3
Jesus Heals a Man with a Withered Hand
1 Once again Jesus went into
*the synagogue, and a man was there who had a withered hand.
2 Now the Pharisees were watching Jesus closely to see if he would heal the man on the Sabbath, so that they could accuse him.
3 And he said to the man with the withered hand,
“Rise and come forward.” 4 Then Jesus said to them,
“Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?” But they were silent.
5 After looking around at them with anger, grieved by the hardness of their hearts, he said to the man,
“Stretch out yoʋr hand.” So he stretched it out, and his hand was
†restored, becoming as sound as the other.
6 Then the Pharisees went out and immediately took counsel with the Herodians against Jesus as to how they might destroy him.
A Great Multitude Follows Jesus
7 But Jesus withdrew with his disciples to the sea, and a great multitude from Galilee followed
‡him, and also from Judea,
8 Jerusalem, Idumea, and beyond the Jordan. A great multitude of people from around Tyre and Sidon also came to him when they heard about everything he was doing.
9 Then he told his disciples to have a small boat ready for him, so that the crowd would not crush him.
10 For he had healed many, so that all who had afflictions were pressing toward him to touch him.
11 Whenever the unclean spirits saw him, they would fall down before him and cry out, “Yoʋ are the Son of God.”
12 But he would strictly warn them not to make him known.
The Twelve Apostles
13 Afterward Jesus went up on the mountain and called for those whom he wanted, and they came to him.
14 He appointed
§twelve so that they might be with him and so that he might send them out to preach
15 and to have authority to
*heal diseases and cast out demons.
16 He
†appointed Simon (whom he gave the name Peter);
17 James the son of Zebedee and John the brother of James (whom he gave the name Boanerges, which means, Sons of Thunder);
18 Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James the son of Alphaeus, Thaddaeus, Simon the
‡Cananite,
19 and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.
Jesus and Beelzebul
Then
§they entered a house,
20 and
*a crowd came together again, so that Jesus and his disciples could not even eat bread.
21 When his family heard about it, they went out to restrain him, for they said, “He is out of his mind.”
22 But the scribes who had come down from Jerusalem said, “He is possessed by Beelzebul,” and, “By the ruler of demons he casts out demons.”
23 So Jesus called them over and said to them in parables,
“How can Satan cast out Satan? 24 If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. 25 And if a house is divided against itself, that house †cannot stand. 26 And if Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand, but has come to an end. 27 ‡No one can enter the house of a strong man and plunder his goods unless he first binds the strong man. Then he can plunder his house. 28 “Truly I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the sons of men, and whatever blasphemies they utter. 29 But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is §subject to eternal judgment.” 30 He said this because they were saying, “He has an unclean spirit.”
Jesus' Mother and Brothers
31 Then Jesus'
*brothers and mother came, and standing outside, they sent word to him and called for him.
32 There was a crowd sitting around Jesus, and they said to him, “Behold, yoʋr
†mother, yoʋr brothers, and yoʋr sisters are outside looking for yoʋ.”
33 But he answered them,
“Who is my mother, ‡or my brothers?” 34 And looking around in a circle at the people sitting there, he said,
“Behold, these are my mother and my brothers! 35 §For whoever does the will of God is my brother and *my sister and †mother.”