Mark 3

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.”