Jesus Heals a Paralytic

2 And when he returned to ^(A)Capernaum after some days, it was reported that he was at home. ² And many were gathered together, so that there was no more room, not even at the door. And he was preaching the word to them. ^3 (B)And they came, bringing to him a paralytic carried by four men. ⁴ And when they could not get near him because of the crowd, ^(C)they removed the roof above him, and when they had made an opening, they let down the bed on which the paralytic lay. ⁵ And when Jesus ^(D)saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Son, ^(E)your sins are forgiven.” ⁶ Now some of the scribes were sitting there, questioning in their hearts, ⁷ “Why does this man speak like that? ^(F)He is blaspheming! ^(G)Who can forgive sins but God alone?” ⁸ And immediately Jesus, ^(H)perceiving in his spirit that they thus questioned within themselves, said to them, “Why do you question these things in your hearts? ⁹ Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise, take up your bed and walk’? ¹⁰ But that you may know that ^(I)the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—he said to the paralytic— ¹¹ “I say to you, rise, pick up your bed, and go home.” ¹² And he rose and immediately picked up his bed and went out before them all, so that they were all amazed and ^(J)glorified God, saying, “We never saw anything like this!”

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.

²⁰ Then he went ^(A)home, and the crowd gathered again, ^(B)so that they could not even eat. ^21 (C)And when ^(D)his family heard it, they went out to seize him, for they were saying, “He ^(E)is out of his mind.”

Blasphemy Against the Holy Spirit

²² And ^(F)the scribes who came down from Jerusalem were saying, ^(G)“He is possessed by Beelzebul,” and “by the prince of demons he casts out the demons.” ^23 (H)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 ^(I)no one can enter a strong man's house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man. ^(J)Then indeed he may plunder his house.

^28 (K)“Truly, I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the children of man, and whatever blasphemies they utter, ²⁹ but whoever ^(L)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 (M)And his mother and his ^(N)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 ^(O)looking about at those who sat around him, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! ^35 (P)For whoever ^(Q)does the will of God, he is my brother and sister and mother.”

⁶ And ^(A)he marveled because of their unbelief.

^(B)And he went about among the villages teaching.

Jesus Sends Out the Twelve Apostles

^7 (C)And he called the twelve and began to send them out two by two, and gave them authority over the unclean spirits. ⁸ He charged them to take nothing for their journey except a staff—no bread, no bag, no money in their belts— ⁹ but to ^(D)wear sandals and not put on two tunics.^{[a] 10} And he said to them, “Whenever you enter a house, stay there until you depart from there. ¹¹ And if any place will not receive you and they will not listen to you, when you leave, ^(E)shake off the dust that is on your feet ^(F)as a testimony against them.” ^12 (G)So they went out and ^(H)proclaimed ^(I)that people should repent. ^13 (J)And they cast out many demons and ^(K)anointed with oil many who were sick and healed them.

The Death of John the Baptist

^14 (L)King Herod heard of it, for Jesus'^[b] name had become known. Some^[c] said, ^(M)“John the Baptist^[d] has been raised from the dead. That is why these miraculous powers are at work in him.” ^15 (N)But others said, “He is Elijah.” And others said, “He is ^(O)a prophet, like one of the prophets of old.” ¹⁶ But when Herod heard of it, he said, “John, whom I beheaded, has been raised.” ^17 (P)For it was Herod who had sent and seized John and ^(Q)bound him in prison for the sake of Herodias, his brother Philip's wife, because he had married her. ^18 (R)For John had been saying to Herod, ^(S)“It is not lawful for you to have your brother's wife.” ¹⁹ And Herodias had a grudge against him and wanted to put him to death. But she could not, ²⁰ for Herod ^(T)feared John, knowing that he was a righteous and holy man, and he kept him safe. When he heard him, he was greatly perplexed, and yet he ^(U)heard him gladly.

²¹ But an opportunity came when Herod ^(V)on his birthday ^(W)gave a banquet for his nobles and military commanders and the leading men of Galilee. ²² For when Herodias's daughter came in and danced, she pleased Herod and his guests. And the king said to the girl, “Ask me for whatever you wish, and I will give it to you.” ²³ And he vowed to her, “Whatever you ask me, I will give you, ^(X)up to half of my kingdom.” ²⁴ And she went out and said to her mother, “For what should I ask?” And she said, “The head of John the Baptist.” ²⁵ And she came in immediately with haste to the king and asked, saying, “I want you to give me at once the head of John the Baptist on a platter.” ²⁶ And the king was exceedingly sorry, but because of his oaths and his guests he did not want to break his word to her. ²⁷ And immediately the king sent an executioner with orders to bring John's^[e] head. He went and beheaded him in the prison ²⁸ and brought his head on a platter and gave it to the girl, and the girl gave it to her mother. ²⁹ When his ^(Y)disciples heard of it, they came and took his body and laid it in a tomb.

Jesus Feeds the Five Thousand

^30 (Z)(AA)The apostles returned to Jesus and told him all that they had done and taught. ³¹ And he said to them, “Come away by yourselves to a desolate place and rest a while.” For many were coming and going, and ^(AB)they had no leisure even to eat.