Old/New Testament

²⁰ So many people came again that they could not even eat.

²¹ When Jesus' family heard about this, they came to take him away. They said, `He is crazy.'

²² The scribes who came from Jerusalem also talked about Jesus. They said, `Beelzebub, the chief of bad spirits, is in this man. He drives out bad spirits by the help of Beelzebub.'

²³ Jesus called the people and talked to them in stories. He asked, `How can Satan drive out Satan?

²⁴ If one part of a country fights against another part of the country, that country cannot be strong.

²⁵ If one part of a family fights against the other part of the family, it cannot stand.

²⁶ If Satan fights against himself and the bad spirits fight against each other, he cannot stand. It will be the end of him.

²⁷ If anyone wants to go into a strong man's house and steal his things, he must first tie the strong man. Then he can steal his things.

²⁸ `I tell you the truth. All wrong things that people do and say about anyone will be forgiven.

²⁹ But people who say wrong things against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven. A person who does that will be punished for ever.'

³⁰ Jesus said all this because the scribes said, `A bad spirit is in him.'

³¹ Jesus' mother and brothers came to him. They stood outside. They sent someone to him.

³² Many people were sitting around him. They said, `See, your mother and your brothers are outside. They want you.'

³³ Jesus asked them, `Who are my mother and my brothers?'

³⁴ Then he looked at the people who sat around him. He said, `These people are my mother and my brothers!

³⁵ Anyone who obeys God is my brother, my sister, and my mother.'