And he entered again into the synagogue; and there was a man there which had a withered hand.

And they watched him, whether he would heal him on the sabbath day; that they might accuse him.

And he saith unto the man which had the withered hand, Stand forth.

And he saith unto them, Is it lawful to do good on the sabbath days, or to do evil? to save life, or to kill? But they held their peace.

And when he had looked round about on them with anger, being grieved for the hardness of their hearts, he saith unto the man, Stretch forth thine hand. And he stretched it out: and his hand was restored whole as the other.

And the Pharisees went forth, and straightway took counsel with the Herodians against him, how they might destroy him.

But Jesus withdrew himself with his disciples to the sea: and a great multitude from Galilee followed him, and from Judaea,

And from Jerusalem, and from Idumaea, and from beyond Jordan; and they about Tyre and Sidon, a great multitude, when they had heard what great things he did, came unto him.

And he spake to his disciples, that a small ship should wait on him because of the multitude, lest they should throng him.

10 For he had healed many; insomuch that they pressed upon him for to touch him, as many as had plagues.

11 And unclean spirits, when they saw him, fell down before him, and cried, saying, Thou art the Son of God.

12 And he straitly charged them that they should not make him known.

13 And he goeth up into a mountain, and calleth unto him whom he would: and they came unto him.

14 And he ordained twelve, that they should be with him, and that he might send them forth to preach,

15 And to have power to heal sicknesses, and to cast out devils:

16 And Simon he surnamed Peter;

17 And James the son of Zebedee, and John the brother of James; and he surnamed them Boanerges, which is, The sons of thunder:

18 And Andrew, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas, and James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus, and Simon the Canaanite,

19 And Judas Iscariot, which also betrayed him: and they went into an house.

20 And the multitude cometh together again, so that they could not so much as eat bread.

21 And when his friends heard of it, they went out to lay hold on him: for they said, He is beside himself.

22 And the scribes which came down from Jerusalem said, He hath Beelzebub, and by the prince of the devils casteth he out devils.

23 And he called them unto him, and said unto them in parables, How can Satan cast out Satan?

24 And if a kingdom be divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand.

25 And if a house be divided against itself, that house cannot stand.

26 And if Satan rise up against himself, and be divided, he cannot stand, but hath an end.

27 No man can enter into a strong man's house, and spoil his goods, except he will first bind the strong man; and then he will spoil his house.

28 Verily I say unto you, All sins shall be forgiven unto the sons of men, and blasphemies wherewith soever they shall blaspheme:

29 But he that shall blaspheme against the Holy Ghost hath never forgiveness, but is in danger of eternal damnation.

30 Because they said, He hath an unclean spirit.

31 There came then his brethren and his mother, and, standing without, sent unto him, calling him.

32 And the multitude sat about him, and they said unto him, Behold, thy mother and thy brethren without seek for thee.

33 And he answered them, saying, Who is my mother, or my brethren?

34 And he looked round about on them which sat about him, and said, Behold my mother and my brethren!

35 For whosoever shall do the will of God, the same is my brother, and my sister, and mother.

Again Jesus went into a synagogue, and a man was there who had one withered hand [[a]as the result of accident or disease].

And [the Pharisees] kept watching Jesus [closely] to see whether He would cure him on the Sabbath, so that they might get a charge to bring against Him [[b]formally].

And He said to the man who had the withered hand, Get up [and stand here] in the midst.

And He said to them, Is it lawful and right on the Sabbath to do good or to do evil, to save life or to take it? But they kept silence.

And He glanced around at them with vexation and anger, grieved at the hardening of their hearts, and said to the man, Hold out your hand. He held it out, and his hand was [completely] restored.

Then the Pharisees went out and immediately held a consultation with the Herodians against Him, how they might [devise some means to] put Him to death.

And Jesus retired with His disciples to the lake, and a great throng from Galilee followed Him. Also from Judea

And from Jerusalem and Idumea and from beyond the Jordan and from about Tyre and Sidon—a vast multitude, hearing all the many things that He was doing, came to Him.

And He told His disciples to have a little boat in [constant] readiness for Him because of the crowd, lest they press hard upon Him and crush Him.

10 For He had healed so many that all who had distressing bodily diseases kept falling upon Him and pressing upon Him in order that they might touch Him.

11 And the spirits, the unclean ones, [c]as often as they might see Him, fell down before Him and kept screaming out, You are the Son of God!

12 And He charged them strictly and severely under penalty again and again that they should not make Him known.

13 And He went up on the hillside and called to Him [[d]for Himself] those whom He wanted and chose, and they came to Him.

14 And He appointed twelve to [e]continue to be with Him, and that He might send them out to preach [as apostles or special messengers]

15 And to have authority and power to heal the sick and to drive out demons:

16 [They were] Simon, and He surnamed [him] Peter;

17 James son of Zebedee and John the brother of James, and He surnamed them Boanerges, that is, Sons of Thunder;

18 And Andrew, and Philip, and Bartholomew (Nathaniel), and Matthew, and Thomas, and James son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus (Judas, not Iscariot), and Simon the Cananaean [also called Zelotes],

19 And Judas Iscariot, he who betrayed Him.

20 Then He went to a house [probably Peter’s], but a throng came together again, so that Jesus and His disciples could not even take food.

21 And when those [f]who belonged to Him ([g]His kinsmen) heard it, they went out to take Him by force, for they kept saying, He is out of [h]His mind (beside Himself, deranged)!

22 And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem said, He is possessed by Beelzebub, and, By [the help of] the prince of demons He is casting out demons.

23 And He summoned them to Him and said to them in parables (illustrations or comparisons put beside truths to explain them), How can Satan drive out Satan?

