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Mark 3

1He entered a synagogue again, and a man was there whose hand had withered. 2They watched him to see whether he would heal the man on the Sabbath, so that they might accuse him. 3He said to the man with the withered hand, “Get up and stand in the middle.” 4Then he said to them, “Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save a life or to kill?” But they were silent. 5Looking around at them with anger, grieved at the hardness of their hearts, he said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and his hand was restored. 6The Pharisees went out and immediately began plotting with the Herodians against him, how they might destroy him.

7Jesus withdrew with his disciples to the sea, and a great multitude from Galilee followed. Also from Judea, 8Jerusalem, Idumea, beyond the Jordan, and around Tyre and Sidon, a great multitude heard what he was doing and came to him. 9He told his disciples to keep a small boat ready for him because of the crowd, so that they would not crush him. 10For he had healed many, so that all who had afflictions pressed upon him to touch him. 11Whenever the unclean spirits saw him, they fell down before him and cried out, “You are the Son of God!” 12He sternly rebuked them, so that they would not make him known.

13He went up the mountain and called to himself those he wanted, and they came to him. 14He appointed twelve to be with him and to be sent out to proclaim 15and to have authority to drive out demons. 16He appointed the Twelve: Simon, 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, Thaddaeus, Simon the Zealot, 19and Judas Iscariot, who also handed him over.

20He went home, and the crowd gathered again, so that they could not even eat bread. 21When his own people heard, they went out to seize him, for they were saying, “He is out of his mind.” 22And the scribes who had come down from Jerusalem said, “He has Beelzebul,” and, “By the ruler of the demons he drives out demons.”

23He called them to himself and spoke to them in parables: “How can Satan drive out Satan? 24If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. 25And if a household is divided against itself, that household will not be able to stand. 26If Satan has risen against himself and is divided, he cannot stand; his end has come. 27But no one can enter the strong man's house and plunder his possessions unless he first binds the strong man. Then he will plunder his house.

28“Truly I tell you, all sins will be forgiven the sons of humanity, and whatever blasphemies they utter. 29But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit has no forgiveness, ever, but is guilty of an eternal sin.” 30This was because they were saying, “He has an unclean spirit.”

31His mother and his brothers came, and standing outside, they sent for him, calling him. 32A crowd was sitting around him, and they said to him, “Look, your mother and your brothers are outside looking for you.” 33He answered them, “Who is my mother, or my brothers?” 34Looking around at those sitting in a circle about him, he said, “Look, my mother and my brothers! 35Whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother.”

Translation notes 5

3:14 — The Twelve. Some witnesses add “whom he also named apostles.” That clause is absent from this draft's Greek base.

3:18 — “The Zealot.” The underlying designation refers to zeal, not Canaanite ancestry. It does not by itself prove membership in a particular organized political party.

3:21 — “His own people.” Probably his family, especially in light of 3:31. The expression can refer more broadly to people belonging to his circle. The nearest grammatical subject of “they were saying” is his own people; “people were saying” is another proposed reading of the subject.

3:28–30 — “Sons of humanity”; eternal sin. The first expression means human beings, with the gendered family idiom retained. “Eternal sin” follows the Greek base; another textual reading has “eternal judgment.” Verse 30 connects the warning with the claim that Jesus has an unclean spirit. The wording is not a catalog of every situation to which the warning might apply.

3:32 — Brothers and sisters. Some witnesses add “and your sisters” after “your brothers.” The draft follows its Greek base here; “sister” is present in verse 35.