1 J esus went into the Jewish place of worship again. A man was there with a dried-up hand.

He entered again into a synagogue; and a man was there whose hand was withered.

2 T he proud religious law-keepers watched Jesus to see if He would heal the man on the Day of Rest. They wanted to have something to say against Jesus.

They were watching Him to see if He would heal him on the Sabbath, so that they might accuse Him.

3 J esus said to the man with the dried-up hand, “Stand up.”

He said to the man with the withered hand, “ Get up and come forward!”

4 T hen Jesus said to the proud religious law-keepers, “Does the Law say to do good on the Day of Rest or to do bad, to save life or to kill?” But they said nothing.

And He said to them, “Is it lawful to do good or to do harm on the Sabbath, to save a life or to kill?” But they kept silent.

5 J esus looked around at them with anger. He was sad because of their hard hearts. Then He said to the man, “Put out your hand.” He put it out and his hand was healed. It was as good as the other.

After looking around at them with anger, grieved at their hardness of heart, He said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” And he stretched it out, and his hand was restored.

6 T he proud religious law-keepers went out and made plans with the followers of King Herod how they might kill Jesus. Jesus Heals by the Sea-Shore

The Pharisees went out and immediately began conspiring with the Herodians against Him, as to how they might destroy Him.

7 J esus went with His followers to the sea. Many people followed Him from the countries of Galilee and Judea.

Jesus withdrew to the sea with His disciples; and a great multitude from Galilee followed; and also from Judea,

8 T hey followed from Jerusalem and from the country of Idumea. They came from the other side of the Jordan River and from the cities of Tyre and Sidon. Many people heard all that Jesus was doing and came to Him.

and from Jerusalem, and from Idumea, and beyond the Jordan, and the vicinity of Tyre and Sidon, a great number of people heard of all that He was doing and came to Him.

9 H e told His followers to have a small boat ready for Him because so many people might push Him down.

And He told His disciples that a boat should stand ready for Him because of the crowd, so that they would not crowd Him;

10 H e had healed so many that the sick people were pushing in on Him. They were trying to put their hands on Him.

for He had healed many, with the result that all those who had afflictions pressed around Him in order to touch Him.

11 W hen demons saw Him, they got down at His feet and cried out, “You are the Son of God!”

Whenever the unclean spirits saw Him, they would fall down before Him and shout, “You are the Son of God!”

12 H e spoke strong words that the demons should tell no one Who He was. Jesus Calls His Twelve Followers

And He earnestly warned them not to tell who He was. The Twelve Are Chosen

13 H e went up on a mountain and called those He wanted. They followed Him.

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

14 H e picked out twelve followers to be with Him so He might send them out to preach.

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

15 T hey would have the right and the power to heal diseases and to put out demons.

and to have authority to cast out the demons.

16 J esus gave Simon another name, Peter.

And He appointed the twelve: Simon (to whom He gave the name Peter),

17 J ames and John were brothers. They were the sons of Zebedee. He named them Boanerges, which means, The Sons of Thunder.

and James, the son of Zebedee, and John the brother of James (to them He gave the name Boanerges, which means, “Sons of Thunder”);

18 T he others were Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James the son of Alphaeus, Thaddaeus, Simon the Canaanite,

and Andrew, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas, and James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus, and Simon the Zealot;

19 a nd Judas Iscariot. Judas was the one who handed Jesus over to be killed. The Family of Jesus Holds Him Back

and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed Him.

20 W hen Jesus came into a house, many people gathered around Him again. Jesus and His followers could not even eat.

And He came home, and the crowd gathered again, to such an extent that they could not even eat a meal.

21 W hen His family heard of it, they went to take Him. They said, “He must be crazy.” A Nation That Cannot Stand

When His own people heard of this, they went out to take custody of Him; for they were saying, “ He has lost His senses.”

22 T eachers of the Law came down from Jerusalem. They said, “Jesus has Satan in Him. This Man puts out demons by the king of demons.”

The scribes who came down from Jerusalem were saying, “He is possessed by Beelzebul,” and “ He casts out the demons by the ruler of the demons.”

23 J esus called them to Him and spoke to them in picture-stories. He said, “How can the devil put out the devil?

And He called them to Himself and began speaking to them in parables, “How can Satan cast out Satan?

24 A nation cannot last if it is divided against itself.

If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand.

25 A family cannot last if it is divided against itself.

If a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand.

26 I f the devil fights against himself and is divided, he cannot last. He will come to an end.

If Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand, but he is finished!

27 N o man can go into a strong man’s house and take away his things, unless he ties up the strong man first. Only then can he take things from his house.

But no one can enter the strong man’s house and plunder his property unless he first binds the strong man, and then he will plunder his house.

28 F or sure, I tell you, all sins will be forgiven people, and bad things they speak against God.

“ Truly I say to you, all sins shall be forgiven the sons of men, and whatever blasphemies they utter;

29 B ut if anyone speaks bad things against the Holy Spirit, he will never be forgiven. He is guilty of a sin that lasts forever.”

but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin” —

30 J esus told them this because they said, “He has a demon.” The New Kind of Family

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

31 T hen His mother and brothers came and stood outside. They sent for Jesus.

Then His mother and His brothers arrived, and standing outside they sent word to Him and called Him.

32 M any people were sitting around Him. They said, “See! Your mother and brothers are outside looking for You.”

A crowd was sitting around Him, and they said to Him, “Behold, Your mother and Your brothers are outside looking for You.”

33 H e said to them, “Who is My mother or My brothers?”

Answering them, He said, “Who are My mother and My brothers?”

34 H e turned to those sitting around Him and said, “See! My mother and My brothers!

Looking about at those who were sitting around Him, He said, “ Behold My mother and My brothers!

35 W hoever does what My Father wants is My brother and My sister and My mother.”

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