A House Divided

20 Jesus entered a house, and the crowd gathered again so that they were not even able to eat.[a] 21 When his family(A) heard this, they set out to restrain him, because they said, “He’s out of his mind.”(B)

22 The scribes(C) who had come down from Jerusalem said, “He is possessed by Beelzebul,”(D) and, “He drives out(E) demons(F) by the ruler(G) of the demons.”(H)

23 So he summoned(I) them and spoke to them in parables:(J) “How can Satan(K) drive out Satan?(L) 24 If a kingdom(M) is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. 25 If a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand. 26 And if Satan opposes himself and is divided, he cannot stand but is finished. 27 But no one can enter a strong man’s house and plunder his possessions unless he first ties up(N) the strong man. Then he can plunder his house.

28 “Truly I tell you, people will be forgiven for all sins and whatever blasphemies(O) they utter. 29 But whoever blasphemes(P) against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness,(Q) but is guilty(R) of an eternal sin”[b](S) 30 because they were saying, “He has an unclean spirit.”(T)

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Footnotes

  1. 3:20 Or eat a meal; lit eat bread
  2. 3:29 Other mss read is subject to eternal judgment

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[a] his family[b] heard this,[c] 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[d] 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[e] 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,[f] but is guilty of an eternal sin”— 30 because they were saying, “He has an unclean spirit.”

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Footnotes

  1. Mark 3:21 Here “when” is supplied as a component of the participle (“heard”) which is understood as temporal
  2. Mark 3:21 Literally those “close to him”
  3. Mark 3:21 *Here the direct object is supplied from context in the English translation
  4. Mark 3:23 Here “and” is supplied because the previous participle (“called”) has been translated as a finite verb
  5. Mark 3:27 Here “and” is supplied because the previous participle (“enter”) has been translated as a finite verb
  6. Mark 3:29 Literally “for the age”