Mark 3

1Jesus went into the synagogue again. A man with a crippled hand was there.

2Some people were watching Jesus closely. They wanted to see if He would heal the man on the Sabbath, so they could accuse him.

3Jesus said to the man with the crippled hand: Stand up here in front of everyone.

4Then Jesus asked the people: Is it right to do good on the Sabbath, or to do evil? To save a life, or to kill? But they said nothing.

5Jesus looked around at them with anger. He was very sad because their hearts were so hard. He said to the man: Hold out your hand. The man held it out, and his hand was healed.

6Then the Pharisees went out and began to plan with the followers of Herod how they could kill Jesus.

7Jesus went away to the lake with His disciples. A large crowd from Galilee followed Him.

8Many people also came from Judea, Jerusalem, Idumea, the lands east of the Jordan River, and the areas around Tyre and Sidon. They came because they heard about the great things Jesus was doing.

9Because of the crowd, Jesus told His disciples to have a small boat ready for Him, so the people would not crush Him.

10He had healed so many that the sick people were pushing forward to touch Him.

11Whenever the evil spirits saw Jesus, they fell down in front of Him and cried out: You are the Son of God!

12But Jesus strongly warned them not to tell anyone who He was.

13Then Jesus went up on a mountain. He called the men He wanted, and they came to Him.

14He chose twelve men and called them apostles. He wanted them to be with Him and to send them out to preach,

15and to have power to drive out demons.

16These are the twelve He chose: Simon (Jesus gave him the name Peter),

17James and his brother John, the sons of Zebedee (Jesus gave them the name Boanerges, which means Sons of Thunder),

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

19and Judas Iscariot, the one who later handed Jesus over to His enemies.

20Then Jesus went home, and again a crowd gathered, so that Jesus and His disciples could not even eat.

21When Jesus' family heard about it, they went to take charge of Him. People were saying: He is out of His mind.

22The teachers of the law who came down from Jerusalem said: Satan, the prince of demons, is in Him. That is how He drives out demons.

23So Jesus called them together and spoke to them in teaching stories: How can Satan drive out Satan?

24If a kingdom fights against itself, that kingdom cannot stand.

25If a family fights against itself, that family cannot stand.

26And if Satan fights against himself, he cannot stand. That is the end of him.

27No one can go into a strong man's house and steal his things unless that person first ties up the strong man. Then that person can rob the house.

28I tell you the truth: people can be forgiven for all their sins and for the evil things they say.

29But anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven. That person is guilty of a sin that lasts forever.

30Jesus said this because they were saying: He has an evil spirit.

31Then Jesus' mother and brothers came. They stood outside and sent someone in to call Him.

32A crowd was sitting around Jesus. They told Him: Your mother and brothers are outside looking for You.

33Jesus answered: Who is my mother? Who are my brothers?

34Then He looked at the people sitting around Him and said: Look, here are my mother and my brothers!

35Anyone who does what God wants is my brother and my sister and my mother.