Jesus Heals a Man with a Paralyzed Hand

(Matthew 12:9-14; Luke 6:6-11)

1Jesusa went into the synagogue again, and a man with a paralyzed hand was there. 2The peopleb watched Jesusc closely to see whether he would heal him on the Sabbath,d intending to accuse him of doing something wrong. 3He told the man with the paralyzed hand, “Come forward.”e 4Then he asked them, “Is it lawful to do good or to do evil on Sabbath days,f to save a life or to destroy it?” But they remained silent.

5Jesusg looked around at them in anger, deeply hurt because of their hard hearts. Then he told the man, “Hold out your hand.” The manh held it out, and his hand was restored to health. 6Immediately the Pharisees and Herodiansi went out and began to plot how to kill him.

Jesus Encounters a Large Crowd

7So Jesus withdrew with his disciples to the sea. A large crowd from Galilee, Judea, 8Jerusalem, 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. 9Jesusj told his disciples to have a boat ready for him so that the crowd wouldn’t crush him, 10because he had healed so many people that everyone who had diseases kept crowding up against him in order to touch him. 11Whenever the unclean spirits saw him, they would fall down in front of him and scream, “You are the Son of God!” 12But he sternly ordered them again and again not to tell people who he was.

Jesus Appoints Twelve Apostles

(Matthew 10:1-4; Luke 6:12-16)

13Then Jesusk went up on a hillside and called to himself those whom he had decided on, and they approached him. 14He appointed the Twelve,l whom he called apostles, to accompany him, to be sent out to preach, 15and to have the authority to drive out demons. 16He appointed the Twelve:m Simon (whom he named Peter), 17Zebedee’s sons James and his brother John (whom he named Boanerges, that is, Sons of Thunder), 18Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James son of Alphaeus, Thaddeus,n Simon the Cananaean,o 19and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed him.

Jesus is Accused of Working with Beelzebul

(Matthew 12:22-32; Luke 11:14-23; 12:10)

20Then he went home. Such a large crowd gathered again that Jesus and his disciplesp couldn’t even eat. 21When his family heard about it, they went to restrain him, because they kept saying, “He’s out of his mind!”

22The scribes who had come down from Jerusalem kept repeating, “He has Beelzebul,” and, “He drives out demons by the ruler of demons.”

23So Jesusq called them together and began to speak 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 won’t stand. 26So if Satan rebels against himself and is divided, he cannot stand. Indeed, his end has come. 27No 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. 28I tell all of your with certainty, people will be forgiven their sins and whatever blasphemies they utter.s 29But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit can never be forgiven, but is guilty of eternal sin.” 30…because they had been saying, “He has an unclean spirit.”

The True Family of Jesus

(Matthew 12:46-50; Luke 8:19-21)

31Then his mother and his brothers arrived. Milling around outside, they sent for him, continuously summoning him. 32A crowd was sitting around him. They told him, “Look! Your mother and your brotherst are outside asking for you.”

33He answered them, “Who are my mother and my brothers?” 34Then looking at the people sitting around him, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! 35Whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother.”