The Man With a Withered Hand^(A)

3 Again, He entered the synagogue, and there was a man who had a withered hand. ² They watched Him to see whether He would heal him on the Sabbath, so that they might accuse Him. ³ He said to the man who had the withered hand, “Stand up.”

⁴ Then He said to them, “Is it lawful to do good or to do evil on the Sabbath, to save life or to kill?” But they kept silent.

⁵ When He had looked around at them with anger, being grieved for the hardness of their hearts, He said to the man, “Stretch your hand forward.” He stretched it out, and his hand was restored as whole as the other. ⁶ Then the Pharisees went out and immediately took counsel with the Herodians against Him, how to kill Him.

The Crowd at the Seaside

⁷ Jesus withdrew with His disciples to the sea. And a great crowd followed Him from Galilee and Judea ⁸ and Jerusalem, and Idumea, and from beyond the Jordan. And those from Tyre and Sidon, a great crowd, when they heard what great things He did, came to Him. ⁹ He told the disciples to have a small boat ready for Him because of the crowd, lest they should crush Him. ¹⁰ For He had healed many, so that all who had diseases pressed on Him to touch Him. ¹¹ When unclean spirits saw Him, they fell down before Him, crying out, “You are the Son of God.” ¹² But He sternly ordered them not to make Him known.

The Choosing of the Twelve Apostles^(B)

¹³ He went up into the mountain and called to Him those whom He desired, and they came to Him. ¹⁴ He ordained twelve to be with Him, and to be sent out to preach, ¹⁵ and to have authority to heal sicknesses and to cast out demons: ¹⁶ Simon, whom He named Peter; ¹⁷ James, the son of Zebedee, and John, the brother of James, whom he surnamed Boanerges (meaning Sons of Thunder); ¹⁸ Andrew, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas; and James the son of Alphaeus; and Thaddaeus, and Simon the Zealot; ¹⁹ and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed Him.

Jesus and Beelzebub^(C)

²⁰ Then they entered a house, and the crowd came together again, so that they could not even eat bread. ²¹ When His family heard of it, they went out to seize Him, for they said, “He is beside Himself.”

²² And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem said, “He is possessed by Beelzebub, and by the ruler of the demons He casts out demons.”

²³ So 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 If a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand. ²⁶ And if Satan rises up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand, but is coming to an end. ²⁷ No one can enter a strong man’s house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man. Then he will plunder his house. ²⁸ Truly I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the sons of men, and whatever blasphemies they speak. ²⁹ But he who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is in danger of eternal condemnation.”

³⁰ For they said, “He has an unclean spirit.”

The Mother and Brothers of Jesus^(D)

³¹ Then His mother and His brothers came, and standing outside, they sent to Him, calling Him. ³² The crowd sat around Him and said to Him, “Your mother and Your brothers are outside asking for You.”

³³ He answered, “Who are My mother and My brothers?”

³⁴ Then He looked around at those who sat around Him and said, “Here are My mother and My brothers! ³⁵ For whoever does the will of God is My brother, and My sister, and My mother.”