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¹ Jesus[fn] went into the synagogue again, and a man with a paralyzed hand was there.[xr] ² The people[fn] watched Jesus[fn] closely to see whether he would heal him on the Sabbath, intending to accuse him of doing something wrong. ³ He said to the man with the paralyzed hand, "Come forward."[fn] ⁴ Then he asked them, "Is it lawful to do good or to do evil on the Sabbath, to save a life or to kill it?" But they were silent. ⁵ Jesus[fn] looked around at them with anger, for he was deeply hurt because of their hardness of heart. Then he said to the man, "Hold out your hand." The man[fn] held it out, and his hand was restored to health. ⁶ Immediately the Pharisees, along with the Herodians,[fn] went out and began to plot against him to kill him.[xr] ⁷ So Jesus retired with his disciples to the sea. A large crowd from Galilee, Judea,[xr] ⁸ Jerusalem, Idumea, from across the Jordan, and from the region around Tyre and Sidon followed him. They came to him because they kept hearing about everything he was doing. ⁹ Jesus[fn] told his disciples to have a boat ready for him so that the crowd wouldn't crush him. ¹⁰ For he had healed so many people that all who had diseases kept crowding up against him in order to touch him. ¹¹ Whenever the unclean spirits saw him, they would fall down in front of him and scream, "You are the Son of God!"[xr] ¹² But he sternly ordered them again and again not to tell people who he was.[xr]

¹³ Then Jesus[fn] went up on a hillside and called to him those whom he wanted and they came to him.[xr] ¹⁴ He appointed twelve whom he called apostles to accompany him, to be sent out to preach, ¹⁵ and to have the authority to drive out demons. ¹⁶ He appointed these twelve:[fn] Simon (to whom he gave the name Peter);[xr] ¹⁷ James, the son of Zebedee; John, the brother of James (to whom he gave the name Boanerges, that is, Sons of Thunder); ¹⁸ Andrew; Philip; Bartholomew; Matthew; Thomas; James, the son of Alphaeus; Thaddeus;[fn] Simon the Cananaean;[fn] ¹⁹ and Judas Iscariot, who later[fn] betrayed him. ²⁰ Then he went home. The crowd came together again, so that Jesus and his disciples[fn] couldn't even eat.[xr] ²¹ When his family heard about it, they went to restrain him. For they kept saying, "He's out of his mind!"[xr]

²² The scribes who had come down from Jerusalem kept repeating, "He has Beelzebul," and "He drives out demons by the ruler of demons."[xr] ²³ So Jesus[fn] called them together and began to speak to them in parables. "How can Satan drive out Satan?[xr] ²⁴ If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. ²⁵ And if a household is divided against itself, that household will not stand. ²⁶ So if Satan rebels against himself and is divided, he cannot stand. Indeed, his end has come. ²⁷ No one can go into a strong man's house and carry off his possessions without first tying up the strong man. Then he can ransack his house.[xr] ²⁸ Truly I tell you, people will be forgiven their sins and whatever blasphemies they utter.[fn][xr] ²⁹ But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit can never have forgiveness, but is guilty of eternal sin." ³⁰ For they had been saying, "He has an unclean spirit."

³¹ Then his mother and his brothers arrived. They stood outside and sent word[fn] to him and called for him.[xr] ³² A crowd was sitting around him. They said to him, "Look! Your mother and your brothers[fn] are outside asking for you." ³³ He answered them, "Who are my mother and my brothers?" ³⁴ Then looking at the people sitting around him, he said, "Here are my mother and my brothers! ³⁵ For whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother."