Mark 3:7-35

English Standard Version

A Great Crowd Follows Jesus

⁷^(A)Jesus withdrew with his disciples to the sea, and ^(B)a great crowd followed, from Galilee and Judea ⁸and Jerusalem and ^(C)Idumea and from beyond the Jordan and from around ^(D)Tyre and Sidon. When the great crowd heard all that he was doing, they came to him. ⁹And he told his disciples to ^(E)have a boat ready for him because of the crowd, lest they ^(F)crush him, ¹⁰for ^(G)he had healed many, so that all who had ^(H)diseases pressed around him ^(I)to touch him. ¹¹^(J)And whenever the unclean spirits saw him, they ^(K)fell down before him and cried out, “You are ^(L)the Son of God.” ¹²And ^(M)he strictly ordered them not to make him known.

The Twelve Apostles

¹³^(N)And he went up on the mountain and called to him those ^(O)whom he desired, and they came to him. ¹⁴^(P)And he appointed twelve (whom he also named apostles) so that they might be with him and he might send them out to preach ¹⁵^(Q)and have authority to cast out demons. ¹⁶He appointed the twelve: ^(R)Simon (to whom ^(S)he gave the name Peter); ¹⁷^(T)James the son of Zebedee and John the brother of James (to whom he gave the name Boanerges, that is, Sons of Thunder); ¹⁸Andrew, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and ^(U)Matthew, and Thomas, and James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus, and Simon the Zealot,^[a] ¹⁹and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.

²⁰Then he went ^(V)home, and the crowd gathered again, ^(W)so that they could not even eat. ²¹^(X)And when ^(Y)his family heard it, they went out to seize him, for they were saying, “He ^(Z)is out of his mind.”

Blasphemy Against the Holy Spirit

²²And ^(AA)the scribes who came down from Jerusalem were saying, ^(AB)“He is possessed by Beelzebul,” and “by the prince of demons he casts out the demons.” ²³^(AC)And he called them to him and said to them in parables, “How can Satan cast out Satan? ²⁴If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. ²⁵And if a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand. ²⁶And if Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand, but is coming to an end. ²⁷But ^(AD)no one can enter a strong man's house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man. ^(AE)Then indeed he may plunder his house.

²⁸^(AF)“Truly, I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the children of man, and whatever blasphemies they utter, ²⁹but whoever ^(AG)blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin”— ³⁰for they were saying, “He has an unclean spirit.”

Jesus' Mother and Brothers

³¹^(AH)And his mother and his ^(AI)brothers came, and standing outside they sent to him and called him. ³²And a crowd was sitting around him, and they said to him, “Your mother and your brothers^[b] are outside, seeking you.” ³³And he answered them, “Who are my mother and my brothers?” ³⁴And ^(AJ)looking about at those who sat around him, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! ³⁵^(AK)For whoever ^(AL)does the will of God, he is my brother and sister and mother.”