Mark 2–3

A Paralytic Healed

2And when he^* entered again into Capernaum after some days, it became known that he was at home. ²And many had gathered, so that there was no longer room, not even at the door, and he was speaking the word to them. ³And they came bringing to him a paralytic, carried by four of them. ⁴And when^* they were not able to bring him^* to him because of the crowd, they removed the roof where he was. And after^* digging through, they lowered the stretcher on which the paralytic was lying. ⁵And when^* Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Child, your sins are forgiven.”

⁶Now some of the scribes were sitting there and reasoning in their hearts, ⁷“Why does this man speak like this? He is blaspheming! Who is able to forgive sins except God alone?” ⁸And immediately Jesus, perceiving in his spirit that they were reasoning like this within themselves, said to them, “Why are you considering these things in your hearts? ⁹Which is easier to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say ‘Get up and pick up your stretcher and walk’? ¹⁰But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins,”—he said to the paralytic—¹¹“I say to you, get up, pick up your stretcher, and go to your home.” ¹²And he got up and immediately picked up his^a stretcher and^* went out in front of them all, so that they were all amazed and glorified God, saying, “We have never seen anything^* like this!”

Levi Called to Follow Jesus

¹³And he went out again beside the sea,^b and all the crowd was coming to him, and he began to teach^c them. ¹⁴And as he^* was passing by, he saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him, “Follow me!” And he stood up and^* followed him.

¹⁵And it happened that he was dining^d in his house, and many tax collectors and sinners were dining with^e Jesus and his disciples, for there were many and they were following him. ¹⁶And the scribes of the Pharisees, when they^* saw that he was eating with sinners and tax collectors, began to say^f to his disciples, “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?” ¹⁷And when^* Jesus heard it^*, he said to them, “Those who are healthy do not have need of a physician, but those who are sick.^g I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

On Fasting

¹⁸And John’s disciples and the Pharisees were fasting, and they came and said to him, “Why^h do the disciples of John and the disciples of the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?” ¹⁹And Jesus said to them, “The bridegroom’s attendantsⁱ are not able to fast while the bridegroom is with them, are they?^j As long a time as they have the bridegroom with them, they are not able to fast. ²⁰But days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast in that day. ²¹No one sews a patch of unshrunken cloth on an old garment. Otherwise^k the patch pulls away from it—the new from the old—and the tear becomes worse. ²²And no one puts new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise^l the wine will burst the wineskins and the wine is destroyed and the wineskins too. But new wine is put into new wineskins.”

Plucking Grain on the Sabbath

²³And it happened that he was going through the grain fields on the Sabbath, and his disciples began to make their way while^* plucking off the heads of grain. ²⁴And the Pharisees began to say^m to him, “Behold, why are they doing what is not permitted on the Sabbath?” ²⁵And he said to them, “Have you never read what David did when he had need and he and those who were with him were hungry—²⁶how he entered into the house of God in the time of Abiathar the high priest and ate the bread of the presentation, which it is not permitted to eat (except the priests) and also gave it^* to those who were with him?” ²⁷And he said to them, “The Sabbath was established for people, and not people for the Sabbath. ²⁸So then, the Son of Man is lord even of the Sabbath.”

A Man with a Withered Hand Healed

3And he entered into the synagogue again, and a man who had a withered hand was there. ²And they were watching him closely to see if he would heal him on the Sabbath, in order that they could accuse him. ³And he said to the man who had the withered hand, “Come into the middle.” ⁴And he said to them, “Is it permitted on the Sabbath to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?” But they were silent. ⁵And looking around at them with anger, grieved at the hardness of their hearts, he said to the man, “Stretch out your^a hand.” And he stretched it^* out, and his hand was restored. ⁶And the Pharisees went out immediately with the Herodians and began to conspire^b against him with regard to how they could destroy him.

Jesus Heals Crowds by the Sea

⁷And Jesus went away with his disciples to the sea,^c and a great crowd from Galilee followed him.^* And from Judea ⁸and from Jerusalem and from Idumea and the other side of the Jordan and around Tyre and Sidon a great crowd came to him because they^* heard all that he was doing. ⁹And he told his disciples that a small boat should stand ready for him because of the crowd, so that they would not press upon him. ¹⁰For he had healed many, so that all those who were suffering from diseases^d pressed about him in order that they could touch him. ¹¹And the unclean spirits, whenever they saw him, were falling down before him and crying out, saying, “You are the Son of God!” ¹²And he warned them strictly that they should not make him known.

The Selection of the Twelve Apostles

¹³And he went up on the mountain and summoned those whom he wanted, and they came to him. ¹⁴And he appointed twelve,^e so that they would be with him and so that he could send them out to preach ¹⁵and to have authority to expel demons. ¹⁶And he appointed the twelve.^f And to Simon he gave the name Peter, ¹⁷and James the son of Zebedee and John the brother of James (and he gave to them the name Boanerges, that is, “Sons of Thunder”), ¹⁸and Andrew, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas, and James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus, and Simon the Zealot,^{g 19}and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed him.

A House Divided Cannot Stand

²⁰And he went home, and the crowd gathered again, so that they were not even able to eat a meal. ²¹And when^* his family^h heard this,^* they went out to restrain him, for they were saying, “He has lost his mind!”

²²And the scribes who had come down from Jerusalem were saying, “He is possessed by Beelzebul!” and “By the ruler of the demons he expels the demons!” ²³And he called them to himself and^* was speaking to them in parables, “How can Satan expel Satan? ²⁴And if a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom is not able to stand. ²⁵And if a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand. ²⁶And if Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he is not able to stand, but is at an end! ²⁷But no one is able to enter into the house of a strong man and^* plunder his property unless he first ties up the strong man, and then he can thoroughly plunder his house.

²⁸“Truly I say to you that all the sins and the blasphemies will be forgiven the sons of men, however much they blaspheme. ²⁹But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit does not have forgiveness forever,ⁱ but is guilty of an eternal sin”—³⁰because they were saying, “He has an unclean spirit.”

Jesus’ Mother and Brothers

³¹And his mother and his brothers arrived, and standing outside, they sent word to him to summon him. ³²And a crowd was sitting around him, and they told him, “Behold, your mother and your brothers^j are outside looking for you.” ³³And he answered them and^* said, “Who is my mother or^k my brothers?” ³⁴And looking around at those who were sitting around him in a circle, he said, “Behold, my mother and my brothers! ³⁵For whoever does the will of God, this person is my brother and sister and mother.”