Mark 3:13-6:1

Lexham English Bible

The Selection of the Twelve Apostles

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

A House Divided Cannot Stand

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

²² And 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!” ²³ And he called them to himself and^[g] was speaking to them in parables, “How can Satan expel Satan? ²⁴ And if a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom is not able to stand. ²⁵ And if a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand. ²⁶ And if Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he is not able to stand, but is at an end! ²⁷ But no one is able to enter into the house of a strong man and^[h] 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. ²⁹ But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit does not have forgiveness forever,^[i] but is guilty of an eternal sin”— ³⁰ because they were saying, “He has an unclean spirit.”

Jesus’ Mother and Brothers

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

The Parable of the Sower

4 And again he began to teach beside the sea,^[m] and a very large crowd was gathered to him, so that he got into a boat and^[n] sat on the sea, and the whole crowd was at the sea on the land. ² And he began to teach^[o] them many things in parables, and was saying to them in his teaching, ³ “Listen! Behold, the sower went out to sow. ⁴ And it happened that while he was sowing, some seed^[p] fell on the side of the path, and the birds came and devoured it. ⁵ And other seed fell on the rocky ground where it did not have much soil, and it sprang up at once, because it did not have any depth of soil. ⁶ And when the sun rose it was scorched, and because it did not have enough root, it withered. ⁷ And other seed fell among the thorn plants, and the thorn plants came up and choked it, and it did not produce grain.^{[q] 8} And other seed fell on the good soil, and produced grain,^[r] coming up and increasing, and it bore a crop^[s]—one thirty and one sixty and one a hundred times as much.^{[t] 9} And he said, “Whoever has ears to hear, let him hear!”

The Reason for the Parables

¹⁰ And when he was alone, those around him together with the twelve began asking^[u] him about the parables. ¹¹ And he said to them, “To you has been granted the secret of the kingdom of God, but to those who are outside everything is in parables, ¹² so that

The Parable of the Sower Interpreted

¹³ And he said to them, “Do you not understand this parable? And how will you understand all the parables? ¹⁴ The sower sows the word. ¹⁵ And these are the ones beside the path where the word is sown, and whenever they hear it,^[y] immediately Satan comes and takes away the word that was sown in them. ¹⁶ And these are like^[z] the ones sown on the rocky ground, who whenever they hear the word immediately receive it with joy. ¹⁷ And they have no root in themselves, but are temporary. Then when^[aa] affliction or persecution comes because of the word, immediately they fall away. ¹⁸ And others are the ones sown among the thorn plants—these are the ones who hear the word, ¹⁹ and the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and^[ab] choke the word and it becomes unproductive. ²⁰ And those are the ones sown on the good soil, who hear the word and receive it^[ac] and bear fruit—one thirty and one sixty and one a hundred times as much.”^[ad]

The Parable of the Lamp

²¹ And he said to them, “Surely a lamp is not brought so that it may be put under a bushel basket or under a bed, is it?^[ae] Is it not^[af] so that it may be put on a lampstand? ²² For nothing is secret except so that it may be revealed, nor has become hidden except so that it will come to light. ²³ If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear!” ²⁴ And he said to them, “Take care what you hear! With the measure by which you measure out, it will be measured out to you, and will be added to you. ²⁵ For whoever has, more will be given to him, and whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him.”

The Parable of the Seed that Grows by Itself

²⁶ And he said, “The kingdom of God is like this: like a man scatters seed on the ground. ²⁷ And he sleeps and gets up, night and day, and the seed sprouts and grows—he does not know how.^{[ag] 28} By itself the soil produces a crop: first the grass, then the head of grain, then the full grain in the head. ²⁹ But when the crop permits, he sends in the sickle right away, because the harvest has come.”

The Parable of the Mustard Seed

³⁰ And he said, “With what can we compare the kingdom of God, or by what parable can we present it? ³¹ It is like a mustard seed that when sown on the ground, although it^[ah] is the smallest of all the seeds that are on the ground, ³² but when it is sown it grows up and becomes the largest of all the garden herbs, and sends out large branches so that the birds of the sky are able to nest in its shade.” ³³ And with many parables such as these he was speaking the word to them, as they were able to hear it.^{[ai] 34} And he did not speak to them without a parable, but in private he explained everything to his own disciples.

Calming of a Storm

³⁵ And on that day, when it^[aj] was evening, he said to them, “Let us cross over to the other side.” ³⁶ And leaving the crowd, they took him along, as he was, in the boat. And other boats were with him. ³⁷ And a great storm of wind developed, and the waves were breaking into the boat, so that the boat was already being filled with water.^{[ak] 38} And he was in the stern sleeping on the cushion, and they woke him up and said to him, “Teacher, is it not a concern to you that we are perishing?” ³⁹ And he woke up and^[al] rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Be quiet! Be silent!” And the wind abated and there was a great calm. ⁴⁰ And he said to them, “Why are you fearful? Do you not yet have faith?” ⁴¹ And they were terribly frightened^[am] and began to say^[an] to one another, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?”

