Mark 3-4

Common English Bible

Healing on the Sabbath

3 Jesus returned to the synagogue. A man with a withered hand was there. ² Wanting to bring charges against Jesus, they were watching Jesus closely to see if he would heal on the Sabbath. ³ He said to the man with the withered hand, “Step up where people can see you.” ⁴ Then he said to them, “Is it legal on the Sabbath to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?” But they said nothing. ⁵ Looking around at them with anger, deeply grieved at their unyielding hearts, he said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” So he did, and his hand was made healthy. ⁶ At that, the Pharisees got together with the supporters of Herod to plan how to destroy Jesus.

Healing and throwing demons out

⁷ Jesus left with his disciples and went to the lake. A large crowd followed him because they had heard what he was doing. They were from Galilee, ⁸ Judea, Jerusalem, Idumea, beyond the Jordan, and the area surrounding Tyre and Sidon. ⁹ Jesus told his disciples to get a small boat ready for him so the crowd wouldn’t crush him. ¹⁰ He had healed so many people that everyone who was sick pushed forward so that they could touch him. ¹¹ Whenever the evil spirits saw him, they fell down at his feet and shouted, “You are God’s Son!” ¹² But he strictly ordered them not to reveal who he was.

Jesus appoints twelve apostles

¹³ Jesus went up on a mountain and called those he wanted, and they came to him. ¹⁴ He appointed twelve and called them apostles. He appointed them to be with him, to be sent out to preach, ¹⁵ and to have authority to throw out demons. ¹⁶ He appointed twelve: Peter, a name he gave Simon; ¹⁷ James and John, Zebedee’s sons, whom he nicknamed Boanerges, which means “sons of Thunder”; ¹⁸ and Andrew; Philip; Bartholomew; Matthew; Thomas; James, Alphaeus’ son; Thaddaeus; Simon the Cananaean;^{[a] 19} and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed Jesus.

Misunderstandings about Jesus

²⁰ Jesus entered a house. A crowd gathered again so that it was impossible for him and his followers even to eat. ²¹ When his family heard what was happening, they came to take control of him. They were saying, “He’s out of his mind!”

²² The legal experts came down from Jerusalem. Over and over they charged, “He’s possessed by Beelzebul. He throws out demons with the authority of the ruler of demons.”

²³ When Jesus called them together he spoke to them in a parable: “How can Satan throw Satan out? ²⁴ A kingdom involved in civil war will collapse. ²⁵ And a house torn apart by divisions will collapse. ²⁶ If Satan rebels against himself and is divided, then he can’t endure. He’s done for. ²⁷ No one gets into the house of a strong person and steals anything without first tying up the strong person. Only then can the house be burglarized. ²⁸ I assure you that human beings will be forgiven for everything, for all sins and insults of every kind. ²⁹ But whoever insults the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven. That person is guilty of a sin with consequences that last forever.” ³⁰ He said this because the legal experts were saying, “He’s possessed by an evil spirit.”

³¹ His mother and brothers arrived. They stood outside and sent word to him, calling for him. ³² A crowd was seated around him, and those sent to him said, “Look, your mother, brothers, and sisters are outside looking for you.”

³³ He replied, “Who is my mother? Who are my brothers?” ³⁴ Looking around at those seated around him in a circle, he said, “Look, here are my mother and my brothers. ³⁵ Whoever does God’s will is my brother, sister, and mother.”

Parable of the soils

4 Jesus began to teach beside the lake again. Such a large crowd gathered that he climbed into a boat there on the lake. He sat in the boat while the whole crowd was nearby on the shore. ² He said many things to them in parables. While teaching them, he said, ³ “Listen to this! A farmer went out to scatter seed. ⁴ As he was scattering seed, some fell on the path; and the birds came and ate it. ⁵ Other seed fell on rocky ground where the soil was shallow. They sprouted immediately because the soil wasn’t deep. ⁶ When the sun came up, it scorched the plants; and they dried up because they had no roots. ⁷ Other seed fell among thorny plants. The thorny plants grew and choked the seeds, and they produced nothing. ⁸ Other seed fell into good soil and bore fruit. Upon growing and increasing, the seed produced in one case a yield of thirty to one, in another case a yield of sixty to one, and in another case a yield of one hundred to one.” ⁹ He said, “Whoever has ears to listen should pay attention!”

