Mark 2–3

¹And again he entered into Capernaum, after some days, and it was heard that he is in the house, ²and immediately many were gathered together, so that there was no more room, not even at the door, and he was speaking to them the word. ³And they come unto him, bringing a paralytic, borne by four, ⁴and not being able to come near to him because of the multitude, they uncovered the roof where he was, and, having broken it up, they let down the couch on which the paralytic was lying, ⁵and Jesus having seen their faith, saith to the paralytic, ‘Child, thy sins have been forgiven thee.’ ⁶And there were certain of the scribes there sitting, and reasoning in their hearts, ⁷‘Why doth this one thus speak evil words? who is able to forgive sins except one—God?’ ⁸And immediately Jesus, having known in his spirit that they thus reason in themselves, said to them, ‘Why these things reason ye in your hearts? ⁹which is easier, to say to the paralytic, The sins have been forgiven to thee? or to say, Rise, and take up thy couch, and walk?

¹⁰‘And, that ye may know that the Son of Man hath authority on the earth to forgive sins—(he saith to the paralytic)— ¹¹I say to thee, Rise, and take up thy couch, and go away to thy house;’ ¹²and he rose immediately, and having taken up the couch, he went forth before all, so that all were astonished, and do glorify God, saying—‘Never thus did we see.’

¹³And he went forth again by the sea, and all the multitude was coming unto him, and he was teaching them, ¹⁴and passing by, he saw Levi of Alpheus sitting at the tax-office, and saith to him, ‘Be following me,’ and he, having risen, did follow him. ¹⁵And it came to pass, in his reclining (at meat) in his house, that many tax-gatherers and sinners were reclining (at meat) with Jesus and his disciples, for there were many, and they followed him. ¹⁶And the scribes and the Pharisees, having seen him eating with the tax-gatherers and sinners, said to his disciples, ‘Why—that with the tax-gatherers and sinners he doth eat and drink?’ ¹⁷And Jesus, having heard, saith to them, ‘They who are strong have no need of a physician, but they who are ill; I came not to call righteous men, but sinners to reformation.’

¹⁸And the disciples of John and those of the Pharisees were fasting, and they come and say to him, ‘Wherefore do the disciples of John and those of the Pharisees fast, and thy disciples do not fast?’ ¹⁹And Jesus said to them, ‘Are the sons of the bride-chamber able, while the bridegroom is with them, to fast? so long time as they have the bridegroom with them they are not able to fast; ²⁰but days shall come when the bridegroom may be taken from them, and then they shall fast—in those days.

²¹‘And no one a patch of undressed cloth doth sew on an old garment, and if not—the new filling it up doth take from the old and the rent doth become worse; ²²and no one doth put new wine into old skins, and if not—the new wine doth burst the skins, and the wine is poured out, and the skins will be destroyed; but new wine into new skins is to be put.’ ²³And it came to pass—he is going along on the sabbaths through the corn-fields—and his disciples began to make a way, plucking the ears, ²⁴and the Pharisees said to him, ‘Lo, why do they on the sabbaths that which is not lawful?’ ²⁵And he said to them, ‘Did ye never read what David did, when he had need and was hungry, he and those with him? ²⁶how he went into the house of God, (at ‘Abiathar the chief priest,’) and the loaves of the presentation did eat, which it is not lawful to eat, except to the priests, and he gave also to those who were with him?’ ²⁷And he said to them, ‘The sabbath for man was made, not man for the sabbath, ²⁸so that the son of man is lord also of the sabbath.’

Chapter 3

¹And he entered again into the synagogue, and there was there a man having the hand withered, ²and they were watching him, whether on the sabbaths he will heal him, that they might accuse him. ³And he saith to the man having the hand withered, ‘Rise up in the midst.’ ⁴And he saith to them, ‘Is it lawful on the sabbaths to do good, or to do evil? life to save, or to kill?’ but they were silent. ⁵And having looked round upon them with anger, being grieved for the hardness of their heart, he saith to the man, ‘Stretch forth thy hand;’ and he stretched forth, and his hand was restored whole as the other; ⁶and the Pharisees having gone forth, immediately, with the Herodians, were taking counsel against him how they might destroy him. ⁷And Jesus withdrew with his disciples unto the sea, and a great multitude from Galilee followed him, and from Judea, ⁸and from Jerusalem, and from Idumea and beyond the Jordan; and they about Tyre and Sidon—a great multitude—having heard how great things he was doing, came unto him. ⁹And he said to his disciples that a little boat may wait on him, because of the multitude, that they may not press upon him, ¹⁰for he did heal many, so that they threw themselves on him, in order to touch him—as many as had plagues; ¹¹and the unclean spirits, when they were seeing him, were falling down before him, and were crying, saying—‘Thou art the Son of God;’ ¹²and many times he was charging them that they might not make him manifest.

¹³And he goeth up to the mountain, and doth call near whom he willed, and they went away to him; ¹⁴and he appointed twelve, that they may be with him, and that he may send them forth to preach, ¹⁵and to have power to heal the sicknesses, and to cast out the demons. ¹⁶And he put on Simon the name Peter; ¹⁷and James of Zebedee, and John the brother of James, and he put on them names—Boanerges, that is, ‘Sons of thunder;’ ¹⁸and Andrew, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas, and James of Alpheus, and Thaddeus, and Simon the Cananite, ¹⁹and Judas Iscariot, who did also deliver him up; and they come into a house. ²⁰And come together again doth a multitude, so that they are not able even to eat bread; ²¹and his friends having heard, went forth to lay hold on him, for they said that he was beside himself.

²²And the scribes who are from Jerusalem having come down, said—‘He hath Beelzeboul,’ and—‘By the ruler of the demons he doth cast out the demons.’ ²³And, having called them near, in similes he said to them, ‘How is the Adversary able to cast out the Adversary? ²⁴and if a kingdom against itself be divided, that kingdom cannot be made to stand; ²⁵and if a house against itself be divided, that house cannot be made to stand; ²⁶and if the Adversary did rise against himself, and hath been divided, he cannot be made to stand, but hath an end.

²⁷‘No one is able the vessels of the strong man—having entered into his house—to spoil, if first he may not bind the strong man, and then his house he will spoil.

²⁸‘Verily I say to you, that all the sins shall be forgiven to the sons of men, and evil speakings with which they might speak evil, ²⁹but whoever may speak evil in regard to the Holy Spirit hath not forgiveness—to the age, but is in danger of age-during judgment;’ ³⁰because they said, ‘He hath an unclean spirit.’

³¹Then come do his brethren and mother, and standing without, they sent unto him, calling him, ³²and a multitude was sitting about him, and they said to him, ‘Lo, thy mother and thy brethren without do seek thee.’ ³³And he answered them, saying, ‘Who is my mother, or my brethren?’ ³⁴And having looked round in a circle to those sitting about him, he saith, ‘Lo, my mother and my brethren! ³⁵for whoever may do the will of God, he is my brother, and my sister, and mother.’

Chapter 4