A Man with a Withered Hand Healed

3 And he entered into the synagogue again, and a man who had a withered hand was there. ² And they were watching him closely to see if he would heal him on the Sabbath, in order that they could accuse him. ³ And he said to the man who had the withered hand, “Come into the middle.” ⁴ And he said to them, “Is it permitted on the Sabbath to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?” But they were silent. ⁵ And looking around at them with anger, grieved at the hardness of their hearts, he said to the man, “Stretch out your^[a] hand.” And he stretched it^[b] out, and his hand was restored. ⁶ And the Pharisees went out immediately with the Herodians and began to conspire^[c] against him with regard to how they could destroy him.

Jesus Heals Crowds by the Sea

⁷ And Jesus went away with his disciples to the sea,^[d] and a great crowd from Galilee followed him.^[e] And from Judea ⁸ and from Jerusalem and from Idumea and the other side of the Jordan and around Tyre and Sidon a great crowd came to him because they^[f] heard all that he was doing. ⁹ And he told his disciples that a small boat should stand ready for him because of the crowd, so that they would not press upon him. ¹⁰ For he had healed many, so that all those who were suffering from diseases^[g] pressed about him in order that they could touch him. ¹¹ And the unclean spirits, whenever they saw him, were falling down before him and crying out, saying, “You are the Son of God!” ¹² And he warned them strictly that they should not make him known.

The Selection of the Twelve Apostles

¹³ And he went up on the mountain and summoned those whom he wanted, and they came to him. ¹⁴ And he appointed twelve,^[h] so that they would be with him and so that he could send them out to preach ¹⁵ and to have authority to expel demons. ¹⁶ And he appointed the twelve.^[i] And to Simon he gave the name Peter, ¹⁷ and James the son of Zebedee and John the brother of James (and he gave to them the name Boanerges, that is, “Sons of Thunder”), ¹⁸ and Andrew, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas, and James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus, and Simon the Zealot,^{[j] 19} and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed him.

A House Divided Cannot Stand

²⁰ And he went home, and the crowd gathered again, so that they were not even able to eat a meal. ²¹ And when^[k] his family^[l] heard this,^[m] they went out to restrain him, for they were saying, “He has lost his mind!”

²² And the scribes who had come down from Jerusalem were saying, “He is possessed by Beelzebul!” and “By the ruler of the demons he expels the demons!” ²³ And he called them to himself and^[n] was speaking to them in parables, “How can Satan expel Satan? ²⁴ And if a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom is not able to 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 is not able to stand, but is at an end! ²⁷ But no one is able to enter into the house of a strong man and^[o] plunder his property unless he first ties up the strong man, and then he can thoroughly plunder his house.

²⁸ “Truly I say to you that all the sins and the blasphemies will be forgiven the sons of men, however much they blaspheme. ²⁹ But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit does not have forgiveness forever,^[p] but is guilty of an eternal sin”— ³⁰ because they were saying, “He has an unclean spirit.”

Jesus’ Mother and Brothers

³¹ And his mother and his brothers arrived, and standing outside, they sent word to him to summon him. ³² And a crowd was sitting around him, and they told him, “Behold, your mother and your brothers^[q] are outside looking for you.” ³³ And he answered them and^[r] said, “Who is my mother or^[s] my brothers?” ³⁴ And looking around at those who were sitting around him in a circle, he said, “Behold, my mother and my brothers! ³⁵ For whoever does the will of God, this person is my brother and sister and mother.”