Mark 3
New King James Version
Healing on the Sabbath(A)
3 And (B)He entered the synagogue again, and a man was there who had a withered hand. 2 So they (C)watched Him closely, whether He would (D)heal him on the Sabbath, so that they might [a]accuse Him. 3 And He said to the man who had the withered hand, [b]“Step forward.” 4 Then He said to them, “Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?” But they kept silent. 5 And when He had looked around at them with anger, being grieved by the (E)hardness of their hearts, He said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” And he stretched it out, and his hand was restored [c]as whole as the other. 6 (F)Then the Pharisees went out and immediately plotted with (G)the Herodians against Him, how they might destroy Him.
A Great Multitude Follows Jesus(H)
7 But Jesus withdrew with His disciples to the sea. And a great multitude from Galilee followed Him, (I)and from Judea 8 and Jerusalem and Idumea and beyond the Jordan; and those from Tyre and Sidon, a great multitude, when they heard how (J)many things He was doing, came to Him. 9 So He told His disciples that a small boat should be kept ready for Him because of the multitude, lest they should crush Him. 10 For He healed (K)many, so that as many as had afflictions pressed about Him to (L)touch Him. 11 (M)And the unclean spirits, whenever they saw Him, fell down before Him and cried out, saying, (N)“You are the Son of God.” 12 But (O)He sternly warned them that they should not make Him known.
The Twelve Apostles(P)
13 (Q)And He went up on the mountain and called to Him those He Himself wanted. And they came to Him. 14 Then He appointed twelve, [d]that they might be with Him and that He might send them out to preach, 15 and to have [e]power [f]to heal sicknesses and to cast out demons: 16 [g]Simon, (R)to whom He gave the name Peter; 17 James the son of Zebedee and John the brother of James, to whom He gave the name Boanerges, that is, “Sons of Thunder”; 18 Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James the son of Alphaeus, Thaddaeus, Simon the Cananite; 19 and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed Him. And they went into a house.
A House Divided Cannot Stand(S)
20 Then the multitude came together again, (T)so that they could not so much as eat bread. 21 But when His (U)own people heard about this, they went out to lay hold of Him, (V)for they said, “He is out of His mind.”
22 And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem said, (W)“He has Beelzebub,” and, “By the (X)ruler of the demons He casts out demons.”
23 (Y)So He called them to Himself 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 cannot stand. 26 And if Satan has risen up against himself, and is divided, he cannot stand, but has an end. 27 (Z)No one can enter a strong man’s house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man. And then he will plunder his house.
The Unpardonable Sin(AA)
28 (AB)“Assuredly, I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the sons of men, and whatever blasphemies they may utter; 29 but he who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is subject to eternal condemnation”— 30 because they (AC)said, “He has an unclean spirit.”
Jesus’ Mother and Brothers Send for Him(AD)
31 (AE)Then His brothers and His mother came, and standing outside they sent to Him, calling Him. 32 And a multitude was sitting around Him; and they said to Him, “Look, Your mother and Your brothers [h]are outside seeking You.”
33 But He answered them, saying, “Who is My mother, or My brothers?” 34 And He looked around in a circle at those who sat about Him, and said, “Here are My mother and My brothers! 35 For whoever does the (AF)will of God is My brother and My sister and mother.”
Footnotes
- Mark 3:2 bring charges against
- Mark 3:3 Lit. Arise into the midst
- Mark 3:5 NU omits as whole as the other
- Mark 3:14 NU adds whom He also named apostles
- Mark 3:15 authority
- Mark 3:15 NU omits to heal sicknesses and
- Mark 3:16 NU and He appointed the twelve: Simon . . .
- Mark 3:32 NU, M add and Your sisters
Mark 3
The Message
Doing Good on the Sabbath
3 1-3 Then he went back in the meeting place where he found a man with a crippled hand. The Pharisees had their eyes on Jesus to see if he would heal him, hoping to catch him in a Sabbath violation. He said to the man with the crippled hand, “Stand here where we can see you.”
4 Then he spoke to the people: “What kind of action suits the Sabbath best? Doing good or doing evil? Helping people or leaving them helpless?” No one said a word.
5-6 He looked them in the eye, one after another, angry now, furious at their hard-nosed religion. He said to the man, “Hold out your hand.” He held it out—it was as good as new! The Pharisees got out as fast as they could, sputtering about how they would join forces with Herod’s followers and ruin him.
The Twelve Apostles
7-10 Jesus went off with his disciples to the sea to get away. But a huge crowd from Galilee trailed after them—also from Judea, Jerusalem, Idumea, across the Jordan, and around Tyre and Sidon—swarms of people who had heard the reports and had come to see for themselves. He told his disciples to get a boat ready so he wouldn’t be trampled by the crowd. He had healed many people, and now everyone who had something wrong was pushing and shoving to get near and touch him.
11-12 Evil spirits, when they recognized him, fell down and cried out, “You are the Son of God!” But Jesus would have none of it. He shut them up, forbidding them to identify him in public.
13-19 He climbed a mountain and invited those he wanted with him. They climbed together. He settled on twelve, and designated them apostles. The plan was that they would be with him, and he would send them out to proclaim the Word and give them authority to banish demons. These are the Twelve:
Simon (Jesus later named him Peter, meaning “Rock”),
James, son of Zebedee,
John, brother of James (Jesus nicknamed the Zebedee brothers Boanerges, meaning “Sons of Thunder”),
Andrew,
Philip,
Bartholomew,
Matthew,
Thomas,
James, son of Alphaeus,
Thaddaeus,
Simon the Canaanite,
Judas Iscariot (who betrayed him).
Satan Fighting Satan?
20-21 Jesus came home and, as usual, a crowd gathered—so many making demands on him that there wasn’t even time to eat. His friends heard what was going on and went to rescue him, by force if necessary. They suspected he was believing his own press.
22-27 The religion scholars from Jerusalem came down spreading rumors that he was working black magic, using devil tricks to impress them with spiritual power. Jesus confronted their slander with a story: “Does it make sense to send a devil to catch a devil, to use Satan to get rid of Satan? A constantly squabbling family disintegrates. If Satan were fighting Satan, there soon wouldn’t be any Satan left. Do you think it’s possible in broad daylight to enter the house of an awake, able-bodied man, and walk off with his possessions unless you tie him up first? Tie him up, though, and you can clean him out.
28-30 “Listen to this carefully. I’m warning you. There’s nothing done or said that can’t be forgiven. But if you persist in your slanders against God’s Holy Spirit, you are repudiating the very One who forgives, sawing off the branch on which you’re sitting, severing by your own perversity all connection with the One who forgives.” He gave this warning because they were accusing him of being in league with Evil.
Jesus’ Mother and Brothers
31-32 Just then his mother and brothers showed up. Standing outside, they relayed a message that they wanted a word with him. He was surrounded by the crowd when he was given the message, “Your mother and brothers and sisters are outside looking for you.”
33-35 Jesus responded, “Who do you think are my mother and brothers?” Looking around, taking in everyone seated around him, he said, “Right here, right in front of you—my mother and my brothers. Obedience is thicker than blood. The person who obeys God’s will is my brother and sister and mother.”
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson