Jesus Heals a Man With a Withered Hand

3 Jesus entered the synagogue again, and a man was there with a withered^[a] hand. ² They were watching Jesus closely to see if he would heal the man on the Sabbath day, so that they could accuse him. ³ He said to the man with the withered hand, “Step forward!”^{[b] 4} Then he said to them, “Is it lawful on the Sabbath day to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?” But they were silent. ⁵ Then he looked around at them with anger, deeply grieved at the hardness of their hearts. He said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” The man stretched it out, and his hand was restored. ⁶ The Pharisees left and immediately began to conspire against Jesus with the Herodians, plotting how they might kill him.

Jesus Heals Many

⁷ Jesus withdrew to the sea with his disciples. A large crowd followed him from Galilee, Judea, ⁸ Jerusalem, Idumaea, and beyond the Jordan, as well as from around Tyre and Sidon. A large crowd came to him when they heard all that he was doing. ⁹ He told his disciples to have a boat ready for him because of the crowd, so that the people would not crush him. ¹⁰ Since he had healed many people, all those who had illnesses were pressing forward to touch him. ¹¹ Whenever the unclean spirits saw him, they fell down in front of him, crying out, “You are the Son of God!” ¹² But he warned them sternly that they should not tell who he was.

Jesus Appoints the Twelve Apostles

¹³ Jesus went up the mountain, summoned those he wanted, and they came to him. ¹⁴ He appointed twelve whom he designated apostles,^[c] so that they would be with him and so that he could send them out to preach ¹⁵ and to have authority to drive out demons. ¹⁶ He appointed the Twelve: Simon, to whom he gave the name Peter; ¹⁷ then James the son of Zebedee, and John the brother of James, to whom he gave the nickname Boanerges, which means “Sons of Thunder”; ¹⁸ also Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, and James the son of Alphaeus; finally, Thaddaeus, Simon the Zealot, ¹⁹ and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.

Jesus Has Power to Drive Out Demons

²⁰ They went^[d] into a house. A crowd gathered again so that they were not even able to eat a meal. ²¹ When his own people^[e] heard this, they went out to take control of him, because they were saying, “He is out of his mind.”

²² The experts in the law who came down from Jerusalem were saying, “He is possessed by Beelzebul,” and “He drives out demons by the ruler of demons.”

²³ Jesus called them together and spoke to them in parables. “How can Satan drive 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 cannot stand. ²⁶ And if Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand but is finished. ²⁷ On the other hand, no one can enter a strong man’s house to steal his possessions unless he ties up the strong man first. Then he can plunder his house. ²⁸ Amen^[f] I tell you: Everything will be forgiven people, their sins and whatever blasphemies they may speak. ²⁹ But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never have forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin.”^{[g] 30} Jesus said this because they were saying, “He has an unclean spirit.”

Jesus’ Mother and Brothers

³¹ Then his mother and his brothers arrived. While they were standing outside, they sent word to Jesus, calling for him. ³² A crowd was sitting around him. They began to tell him, “Look, your mother and your brothers are outside looking for you.”

³³ He replied, “Who are my mother and my brothers?” ³⁴ He looked at those who sat around him in a circle and he said, “Look, my mother and my brothers! ³⁵ For whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother.”