Mark 3

1Once again he went into the synagogue. A man was there whose hand was withered. 2They kept a close eye on Jesus to see if he would heal the man on the Sabbath, so that they could bring a charge against him. 3Jesus told the man whose hand was withered, “Get up and come out here in front.” 4Then he asked them, “What does the law allow on the Sabbath: doing good or doing harm, saving a life or killing?” They said nothing. 5He looked around at them in anger, deeply grieved that their hearts were so hard, and said to the man, “Hold out your hand.” He held it out, and it was made well again. 6The Pharisees left, and at once they began making plans with the Herodians about how to destroy him.

7Jesus went off with his disciples to the lake, and a large crowd from Galilee followed. 8Hearing about all that he was doing, a great many people also came to him from Judea and Jerusalem, from Idumea and the land beyond the Jordan, and from the area around Tyre and Sidon. 9Because of the crowd, he told his disciples to keep a small boat ready for him, so that he would not be crushed. 10He had healed many, and so all who had diseases kept pushing forward to touch him. 11Whenever the unclean spirits saw him, they threw themselves down in front of him and shouted, “You are the Son of God!” 12But he sternly ordered them not to make him known.

13Then he went up into the hills and called to him the ones he wanted, and they came to him. 14He appointed twelve to be with him, and to be sent out to proclaim the message 15with authority to throw out demons. 16So he appointed the twelve. To Simon he gave the name Peter. 17James son of Zebedee and John, James’s brother, he called Boanerges, that is, “Sons of Thunder.” 18Then there were Andrew and Philip, Bartholomew and Matthew, Thomas and James son of Alphaeus, Thaddaeus and Simon the Cananaean, 19and Judas Iscariot, who went on to betray him.

20Then he went home, and again such a crowd gathered that they could not even eat a meal. 21When his family heard about this, they set out to take charge of him, because they were saying, “He has lost his senses.” 22Scribes who had come down from Jerusalem claimed, “Beelzebul has hold of him!” and, “It is by the ruler of the demons that he throws out demons!” 23So he called them over and spoke to them in parables: “How can Satan throw out Satan? 24If a kingdom splits into sides that fight each other, it cannot last. 25If a household turns against itself, it will not hold together. 26So if Satan has rebelled against himself and is divided, he cannot last; his end has come. 27In fact, no one can break into a strong man’s house and carry off his belongings without first tying him up. Only then can he rob the house.

28Truly I tell you, people will be forgiven all their sins and all the blasphemies they speak, however many they may be. 29But anyone who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit has no forgiveness, ever; that person is guilty of an eternal sin.” 30Jesus spoke this way because they were claiming, “He has an unclean spirit.”

31Then his mother and brothers arrived. They stood outside and sent word in, asking for him. 32A crowd was sitting around him, and they told him, “Look, your mother and brothers are outside, and they want you.” 33He answered, “Who is my mother? Who are my brothers?” 34He looked at the people sitting in a circle around him and said, “See, these are my mother and my brothers! 35Whoever does what God wants is my brother and sister and mother.”