A Demon-possessed Gerasene Healed

5 And they came to the other side of the sea,^[ao] to the region of the Gerasenes.^{[ap] 2} And as^[aq] he was getting out of the boat, immediately from the tombs a man with an unclean spirit went to meet him, ³ who lived^[ar] among the tombs. And no one was able to bind him any longer, not even with a chain, ⁴ because he had often been bound with shackles and chains, and the chains had been torn apart by him, and the shackles had been shattered. And no one was strong enough to subdue him. ⁵ And during every night and day among the tombs and on the mountains he was crying out and cutting himself with stones. ⁶ And when he^[as] saw Jesus from a distance, he ran and knelt down before him. ⁷ And crying out with a loud voice he said, “What have I to do with you^[at], Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I implore you by God, do not torment me!” ⁸ (For he was saying to him, “Come out of the man, unclean spirit!”) ⁹ And he was asking him “What is your name?”^[au] And he said to him, “My name is Legion, because we are many.” ¹⁰ And he was imploring him many times that he would not send them out of the region. ¹¹ Now a large herd of pigs was there at the hill feeding, ¹² and they implored him, saying, “Send us to the pigs so that we may enter into them.” ¹³ And he permitted them. And the unclean spirits came out and^[av] entered into the pigs, and the herd—about two thousand—rushed headlong down the steep slope into the sea and were drowned in the sea. ¹⁴ And their herdsmen fled and reported it^[aw] in the town and in the countryside, and they came to see what it was that had happened. ¹⁵ And they came to Jesus and saw the demon-possessed man sitting there clothed and in his right mind—the one who had had the legion—and they were afraid. ¹⁶ And those who had seen it^[ax] described to them what had happened to the demon-possessed man, and about the pigs. ¹⁷ And they began to urge him to depart from their region. ¹⁸ And as^[ay] he was getting into the boat, the man who had been demon-possessed began to implore^[az] him that he could go with him. ¹⁹ And he did not permit him, but said to him, “Go to your home to your people and tell them all that the Lord has done for you, and that he has had mercy on you.” ²⁰ And he went away and began to proclaim in the Decapolis all that Jesus had done for him, and they were all astonished.

A Woman Healed and a Daughter Raised

²¹ And after^[ba] Jesus had crossed over again in the boat to the other side, a large crowd gathered to him, and he was beside the sea. ²² And one of the rulers of the synagogue came—Jairus by name—and when he^[bb] saw him, he fell down at his feet. ²³ And he was imploring him many times, saying, “My little daughter is at the point of death!^[bc] Come, lay your^[bd] hands on her, so that she will get well and will live.” ²⁴ And he went with him, and a large crowd was following him and pressing around him.

²⁵ And there was a woman who was suffering from hemorrhages^[be] twelve years. ²⁶ And she had endured many things under many physicians, and had spent all that she had^[bf] and had received no help at all, but instead became worse.^{[bg] 27} When she^[bh] heard about Jesus, she came up in the crowd behind him and^[bi] touched his cloak, ²⁸ for she was saying, “If I touch just his clothing, I will be healed!” ²⁹ And immediately her hemorrhage stopped^[bj] and she realized in her^[bk] body that she was healed of her^[bl] suffering. ³⁰ And immediately Jesus, perceiving in himself that power had gone out from himself, turned around in the crowd and^[bm] said, “Who touched my clothing?” ³¹ And his disciples said to him, “You see the crowd pressing upon you, and you say ‘Who touched me?’” ³² And he was looking around to see the one who had done this. ³³ So the woman, frightened and trembling, knowing what had happened to her, came and fell down before him and told him the whole truth. ³⁴ But he said to her, “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be well from your suffering.”

³⁵ While^[bn] he was still speaking, they came from the synagogue ruler’s house^[bo] saying, “Your daughter has died. Why trouble the Teacher further?” ³⁶ But Jesus, ignoring^[bp] what was said,^[bq] told the ruler of the synagogue, “Do not be afraid—only believe!” ³⁷ And he did not allow anyone to follow along with him except Peter and James and John, the brother of James. ³⁸ And they came to the house of the ruler of the synagogue and saw a commotion, and people weeping and wailing loudly. ³⁹ And when he^[br] entered, he said to them, “Why are you agitated and weeping? The child is not dead, but is sleeping.” ⁴⁰ And they began laughing^[bs] at him. But he sent them all out and^[bt] took along the father and mother of the child, and those who were with him, and went in to where the child was. ⁴¹ And taking hold of the child’s hand, he said to her, “Talitha koum!” (which is translated, “Little girl, I say to you, get up!”), ⁴² and immediately the girl stood up and began walking around^[bu] (for she was twelve years old). And immediately they were utterly and completely astonished.^{[bv] 43} And he commanded them strictly that no one should learn of this, and said to give her something^[bw] to eat.

Rejected at Nazareth

6 And he went out from there and came to his hometown, and his disciples followed him.