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A Man with a Withered Hand

^1 (a)Again ^(b)he entered the synagogue, and a man was there with a withered hand. ² And ^(c)they watched Jesus,^[a] 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, ^(d)"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 ^(e)looked around at them with anger, grieved at ^(f)their hardness of heart, and said to the man, "Stretch out your hand." ^(g)He stretched it out, and his hand was restored. ^6 (h)The Pharisees went out and immediately ⁽ⁱ⁾held counsel with ^(j)the Herodians against him, how to destroy him.

A Great Crowd Follows Jesus

^7 (k)Jesus withdrew with his disciples to the sea, and ^(l)a great crowd followed, from Galilee and Judea ⁸ and Jerusalem and ^(m)Idumea and from beyond the Jordan and from around ⁽ⁿ⁾Tyre and Sidon. When the great crowd heard all that he was doing, they came to him. ⁹ And he told his disciples to ^(o)have a boat ready for him because of the crowd, lest they ^(p)crush him, ¹⁰ for ^(q)he had healed many, so that all who had ^(r)diseases pressed around him ^(s)to touch him. ^11 (t)And whenever the unclean spirits saw him, they ^(u)fell down before him and cried out, "You are ^(v)the Son of God." ¹² And ^(w)he strictly ordered them not to make him known.

The Twelve Apostles

^13 (x)And he went up on the mountain and called to him those ^(y)whom he desired, and they came to him. ^14 (z)And he appointed twelve (whom he also named apostles) so that they might be with him and he might send them out to preach ^15 (aa)and have authority to cast out demons. ¹⁶ He appointed the twelve: ^(ab)Simon (to whom ^(ac)he gave the name Peter); ^17 (ad)James 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 ^(ae)Matthew, and Thomas, and James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus, and Simon the Zealot,^{[b] 19} and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.

²⁰ Then he went ^(af)home, and the crowd gathered again, ^(ag)so that they could not even eat. ^21 (ah)And when ^(ai)his family heard it, they went out to seize him, for they were saying, "He ^(aj)is out of his mind."

Blasphemy Against the Holy Spirit

²² And ^(ak)the scribes who came down from Jerusalem were saying, ^(al)"He is possessed by Beelzebul," and "by the prince of demons he casts out the demons." ^23 (am)And 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 ^(an)no one can enter a strong man's house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man. ^(ao)Then indeed he may plunder his house.

^28 (ap)"Truly, I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the children of man, and whatever blasphemies they utter, ²⁹ but whoever ^(aq)blasphemes 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 (ar)And his mother and his ^(as)brothers 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^[c] are outside, seeking you." ³³ And he answered them, "Who are my mother and my brothers?" ³⁴ And ^(at)looking about at those who sat around him, he said, "Here are my mother and my brothers! ^35 (au)For whoever ^(av)does the will of God, he is my brother and sister and mother."