Mark 2–3

The Son of Man Forgives and Heals

2When ^zHe entered Capernaum ^aagain after some days, it was reported that He was at home. ²So many people gathered together that there was no more room, not even in the doorway, and He was speaking the message ^bto them. ³Then they came to Him bringing a paralytic, ^ccarried by four men. ⁴Since they were not able to bring him to ^dJesus because of the crowd, they removed the roof above where He was. And when they had broken through, they lowered the mat on which the paralytic was lying.

⁵Seeing their faith, ^eJesus told the paralytic, “Son, your sins ^fare forgiven.” ^g

⁶But some of the scribes ^hwere sitting there, thinking ⁱto themselves: ^j7“Why does He speak like this? He’s blaspheming! ^kWho can forgive ^lsins ^mbut God alone?” ⁿ

⁸Right away ^oJesus understood in His spirit ^pthat they were thinking like this within themselves and said to them, “Why are you thinking these things in your hearts? ^q9Which is easier: ^rto say to the paralytic, ^s‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up, pick up your mat, and walk’? ^t10But so you may know that the ^•Son of Man ^uhas authority ^von earth to forgive sins,” ^wHe told the paralytic, ¹¹“I tell you: get up, ^xpick up your mat, and go home.”

¹²Immediately he got up, picked up the mat, and went out in front of everyone. As a result, they were all astounded ^yand gave glory ^zto God, ^asaying, “We have never seen anything like this!” ^b

The Call of Matthew

¹³Then ^cJesus went out again beside the sea. The whole crowd was coming to Him, and He taught ^dthem. ¹⁴Then, moving on, He saw Levi ^ethe son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax office, ^fand He said to him, “Follow Me!” ^gSo he got up and followed ^hHim.

Dining with Sinners

¹⁵While He was reclining at the table in Levi’s house, many tax collectors ⁱand sinners ^jwere also guests ^klwith Jesus and His disciples, because there were many who were following Him. ¹⁶When the scribes ^mof the Pharisees ^nosaw that He was eating ^pwith sinners ^qand tax collectors, ^rthey asked His disciples, “Why does He eat ^swith tax collectors and sinners?”

¹⁷When Jesus heard this, He told them, “Those who are well don’t need ^ta doctor, ^ubut the sick ^vdo need one. I didn’t come to call the righteous, ^wbut sinners.” ^x

A Question about Fasting

¹⁸Now ^yJohn’s ^zdisciples ^aand the Pharisees ^bcwere fasting. ^dPeople came and asked Him, “Why do John’s disciples and the Pharisees’ disciples fast, but Your disciples do not fast?”

¹⁹Jesus said to them, “The wedding guests ^ecannot fast while the groom ^fis with them, can they? As long as they have the groom with them, they cannot fast. ²⁰But the time ^gwill come ^hwhen the groom is taken away from them, ⁱand then they will fast ^jin that day. ²¹No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment. Otherwise, the new patch pulls away from the old cloth, ^kand a worse tear is made. ²²And no one puts new wine ^linto old wineskins. Otherwise, the wine will burst ^mthe skins, and the wine is lost as well as the skins. ⁿBut new wine is for fresh wineskins.”

Lord of the Sabbath

²³On ^othe Sabbath He was going through the grainfields, and His disciples ^pbegan to make their way picking some heads of grain. ²⁴The Pharisees ^qsaid to Him, “Look, why are they doing what is not lawful ^ron the Sabbath?”

