Mark 3

He entered a synagogue again, and a man with a withered hand was there. They watched him to see whether he would heal him on the Sabbath, so that they could accuse him. He said to the man with the withered hand, “Get up and stand in the middle.” Then he said to them, “Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do evil, to save a life or to kill?” But they were silent. He looked around at them with anger, grieved at the hardness of their hearts, and said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and his hand was restored. The Pharisees went out and immediately began plotting with the Herodians against him, to kill him. Jesus withdrew with his disciples to the sea, and a great multitude from Galilee followed. Also from Judea, Jerusalem, Idumea, beyond the Jordan, and around Tyre and Sidon, a great multitude came to him when they heard all he was doing. He told his disciples to have a small boat ready for him because of the crowd, so that they would not crush him. For he had healed many, so that all who had afflictions pressed upon him to touch him. Whenever the unclean spirits saw him, they fell down before him and cried out, “You are the Son of God!” But he sternly warned them not to make him known. He went up the mountain and called to him those he wanted, and they came to him. He appointed twelve, so that they might be with him and that he might send them out to preach and have authority to cast out demons. He appointed the twelve: Simon, to whom he gave the name Peter; James the son of Zebedee and John the brother of James, to whom he gave the name Boanerges, which means Sons of Thunder; Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James the son of Alphaeus, Thaddaeus, Simon the Zealot, and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him. Then he came into a house, and the crowd gathered again, so that they could not even eat bread. When those close to him heard, they went out to take hold of him, for they were saying, “He is out of his mind.” The scribes who came down from Jerusalem said, “He has Beelzebul,” and, “He casts out demons by the ruler of the demons.” He called them to him and spoke to them in parables: “How can Satan cast out Satan? If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. And if a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand. And if Satan has risen against himself and is divided, he cannot stand, but has come to an end. But no one can enter the strong man’s house and plunder his goods unless he first binds the strong man. Then he can plunder his house. Truly I tell you, people will be forgiven all their sins and whatever blasphemies they speak. But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin.” He said this because they were saying, “He has an unclean spirit.” His mother and his brothers came, and standing outside, they sent word to him, calling him. A crowd was sitting around him, and they said to him, “Look, your mother and your brothers are outside seeking you.” He answered them, “Who is my mother, or who are my brothers?” Looking around at those sitting in a circle about him, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers. For whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother.”

Rights and attribution