Jesus explains his parable

¹⁰ When they were alone, the people around Jesus, along with the Twelve, asked him about the parables. ¹¹ He said to them, “The secret of God’s kingdom has been given to you, but to those who are outside everything comes in parables. ¹² This is so that they can look and see but have no insight, and they can hear but not understand. Otherwise, they might turn their lives around and be forgiven.

¹³ “Don’t you understand this parable? Then how will you understand all the parables? ¹⁴ The farmer scatters the word. ¹⁵ This is the meaning of the seed that fell on the path: When the word is scattered and people hear it, right away Satan comes and steals the word that was planted in them. ¹⁶ Here’s the meaning of the seed that fell on rocky ground: When people hear the word, they immediately receive it joyfully. ¹⁷ Because they have no roots, they last for only a little while. When they experience distress or abuse because of the word, they immediately fall away. ¹⁸ Others are like the seed scattered among the thorny plants. These are the ones who have heard the word; ¹⁹ but the worries of this life, the false appeal of wealth, and the desire for more things break in and choke the word, and it bears no fruit. ²⁰ The seed scattered on good soil are those who hear the word and embrace it. They bear fruit, in one case a yield of thirty to one, in another case sixty to one, and in another case one hundred to one.”

Parables about lamps and measures

²¹ Jesus said to them, “Does anyone bring in a lamp in order to put it under a basket or a bed? Shouldn’t it be placed on a lampstand? ²² Everything hidden will be revealed, and everything secret will come out into the open. ²³ Whoever has ears to listen should pay attention!”

²⁴ He said to them, “Listen carefully! God will evaluate you with the same standard you use to evaluate others. Indeed, you will receive even more. ²⁵ Those who have will receive more, but as for those who don’t have, even what they don’t have will be taken away from them.”

More parables about God’s kingdom

²⁶ Then Jesus said, “This is what God’s kingdom is like. It’s as though someone scatters seed on the ground, ²⁷ then sleeps and wakes night and day. The seed sprouts and grows, but the farmer doesn’t know how. ²⁸ The earth produces crops all by itself, first the stalk, then the head, then the full head of grain. ²⁹ Whenever the crop is ready, the farmer goes out to cut the grain because it’s harvesttime.”

³⁰ He continued, “What’s a good image for God’s kingdom? What parable can I use to explain it? ³¹ Consider a mustard seed. When scattered on the ground, it’s the smallest of all the seeds on the earth; ³² but when it’s planted, it grows and becomes the largest of all vegetable plants. It produces such large branches that the birds in the sky are able to nest in its shade.”

³³ With many such parables he continued to give them the word, as much as they were able to hear. ³⁴ He spoke to them only in parables, then explained everything to his disciples when he was alone with them.

Jesus stops a storm

³⁵ Later that day, when evening came, Jesus said to them, “Let’s cross over to the other side of the lake.” ³⁶ They left the crowd and took him in the boat just as he was. Other boats followed along.

³⁷ Gale-force winds arose, and waves crashed against the boat so that the boat was swamped. ³⁸ But Jesus was in the rear of the boat, sleeping on a pillow. They woke him up and said, “Teacher, don’t you care that we’re drowning?”

³⁹ He got up and gave orders to the wind, and he said to the lake, “Silence! Be still!” The wind settled down and there was a great calm. ⁴⁰ Jesus asked them, “Why are you frightened? Don’t you have faith yet?”

⁴¹ Overcome with awe, they said to each other, “Who then is this? Even the wind and the sea obey him!”