New Testament in a Year

Jesus Is Accused of Working with Beelzebul^(A)

²⁰ Then Yeshua went home. Another crowd gathered so that Yeshua and his disciples could not even eat. ²¹ When his family heard about it, they went to get him. They said, “He’s out of his mind!”

²² The experts in Moses’ Teachings who had come from Jerusalem said, “Beelzebul is in him,” and “He forces demons out of people with the help of the ruler of demons.”

²³ Yeshua called them together and used this illustration: “How can Satan force out Satan? ²⁴ If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot last. ²⁵ And if a household is divided against itself, that household will not last. ²⁶ So if Satan rebels against himself and is divided, he cannot last. That will be the end of him.

²⁷ “No one can go into a strong man’s house and steal his property. First he must tie up the strong man. Then he can go through the strong man’s house and steal his property.

²⁸ “I can guarantee this truth: People will be forgiven for any sin or curse. ²⁹ But whoever curses the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven. He is guilty of an everlasting sin.” ³⁰ Yeshua said this because the experts in Moses’ Teachings had said that he had an evil spirit.

The True Family of Jesus^(B)

³¹ Then his mother and his brothers arrived. They stood outside and sent someone to ask him to come out. ³² The crowd sitting around Yeshua told him, “Your mother and your brothers are outside looking for you.”

³³ He replied to them, “Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?” ³⁴ Then looking at those who sat in a circle around him, he said, “Look, here are my mother and my brothers. ³⁵ Whoever does what God wants is my brother and sister and mother.”