The Man with the Paralyzed Hand

3 Now f He entered the * synagogue g again, and a man was there who had a paralyzed h hand. 2 In order to accuse i Him, they were watching Him closely j to see whether He would heal k him on the Sabbath. l 3 He told the man with the paralyzed hand, “Stand before us.” m 4 Then He said to them, “Is it lawful n on the Sabbath to do what is good o or to do what is evil, p to save life q or to kill?” r But they were silent. s 5 After looking around at them with anger t and sorrow at the hardness u of their hearts, He told the man, “Stretch out your hand.” So he stretched it out, and his hand was restored. v 6 Immediately the * Pharisees w went out and started plotting x with the * Herodians y against Him, how they might destroy z Him.

Ministering to the Multitude

7 Jesus a departed with His disciples to the sea, and a large crowd followed from Galilee, b Judea, c 8 Jerusalem, d Idumea, beyond the Jordan, e and around Tyre f and Sidon. g The large crowd came to Him because they heard about everything He was doing. 9 Then He told His disciples to have a small boat h ready for Him, so the crowd would not crush Him. 10 Since He had healed i many, all who had diseases were pressing toward Him to touch j Him. 11 Whenever the * unclean k spirits l saw Him, those possessed fell down m before Him and cried out, “You are the Son of God!” n 12 And He would strongly warn o them not to make Him known. p

The 12 Apostles

13 Then q He went up the mountain r and summoned those He wanted, and they came to Him. 14 He also appointed 12—He also named them apostles s t—to be with Him, to send them out to preach, u 15 and to have authority to v drive out demons.

16 He appointed the Twelve: w x

To Simon, y He gave the name Peter; z

17 and to James a the son of Zebedee, b

and to his brother John, c

He gave the name “Boanerges”

(that is, “Sons of Thunder” d);

18 Andrew; e

Philip f and Bartholomew;

Matthew g and Thomas; h

James the son of Alphaeus,

and Thaddaeus;

Simon the Zealot, i

19 and Judas Iscariot, j k

who also betrayed Him.

A House Divided

20 Then He went home, and the crowd gathered again so that they were not even able to eat. l 21 When His family m heard this, they set out to restrain Him, because they said, “He’s out of His mind.” n

22 The * scribes o who had come down from Jerusalem said, “He has * Beelzebul p in Him!” and, “He drives out q demons r by the ruler s of the demons!” t

23 So He summoned u them and spoke to them in parables: v “How can Satan w drive out Satan? x 24 If a kingdom y is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. 25 If a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand. 26 And if Satan rebels against himself and is divided, he cannot stand but is finished! z

27 “On the other hand, no one can enter a strong man’s house and rob his possessions unless he first ties up a the strong man. Then he will rob his house. 28 * I assure you: People will be forgiven for all sins b and whatever blasphemies c they may blaspheme. 29 But whoever blasphemes d against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, e but is * guilty f of an eternal sin” g h— 30 because they were saying, “He has an unclean spirit.” i

True Relationships

31 Then j His mother k and His brothers l came, and standing outside, they sent word to Him and called Him. 32 A crowd was sitting around Him and told Him, “Look, Your mother, Your brothers, m and Your sisters n are outside asking for You.”

33 He replied to them, “Who are My mother and My brothers?” 34 And looking about at those who were sitting in a circle around Him, He said, “Here are My mother and My brothers! o 35 Whoever does the will of God p is My brother and sister and mother.”