aHe bentered again
into a synagogue
; and a man
was there
whose hand
was withered
.
aThey were watching Him to see if
He would heal
him on the Sabbath
, bso
that they might accuse
Him.
He *said to the man
with the withered
hand
, " 1Get
up and come forward
!"
And He *said to them, "Is it lawful
to do
good
or
to do
harm
on the Sabbath
, to save
a life
or
to kill
?" But they kept
silent
.
After alooking around
at them with anger
, grieved
at their hardness
of heart
, He *said
to the man
, "Stretch
out your hand
." And he stretched
it out, and his hand
was restored
.
The Pharisees went
out and immediately
began 1conspiring
with the aHerodians
against
Him, as to how
they might destroy
Him.
aJesus withdrew
to the sea
with His disciples
; and ba great
multitude
from Galilee
followed
; and also from Judea
,
and from Jerusalem, and from aIdumea
, and beyond
the Jordan
, and the vicinity
of bTyre
and Sidon
, a great
number
of people
heard
of all
that He was doing
and came
to Him.
aAnd He told His disciples
that a boat
should stand
ready
for Him because
of the crowd
, so
that they would not crowd
Him;
for He had ahealed many
, with the result
that all
those who
had
bafflictions
pressed
around
Him in order
to ctouch
Him.
Whenever the unclean
spirits
saw
Him, they would fall
down
before
Him and shout
, "You are athe Son
of God
!"
And He aearnestly warned
them not to 1tell
who
He was.
And He *went up on athe mountain
and * bsummoned
those whom
He Himself
wanted
, and they came
to Him.
And He appointed twelve
, so
that they would be with Him and that He could send
them out to preach
,
and to have authority
to cast
out the demons
.
And He appointed the twelve
: aSimon
(to whom He gave
the name
Peter
),
and 1James, the son of Zebedee
, and John
the brother
of 1James
(to them He gave
the name
Boanerges
, which
means
, "Sons
of Thunder
");
and Andrew, and Philip
, and Bartholomew
, and Matthew
, and Thomas
, and 1James
the son of Alphaeus
, and Thaddaeus
, and Simon
the 2Zealot
;
and Judas Iscariot
, who
betrayed
Him.
And He *came 1 ahome
, and the bcrowd
*gathered
again
, cto such
an extent
that they could
not even
eat
2a meal
.
When aHis own 1people heard of this, they went
out to take
custody
of Him; for they were saying
, " bHe has lost
His senses
."
The scribes who came
down
afrom Jerusalem
were saying
, "He is possessed
by 1 bBeelzebul
," and " cHe casts
out the demons
by the ruler
of the demons
."
aAnd He called them to Himself and began speaking
to them in bparables
, "How
can
cSatan
cast
out Satan
?
"If a kingdom
is divided
against
itself
, that kingdom
cannot
stand
.
"If a house
is divided
against
itself
, that house
will not be able
to stand
.
"If aSatan
has risen
up against
himself
and is divided
, he cannot
stand
, but 1he is finished
!
" aBut no one
can
enter
the strong
man's
house
and plunder
his property
unless
he first
binds
the strong
man
, and then
he will plunder
his house
.
" aTruly I say
to you, all
sins
shall be forgiven
the sons
of men
, and whatever
blasphemies
they utter
;
but awhoever blasphemes
against
the Holy
Spirit
never
has
forgiveness
, but is guilty
of an eternal
sin
"--
because they were saying
, "He has
an unclean
spirit
."
aThen His mother
and His brothers
*arrived
, and standing
outside
they sent
word to Him and called
Him.
A crowd was sitting
around
Him, and they *said
to Him, "Behold
, Your mother
and Your brothers
are outside
looking
for You."
Answering them, He *said
, "Who
are My mother
and My brothers
?"
Looking about
at those
who were sitting
around
Him, He *said
, " aBehold
My mother
and My brothers
!
"For whoever adoes
the will
of God
, he is My brother
and sister
and mother
."