Mark 3
A Man with a Withered Hand
aAgain bhe entered the synagogue, and a man was there with a withered hand. 2 And athey watched Jesus, to see whether he would heal him on the Sabbath, so that they might accuse him. 3 And he said to the man with the withered hand, “Come here.” 4 And he said to them, a“Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save life or to kill?” But they were silent. 5 And he alooked around at them with anger, grieved at btheir hardness of heart, and said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” cHe stretched it out, and his hand was restored. 6 aThe Pharisees went out and immediately aheld counsel with bthe Herodians against him, how to destroy him.
A Great Crowd Follows Jesus
7 aJesus withdrew with his disciples to the sea, and ba great crowd followed, from Galilee and Judea 8 and Jerusalem and aIdumea and from beyond the Jordan and from around bTyre and Sidon. When the great crowd heard all that he was doing, they came to him. 9 And he told his disciples to ahave a boat ready for him because of the crowd, lest they bcrush him, 10 for ahe had healed many, so that all who had bdiseases pressed around him cto touch him. 11 aAnd whenever the unclean spirits saw him, they bfell down before him and cried out, “You are cthe Son of God.” 12 And ahe strictly ordered them not to make him known.
The Twelve Apostles
13 aAnd he went up on the mountain and called to him those bwhom he desired, and they came to him. 14 aAnd he appointed twelve (whom he also named apostles) so that they might be with him and he might send them out to preach 15 aand have authority to cast out demons. 16 He appointed the twelve: aSimon (to whom bhe gave the name Peter); 17 aJames the son of Zebedee and John the brother of James (to whom he gave the name Boanerges, that is, Sons of Thunder); 18 Andrew, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and aMatthew, and Thomas, and James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus, and Simon the Zealot, 19 and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.
20 Then he went ahome, and the crowd gathered again, bso that they could not even eat. 21 aAnd when bhis family heard it, they went out to seize him, for they were saying, “He cis out of his mind.”
Blasphemy Against the Holy Spirit
22 And athe scribes who came down from Jerusalem were saying, b“He is possessed by Beelzebul,” and “by the prince of demons he casts out the demons.” 23 aAnd he called them to him and said to them in parables, “How can Satan cast out Satan? 24 If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. 25 And if a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand. 26 And if Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand, but is coming to an end. 27 But ano one can enter a strong man’s house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man. bThen indeed he may plunder his house.
28 a“Truly, I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the children of man, and whatever blasphemies they utter, 29 but whoever ablasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin”— 30 for they were saying, “He has an unclean spirit.”
Jesus’ Mother and Brothers
31 aAnd his mother and his bbrothers came, and standing outside they sent to him and called him. 32 And a crowd was sitting around him, and they said to him, “Your mother and your brothers are outside, seeking you.” 33 And he answered them, “Who are my mother and my brothers?” 34 And alooking about at those who sat around him, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! 35 aFor whoever bdoes the will of God, he is my brother and sister and mother.”
The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway,
a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. ESV Text Edition: 2025.