Mark 3:20-30

Expanded Bible

Some People Say Jesus Is Possessed by an Evil Spirit^(A)

²⁰Then Jesus went ·home [into a house], but again a crowd gathered. There were so many people that Jesus and his followers could not eat. ²¹When his ·family [own people] heard this, they went to ·get [seize; take charge of] him because they thought he was out of his mind. ²²But the ·teachers of the law [scribes] from Jerusalem were saying, “·Beelzebul [^Canother name for Satan] is ·living inside [possessing] him! He uses power from the ·ruler [prince] of demons to ·force [drive; cast] demons out of people.”

²³So Jesus called the people together and ·taught them with stories [^Lspoke to them in parables; ^CGreek parabolē, which can mean stories and analogies of various kinds]. He said, ·“Satan will not force himself out of people. [^L“How can Satan drive out Satan?] ²⁴A kingdom that is ·divided [at war with itself] cannot ·continue [stand], ²⁵and a ·family [household; ^Lhouse] that is divided cannot ·continue [stand]. ²⁶And if Satan ·is [rises; rebels] against himself and ·fights against his own people [is divided], he cannot ·continue [stand]; that is the end of Satan. ²⁷No one can enter a strong man’s house and ·steal [seize; plunder] his things unless he first ·ties up [binds] the strong man [Is. 49:24–25]. Then he can ·steal [seize; plunder] things from the house. [^CSatan is the strong man and his possessions are the people Jesus is freeing from Satan’s power.] ²⁸I tell you the truth, all sins that people do and all ·the things people say against God [blasphemies] can be forgiven. ²⁹But anyone who ·speaks against [blasphemes] the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven; he is guilty of ·a sin that continues forever [a sin with eternal consequences; ^Lan eternal sin].”