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. ²⁴ And the Pharisees were saying to him, “Look, ^(C)why are they doing ^(D)what is not lawful on the Sabbath?” ²⁵ And 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: ²⁶ how 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?” ²⁷ And he said to them, ^(I)“The Sabbath was made for man, ^(J)not man for the Sabbath. ²⁸ So ^(K)the Son of Man is lord even of the Sabbath.”

A Man with a Withered Hand

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

A Great Crowd Follows Jesus

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

Blasphemy Against the Holy Spirit

²² And ^(A)the scribes who came down from Jerusalem were saying, ^(B)“He is possessed by Beelzebul,” and “by the prince of demons he casts out the demons.” ^23 (C)And he called them to him and said 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 house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand. ²⁶ And if Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand, but is coming to an end. ²⁷ But ^(D)no one can enter a strong man's house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man. ^(E)Then indeed he may plunder his house.

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

Jesus' Mother and Brothers

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