is My brother, and sister, and mother.”

Changed Relationships

^46 (A)While He was still speaking to the crowds, behold, His ^(B)mother and ^(C)brothers were standing outside, seeking to speak to Him. ⁴⁷ [^[a]Someone said to Him, “Look, Your mother and Your brothers are standing outside, seeking to speak to You.”] ⁴⁸ But ^[b]Jesus replied to the one who was telling Him and said, “Who is My mother, and who are My brothers?” ⁴⁹ And extending His hand toward His disciples, He said, “Behold: My mother and My brothers! ⁵⁰ For whoever does the will of My Father who is in heaven, he is My brother, and sister, and mother.”

^19 (A)Now His mother and brothers came to Him, and they were unable to get to Him because of the crowd. ²⁰ And it was reported to Him, “Your mother and Your brothers are standing outside, wishing to see You.” ²¹ But He answered and said to them, “My mother and My brothers are these ^(B)who hear the word of God and do it.”

Parable of the Sower and Soils

4 Again ^(A)He began to teach ^(B)by the sea. And such a very large crowd gathered to Him that ^(C)He got into a boat on the sea and sat down; and the whole crowd was by the sea on the land. ² And He was teaching them many things in ^(D)parables, and was saying to them in His teaching, ³ “Listen to this! Behold, the sower went out to sow; ⁴ as he was sowing, some seed fell beside the road, and the birds came and ate it up. ⁵ Other seed fell on the rocky ground where it did not have much soil; and immediately it sprang up because it had no depth of soil. ⁶ And when the sun had risen, it was scorched; and because it had no root, it withered away. ⁷ Other seed fell among the thorns, and the thorns came up and choked it, and it yielded no crop. ⁸ Other seeds fell into the good soil, and as they grew up and increased, they yielded a crop and produced thirty, sixty, and a hundred times as much.” ⁹ And He was saying, “^(E)He who has ears to hear, ^[a]let him hear.”

Jesus Teaches in Parables

13 On that day Jesus had gone out of ^(A)the house and was sitting ^(B)by the sea. ² And large crowds gathered to Him, so ^(C)He got into a boat and sat down, and the whole crowd was standing on the beach.

³ And He told them many things in ^(D)parables, saying, “Behold, the sower went out to sow; ⁴ and as he sowed, some seeds fell beside the road, and the birds came and ate them up. ⁵ Others fell on the rocky places, where they did not have much soil; and they sprang up immediately, because they had no depth of soil. ⁶ But after the sun rose, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away. ⁷ Others fell ^[a]among the thorns, and the thorns came up and choked them out. ⁸ But others fell on the good soil and yielded a crop, some a ^(E)hundred, some sixty, and some thirty times as much. ^9 (F)The one who has ears, ^[b]let him hear.”

Parable of the Sower

^4 (A)Now when a large crowd was coming together, and those from the various cities were journeying to Him, He spoke by way of a parable: ⁵ “The sower went out to sow his seed; and as he sowed, some fell beside the road, and it was trampled underfoot, and the birds of the sky ate it up. ⁶ Other seed fell on rocky soil, and when it came up, it withered away because it had no moisture. ⁷ Other seed fell among the thorns; and the thorns grew up with it and choked it out. ⁸ And yet other seed fell into the good soil, and grew up, and produced a crop a hundred times as much.” As He said these things, He would call out, “^(B)The one who has ears to hear, ^[a]let him hear.”