Mark 3

Easy-to-Read Version

Jesus Heals a Man on the Sabbath Day^(A)

3 Another time Jesus went into the synagogue. In the synagogue there was a man with a crippled hand. ² Some Jews there were watching Jesus closely. They were waiting to see if he would heal the man on a Sabbath day. They wanted to see Jesus do something wrong so that they could accuse him. ³ Jesus said to the man with the crippled hand, “Stand up here so that everyone can see you.”

⁴ Then Jesus asked the people, “Which is the right thing to do on the Sabbath day: to do good or to do evil? Is it right to save a life or to destroy one?” The people said nothing to answer him.

⁵ Jesus looked at the people. He was angry, but he felt very sad because they were so stubborn. He said to the man, “Hold out your hand.” The man held out his hand, and it was healed. ⁶ Then the Pharisees left and made plans with the Herodians about a way to kill Jesus.

Many Follow Jesus

⁷ Jesus went away with his followers to the lake. A large crowd of people from Galilee followed them. ⁸ Many also came from Judea, from Jerusalem, from Idumea, from the area across the Jordan River, and from the area around Tyre and Sidon. These people came because they heard about all that Jesus was doing.

⁹ Jesus saw how many people there were, so he told his followers to get a small boat and make it ready for him. He wanted the boat so that the crowds of people could not push against him. ¹⁰ He had healed many of them, so all the sick people were pushing toward him to touch him. ¹¹ Some people had evil spirits inside them. When the evil spirits saw Jesus, they bowed before him and shouted, “You are the Son of God!” ¹² But Jesus gave the spirits a strong warning not to tell anyone who he was.

Jesus Chooses His Twelve Apostles^(B)

¹³ Then Jesus went up on a hill and invited those he wanted to go with him. So they joined him there. ¹⁴ And he chose twelve men and called them apostles. He wanted these twelve men to be with him, and he wanted to send them to other places to tell people God’s message. ¹⁵ He also wanted them to have the power to force demons out of people. ¹⁶ These are the names of the twelve men Jesus chose:

Jesus’ Power Is From God^(C)

²⁰ Then Jesus went home, but again a large crowd gathered there. There were so many people that he and his followers could not eat. ²¹ His family heard about all these things. They went to get him because people said he was crazy.

²² And the teachers of the law from Jerusalem said, “Satan^[a] is living inside him! He uses power from the ruler of demons to force demons out of people.”

²³ So Jesus called them together and talked to them using some stories. He said, “Satan will not force his own demons out of people. ²⁴ A kingdom that fights against itself will not survive. ²⁵ And a family that is divided will not survive. ²⁶ If Satan is against himself and is fighting against his own people, he will not survive. That would be the end of Satan.

²⁷ “Whoever wants to enter a strong man’s house and steal his things must first tie him up. Then they can steal the things from his house.

²⁸ “I want you to know that people can be forgiven for all the sinful things they do. They can even be forgiven for the bad things they say against God. ²⁹ But anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven. They will always be guilty of that sin.”

³⁰ Jesus said this because the teachers of the law had accused him of having an evil spirit inside him.

Jesus’ Followers Are His True Family^(D)

³¹ Then Jesus’ mother and brothers came. They stood outside and sent someone in to tell him to come out. ³² Many people were sitting around Jesus. They said to him, “Your mother, your brothers, and your sisters^[b] are waiting for you outside.”

³³ Jesus asked, “Who is my mother? Who are my brothers?” ³⁴ Then he looked at the people sitting around him and said, “These people are my mother and my brothers! ³⁵ My true brother and sister and mother are those who do what God wants.”