24 And if a kingdom is divided and rebelling against itself, that kingdom cannot stand.

25 And if a house is divided (split into factions and rebelling) against itself, that house will not be able to last.

26 And if Satan has raised an insurrection against himself and is divided, he cannot stand but is [surely] coming to an end.

27 But no one can go into a strong man’s house and ransack his household goods right and left and seize them as plunder unless he first binds the strong man; then indeed he may [thoroughly] plunder his house.(A)

28 Truly and solemnly I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the sons of men, and whatever abusive and blasphemous things they utter;

29 But whoever speaks abusively against or maliciously misrepresents the Holy Spirit can never get forgiveness, but is guilty of and is in the grasp of [i]an everlasting trespass.

30 For they [j]persisted in saying, [k]He has an unclean spirit.

31 Then His mother and His brothers came and, standing outside, they sent word to Him, calling [for] Him.

32 And a crowd was sitting around Him, and they said to Him, Your mother and Your brothers and Your sisters are outside asking for You.

33 And He replied, Who are My mother and My brothers?

34 And looking around on those who sat in a circle about Him, He said, See! Here are My mother and My brothers;

35 For whoever does the things God wills is My brother and sister and mother!

Footnotes

  1. Mark 3:1 Marvin Vincent, Word Studies.
  2. Mark 3:2 Kenneth Wuest, Word Studies.
  3. Mark 3:11 Marvin Vincent, Word Studies.
  4. Mark 3:13 Kenneth Wuest, Word Studies.
  5. Mark 3:14 Kenneth Wuest, Word Studies.
  6. Mark 3:21 William Tyndale, The Tyndale Bible.
  7. Mark 3:21 John Wycliffe, The Wycliffe Bible.
  8. Mark 3:21 Capitalized for what He is, the spotless Son of God, not what the speakers may have thought He was.
  9. Mark 3:29 John Wycliffe, The Wycliffe Bible.
  10. Mark 3:30 Marvin Vincent, Word Studies.
  11. Mark 3:30 Capitalized for what He is, the spotless Son of God, not what the speakers may have thought He was.

While in Capernaum Jesus went over to the synagogue again, and noticed a man there with a deformed hand.

Since it was the Sabbath, Jesus’ enemies watched him closely. Would he heal the man’s hand? If he did, they planned to arrest him!

Jesus asked the man to come and stand in front of the congregation. Then turning to his enemies he asked, “Is it all right to do kind deeds on Sabbath days? Or is this a day for doing harm? Is it a day to save lives or to destroy them?” But they wouldn’t answer him. Looking around at them angrily, for he was deeply disturbed by their indifference to human need, he said to the man, “Reach out your hand.” He did, and instantly his hand was healed!

At once the Pharisees[a] went away and met with the Herodians to discuss plans for killing Jesus.

7-8 Meanwhile, Jesus and his disciples withdrew to the beach, followed by a huge crowd from all over Galilee, Judea, Jerusalem, Idumea, from beyond the Jordan River, and even from as far away as Tyre and Sidon. For the news about his miracles had spread far and wide and vast numbers came to see him for themselves.

He instructed his disciples to bring around a boat and to have it standing ready to rescue him in case he was crowded off the beach. 10 For there had been many healings that day and as a result great numbers of sick people were crowding around him, trying to touch him.

11 And whenever those possessed by demons caught sight of him they would fall down before him shrieking, “You are the Son of God!” 12 But he strictly warned them not to make him known.

13 Afterwards he went up into the hills and summoned certain ones he chose, inviting them to come and join him there; and they did. 14-15 Then he selected twelve of them to be his regular companions and to go out to preach and to cast out demons. 16-19 These are the names of the twelve he chose: Simon (he renamed him “Peter”), James and John (the sons of Zebedee, but Jesus called them “Sons of Thunder”), Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James (the son of Alphaeus), Thaddaeus, Simon (a member of a political party advocating violent overthrow of the Roman government), Judas Iscariot (who later betrayed him).

20 When he returned to the house where he was staying, the crowds began to gather again, and soon it was so full of visitors that he couldn’t even find time to eat. 21 When his friends heard what was happening, they came to try to take him home with them.

“He’s out of his mind,” they said.

22 But the Jewish teachers of religion who had arrived from Jerusalem said, “His trouble is that he’s possessed by Satan, king of demons. That’s why demons obey him.”

23 Jesus summoned these men and asked them (using proverbs they all understood), “How can Satan cast out Satan? 24 A kingdom divided against itself will collapse. 25 A home filled with strife and division destroys itself. 26 And if Satan is fighting against himself, how can he accomplish anything? He would never survive. 27 Satan must be bound before his demons are cast out,[b] just as a strong man must be tied up before his house can be ransacked and his property robbed.

28 “I solemnly declare that any sin of man can be forgiven, even blasphemy against me; 29 but blasphemy against the Holy Spirit can never be forgiven. It is an eternal sin.”

30 He told them this because they were saying he did his miracles by Satan’s power instead of acknowledging it was by the Holy Spirit’s power.[c]

31-32 Now his mother and brothers arrived at the crowded house where he was teaching, and they sent word for him to come out and talk with them. “Your mother and brothers are outside and want to see you,” he was told.

33 He replied, “Who is my mother? Who are my brothers?” 34 Looking at those around him he said, “These are my mother and brothers! 35 Anyone who does God’s will is my brother, and my sister, and my mother.”

Footnotes

  1. Mark 3:6 Pharisees, a religious sect of the Jews. Herodians, a pro-Roman political party.
  2. Mark 3:27 cast out, implied.
  3. Mark 3:30 instead of acknowledging it was by the Holy Spirit’s power, implied.