²⁵He said to them, “Have you never read what David ^sand those who were with him did when he was in need ^tand hungry ^u— ²⁶how he entered the house of God in the time of Abiathar ^vthe high priest ^wand ate the ^•sacred bread ^x—which is not lawful for anyone to eat except the priests ^y—and also gave some to his companions?” ²⁷Then He told them, “The Sabbath was made for ^zman and not man for ^athe Sabbath. ^b28Therefore, the Son of Man ^cis Lord ^deven of the Sabbath.” ^e

The Man with the Paralyzed Hand

3Now ^fHe entered the synagogue ^gagain, and a man was there who had a paralyzed ^hhand. ²In order to accuse ⁱHim, they were watching Him closely ^jto see whether He would heal ^khim on the Sabbath. ^l3He told the man with the paralyzed hand, “Stand before us.” ^m4Then He said to them, “Is it lawful ⁿon the Sabbath to do what is good ^oor to do what is evil, ^pto save life ^qor to kill?” ^rBut they were silent. ^s5After looking around at them with anger ^tand sorrow at the hardness ^uof their hearts, He told the man, “Stretch out your hand.” So he stretched it out, and his hand was restored. ^v6Immediately the Pharisees ^wwent out and started plotting ^xwith the Herodians ^yagainst Him, how they might destroy ^zHim.

Ministering to the Multitude

⁷Jesus ^adeparted with His disciples to the sea, and a large crowd followed from Galilee, ^bJudea, ^c8Jerusalem, ^dIdumea, beyond the Jordan, ^eand around Tyre ^fand Sidon. ^gThe large crowd came to Him because they heard about everything He was doing. ⁹Then He told His disciples to have a small boat ^hready for Him, so the crowd would not crush Him. ¹⁰Since He had healed ⁱmany, all who had diseases were pressing toward Him to touch ^jHim. ¹¹Whenever the unclean ^kspirits ^lsaw Him, those possessed fell down ^mbefore Him and cried out, “You are the Son of God!” ⁿ¹²And He would strongly warn ^othem not to make Him known. ^p

The 12 Apostles

¹³Then ^qHe went up the mountain ^rand summoned those He wanted, and they came to Him. ¹⁴He also appointed 12—He also named them apostles ^st—to be with Him, to send them out to preach, ^u15and to have authority to ^vdrive out demons.

¹⁶He appointed the Twelve: ^wx

To Simon, ^yHe gave the name Peter; ^z

¹⁷and to James ^athe son of Zebedee, ^b

and to his brother John, ^c

He gave the name “Boanerges”

(that is, “Sons of Thunder” ^d);

¹⁸Andrew; ^e

Philip ^fand Bartholomew;

Matthew ^gand Thomas; ^h

James the son of Alphaeus,

and Thaddaeus;

Simon the Zealot, ⁱ

¹⁹and Judas Iscariot, ^jk

who also betrayed Him.

A House Divided

²⁰Then He went home, and the crowd gathered again so that they were not even able to eat. ^l21When His family ^mheard this, they set out to restrain Him, because they said, “He’s out of His mind.” ⁿ

²²The scribes ^owho had come down from Jerusalem said, “He has Beelzebul ^pin Him!” and, “He drives out ^qdemons ^rby the ruler ^sof the demons!” ^t

²³So He summoned ^uthem and spoke to them in parables: ^v“How can Satan ^wdrive out Satan? ^x24If a kingdom ^yis divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. ²⁵If a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand. ²⁶And 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 ^athe strong man. Then he will rob his house. ^28•I assure you: People will be forgiven for all sins ^band whatever blasphemies ^cthey may blaspheme. ²⁹But whoever blasphemes ^dagainst the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, ^ebut is ^•guilty ^fof an eternal sin” ^gh— ³⁰because they were saying, “He has an unclean spirit.” ⁱ

True Relationships

³¹Then ^jHis mother ^kand His brothers ^lcame, and standing outside, they sent word to Him and called Him. ³²A crowd was sitting around Him and told Him, “Look, Your mother, Your brothers, ^mand Your sisters ⁿare outside asking for You.”

³³He replied to them, “Who are My mother and My brothers?” ³⁴And looking about at those who were sitting in a circle around Him, He said, “Here are My mother and My brothers! ^o35Whoever does the will of God ^pis My brother and sister and mother.”