THE BOOK OF MARK

 

Mark Chapter 3

1 ¶ And he entered the synagogue another time; and there was a man there who had a withered hand.

2 And they were watching him, to see if he would heal him on the sabbath day; in order that they might accuse him.

3 And he said to the man who had the withered hand, Stand up.

4 And he said to them, Is it lawful to do good on the sabbath day, or to do evil? to save life, or to kill? But they kept silent.

5 And after looking around at them in anger, being grieved because of the hardness of their hearts, he said to the man, Stretch out your hand. And he stretched it out: and his hand was completely restored.

6 And the Pharisees left, and immediately conferred with the Herodians plotting against him, and discussing how they might destroy him.

7 But Jesus along with his disciples withdrew to the sea: and a large crowd from Galilee followed him,

8 And a great crowd from Judea, from Jerusalem, from Idumea, from beyond the Jordan; and around Tyre and Sidon, hearing what great things he was doing, came to him.

9 And because of the crowds he told his disciples, to have a small boat waiting for him, to keep the people from mobbing him.

10 For he had healed many; and all who had afflictions crowded upon him to touch him.

11 And when the unclean spirits saw him, they fell down before him, and cried out, saying, You are the Son of God.

12 But he gave them strict orders not to tell who he was.

13 ¶ And he went up on a mountain, and called to him those he wanted: and they came to him.

14 And he appointed twelve, that they might be with him, and that he might send them out to preach,

15 And to have the power to heal sicknesses, and to cast out demons:

16 Simon whom he named Peter;

17 And James the son of Zebedee, and his brother John; whom he called Boanerges, which means, The sons of thunder:

18 And Andrew, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas, and James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus, and Simon the Canaanite,

19 And Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed him: then Jesus went home.

20 And the crowd gathered together again, so that they were not even able to eat.

21 Then they brought to him one who was demon possessed, and he healed him. But when his family heard of it, they went out to take charge of him: for they said, He is beside himself.

22 ¶ And the scribes that came down from Jerusalem said, He is possessed by Beelzebub, and casts out devils by the prince of the devils.

23 So Jesus called them to himself, 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 cannot stand.

26 And if Satan rises up against himself, and is divided, he cannot stand, but his end has come.

27 No man can enter a strong man’s house, and carry off his goods, unless he first binds the strong man; and then he can rob his house.

28 I tell you truly, All sins will be forgiven to the sons of men, and all blasphemies they utter:

29 But whoever will blaspheme against the Holy Ghost will never be forgiven, but is guilty of an eternal sin:

30 Because they said, He has an unclean spirit.

31 ¶ His brothers and his mother then arrived, and, standing outside, sent word to him, and called him.

32 And the crowd was sitting around him, and they said to him, Behold, your mother and your brothers are outside looking for you.

33 And answering them, he said, Who is my mother, or my brothers?

34 Then he looked at those seated around him, and said, Behold my mother and my brothers!

35 For whoever does God’s will, is my brother, and my sister, and mother.

[Note: Verse 21 The parallel accounts in Matthew 12:22 and Luke 11:14 tell us that the healing of one possessed by a demon, preceded the false accusation that Christ cast out demons by the power of Beelzebub.]