1Again, Jesus entered into the synagogue, and there was a man who had a withered hand. 2The Pharisees431 were watching Jesus432 to see if he would heal the man on the Sabbath day, so that they might accuse him. 3Jesus said to the man who had his hand withered, “Stand up!” 4He then said to those who were watching, “Is it lawful to do good on the Sabbath day, or [is it lawful] to do harm? Is it lawful to save a life or to kill?” But they remained silent. 5After looking around at them with anger and being grieved at the hardening of their hearts, Jesus said to the man, “Stretch out your hand!” The man stretched it out, and his hand was restored as healthy as the other. 6The Pharisees went out and immediately began to conspire with the Herodians against Jesus,433 [discussing] how they might get rid of him.
7Jesus withdrew to the sea with his disciples, and a great crowd followed him from Galilee, Judea, 8Jerusalem, Idumaea, and beyond the Jordan; and those from Tyre and Sidon, a great multitude of people, when they heard what great things Jesus was doing, came to him. 9Jesus instructed his disciples to have a little boat stay near him because of the crowd, so that they would not press on him. 10For he had healed many people, so that as many as had diseases pressed on him in order to touch him. 11The unclean spirits, whenever they saw him, fell down before him and cried, “You are the Son of God!” 12He sternly warned them that they should not make him known.
The commission of the Twelve
13Jesus went up into the mountain and called to himself those he wanted and they came to him. 14He appointed twelve to be with him, so that he might send them out to preach 15and to have authority to heal sicknesses and to cast out demons. [They were:] 16Simon, to whom he gave the name Peter; 17James the son of Zebedee and John, the brother of James, to whom he gave the name Boanerges which means ‘Sons of Thunder;’ 18Andrew; Philip; Bartholomew; Matthew; Thomas; James, the son of Alphaeus;434 Thaddaeus; Simon the Canaanite;435 19and Judas Iscariot, who was to betray him.
The Lord accused of casting out demons by Satan— The unforgivable sin
Jesus returned [to his] home and 20again, the crowd assembled, so much that they could not even eat bread. 21When his own [friends]436 heard it, they came to take charge of him, saying, “He is insane!” 22The scribes who came down from Jerusalem said, “He is possessed by Beelzebul,” and, “He is casting out demons by the [authority of the] prince of the demons!”
23Jesus called them and spoke to them in parables: “How can Satan cast out Satan? 24If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. 25If a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand. 26If Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand, but has [come to] an end. 27No one can enter into the house of a strong man in order to plunder it, unless he first binds437 the strong man. Then he will plunder his house. 28Amen, all human sins will be forgiven, and all the blasphemies ever uttered; 29but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is in danger of eternal condemnation.”30[He spoke these words] because they had said, “He has an unclean spirit!”
The Lord’s true family
31His mother and his brothers438 came, and standing outside, sent in a message asking for him. 32A large group was sitting around him, and they told him, “Behold, your mother and your brothers439 are standing outside, looking for you.”
33He answered them, “Who are my mother or my brothers?” 34Looking around at those who sat around him, he said, “Behold, my mother and my brothers! 35For whoever does the will of God is my brother, and my sister, and mother.”
The parable of the sower—About the use of parables
- Greek “they”
- Greek “him”
- Greek “him”
- Compare 2:13
- Greek Si,mwna to.n Kananai/on
- Or possibly “relatives”
- Compare Revelation 20:2
- See Appendix E
- Some manuscripts add “your sisters.” See Appendix E
Text: The Eastern / Greek Orthodox Bible, New Testament (EOB). Used with permission.
