Healing on the Sabbath^(A)

3 And ^(B)He entered the synagogue again, and a man was there who had a withered hand. ² So they ^(C)watched Him closely, whether He would ^(D)heal him on the Sabbath, so that they might ^[a]accuse Him. ³ And He said to the man who had the withered hand, ^[b]“Step forward.” ⁴ Then He said to them, “Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?” But they kept silent. ⁵ And when He had looked around at them with anger, being grieved by the ^(E)hardness of their hearts, He said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” And he stretched it out, and his hand was restored ^[c]as whole as the other. ^6 (F)Then the Pharisees went out and immediately plotted with ^(G)the Herodians against Him, how they might destroy Him.

A Great Multitude Follows Jesus^(H)

⁷ But Jesus withdrew with His disciples to the sea. And a great multitude from Galilee followed Him, ^(I)and from Judea ⁸ and Jerusalem and Idumea and beyond the Jordan; and those from Tyre and Sidon, a great multitude, when they heard how ^(J)many things He was doing, came to Him. ⁹ So He told His disciples that a small boat should be kept ready for Him because of the multitude, lest they should crush Him. ¹⁰ For He healed ^(K)many, so that as many as had afflictions pressed about Him to ^(L)touch Him. ^11 (M)And the unclean spirits, whenever they saw Him, fell down before Him and cried out, saying, ^(N)“You are the Son of God.” ¹² But ^(O)He sternly warned them that they should not make Him known.

The Twelve Apostles^(P)

^13 (Q)And He went up on the mountain and called to Him those He Himself wanted. And they came to Him. ¹⁴ Then He appointed twelve, ^[d]that they might be with Him and that He might send them out to preach, ¹⁵ and to have ^[e]power ^[f]to heal sicknesses and to cast out demons: ^16 [g]Simon, ^(R)to whom He gave the name Peter; ¹⁷ James the son of Zebedee and John the brother of James, to whom He gave the name Boanerges, that is, “Sons of Thunder”; ¹⁸ Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James the son of Alphaeus, Thaddaeus, Simon the Cananite; ¹⁹ and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed Him. And they went into a house.

A House Divided Cannot Stand^(S)

²⁰ Then the multitude came together again, ^(T)so that they could not so much as eat bread. ²¹ But when His ^(U)own people heard about this, they went out to lay hold of Him, ^(V)for they said, “He is out of His mind.”

²² And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem said, ^(W)“He has Beelzebub,” and, “By the ^(X)ruler of the demons He casts out demons.”

^23 (Y)So He called them to Himself 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 an end. ^27 (Z)No one can enter a strong man’s house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man. And then he will plunder his house.

The Unpardonable Sin^(AA)

^28 (AB)“Assuredly, I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the sons of men, and whatever blasphemies they may utter; ²⁹ but he who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is subject to eternal condemnation”— ³⁰ because they ^(AC)said, “He has an unclean spirit.”

Jesus’ Mother and Brothers Send for Him^(AD)

^31 (AE)Then His brothers and His mother came, and standing outside they sent to Him, calling Him. ³² And a multitude was sitting around Him; and they said to Him, “Look, Your mother and Your brothers ^[h]are outside seeking You.”

³³ But He answered them, saying, “Who is My mother, or My brothers?” ³⁴ And He looked around in a circle at those who sat about Him, and said, “Here are My mother and My brothers! ³⁵ For whoever does the ^(AF)will of God is My brother and My sister and mother.”