Healing on the Sabbath

1And He entered again into the synagogue. And a man was there who had a withered hand.

2And they were observing Him, to see if He would heal him on the Sabbath, so that they might accuse Him.

3And He said to the one who had the withered hand, “Step forward.”

4Then 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.

5And looking around at them with anger, being grieved at the hardness of their hearts, He said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” And he stretched it out, and his hand was restored as whole as the other.

6Then the Pharisees went out with the Herodians and immediately conspired against Him, how they might destroy Him.

A Great Multitude Follows Jesus

7But Jesus withdrew with His disciples to the sea. And a large multitude from Galilee followed Him, and from Judea

8and from Jerusalem and Idumea and beyond the Jordan, and those around Tyre and Sidon, a large multitude, when they heard everything He was doing, came to Him.

9So He told His disciples that a small boat should be kept ready for Him because of the crowd, lest they should crush Him.

10For He had healed many, so that all who had afflictions were crowding upon Him, so that they might touch Him.

11And the unclean spirits, whenever they saw Him, fell down before Him and would cry out, saying, “You are the Son of God.”

12And He strictly charged them that they should not make Him known.

Jesus Appoints the Twelve

13And He went up on the mountain and summoned those whom He wanted, and they came to Him.

14And He appointed twelve, so that they might be with Him, and so that He might send them out to preach,

15and to have authority to heal diseases and to cast out demons.

16And He gave Simon the name Peter,

17James the son of Zebedee and John the brother of James, He gave them the names Boanerges, which is, “Sons of Thunder”;

18Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James the son of Alphaeus, Thaddaeus, Simon the Cananite;

19and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed Him.

Jesus and Beelzebul

20And they came into a house. Then again a crowd assembled, so that they were not even able to eat food.

21But when His relatives heard, they came out to seize Him, for they were saying, “He has lost His mind.”

22And the scribes who were from Jerusalem came down and were saying, “He has Beelzebul,” and, “By the ruler of the demons He casts out demons.”

23And having summoned them, he began to say to them in parables: “How can Satan cast out Satan?

24And if a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand.

25And if a household is divided against itself, that household cannot stand.

26And if Satan has risen up against himself and has become divided, he cannot stand, but is finished.

27No one can enter a strong man's house and plunder his possessions, unless he first binds the strong man, and then he may plunder his house.

The Unpardonable Sin

28“Assuredly I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the sons of men, also blasphemies, as many as they may blaspheme;

29but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is in danger of eternal damnation”—

30because they were saying, “He has an unclean spirit.”

31Then His brothers and His mother came, and as they stood outside they sent to Him, calling for Him.

32And a crowd was sitting around Him; and they said to Him, “Look, Your mother and Your brothers and Your sisters are seeking You outside.”

33But He answered them, saying, “Who is My mother, or My brothers?”

34And when He had looked around in a circle at those sitting around Him, He said, “Here are My mother and My brothers!

35For whoever does the will of God is My brother and My sister and mother.”