Mark 3

A Man with a Withered Hand

1 Again he entered the synagogue, and a man was there with a withered hand.2 And they watched Jesus,t to see whether he would heal him on the Sabbath, so that they might accuse him.3 And he said to the man with the withered hand, "Come here."4 And he said to them, "Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save life or to kill?" But they were silent.5 And he looked around at them with anger, grieved at their hardness of heart, and said to the man, "Stretch out your hand." He stretched it out, and his hand was restored.6 The Pharisees went out and immediately held counsel with the Herodians against him, how to destroy him.

A Great Crowd Follows Jesus

7 Jesus withdrew with his disciples to the sea, and a great crowd followed, from Galilee and Judea8 and Jerusalem and Idumea and from beyond the Jordan and from around Tyre and Sidon. When the great crowd heard all that he was doing, they came to him.9 And he told his disciples to have a boat ready for him because of the crowd, lest they crush him,10 for he had healed many, so that all who had diseases pressed around him to touch him.11 And whenever the unclean spirits saw him, they fell down before him and cried out, "You are the Son of God."12 And he strictly ordered them not to make him known.

The Twelve Apostles

13 And he went up on the mountain and called to him those whom he desired, and they came to him.14 And he appointed twelve (whom he also named apostles) so that they might be with him and he might send them out to preach15 and have authority to cast out demons.16 He appointed the twelve: Simon (to whom he gave the name Peter);17 James the son of Zebedee and John the brother of James (to whom he gave the name Boanerges, that is, Sons of Thunder);18 Andrew, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas, and James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus, and Simon the Cananaean,19 and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.

20 Then he went home, and the crowd gathered again, so that they could not even eat.21 And when his family heard it, they went out to seize him, for they were saying, "He is out of his mind."

Blasphemy Against the Holy Spirit

22 And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem were saying, "He is possessed by Beelzebul," and "by the prince of demons he casts out the demons."23 And he called them to him and said to them in parables, "How can Satan cast out Satan?24 If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand.25 And if a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand.26 And if Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand, but is coming to an end.27 But no one can enter a strong man's house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man. Then indeed he may plunder his house.

28 "Truly, I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the children of man, and whatever blasphemies they utter,29 but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin"—30 for they were saying, "He has an unclean spirit."

Jesus' Mother and Brothers

31 And his mother and his brothers came, and standing outside they sent to him and called him.32 And a crowd was sitting around him, and they said to him, "Your mother and your brotherst are outside, seeking you."33 And he answered them, "Who are my mother and my brothers?"34 And looking about at those who sat around him, he said, "Here are my mother and my brothers!35 For whoever does the will of God, he is my brother and sister and mother."

Mark 4

The Parable of the Sower

1 Again he began to teach beside the sea. And a very large crowd gathered about him, so that he got into a boat and sat in it on the sea, and the whole crowd was beside the sea on the land.2 And he was teaching them many things in parables, and in his teaching he said to them:3 "Listen! A sower went out to sow.4 And as he sowed, some seed fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured it.5 Other seed fell on rocky ground, where it did not have much soil, and immediately it sprang up, since it had no depth of soil.6 And when the sun rose, it was scorched, and since it had no root, it withered away.7 Other seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no grain.8 And other seeds fell into good soil and produced grain, growing up and increasing and yielding thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold."9 And he said, "He who has ears to hear, let him hear."

The Purpose of the Parables

10 And when he was alone, those around him with the twelve asked him about the parables.11 And he said to them, "To you has been given the secret of the kingdom of God, but for those outside everything is in parables,

12 so that
"they may indeed see but not perceive,
and may indeed hear but not understand,
lest they should turn and be forgiven."

13 And he said to them, "Do you not understand this parable? How then will you understand all the parables?14 The sower sows the word.15 And these are the ones along the path, where the word is sown: when they hear, Satan immediately comes and takes away the word that is sown in them.16 And these are the ones sown on rocky ground: the ones who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with joy.17 And they have no root in themselves, but endure for a while; then, when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately they fall away.t 18 And others are the ones sown among thorns. They are those who hear the word,19 but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it proves unfruitful.20 But those that were sown on the good soil are the ones who hear the word and accept it and bear fruit, thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold."

A Lamp Under a Basket

21 And he said to them, "Is a lamp brought in to be put under a basket, or under a bed, and not on a stand?22 For nothing is hidden except to be made manifest; nor is anything secret except to come to light.23 If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear."24 And he said to them, "Pay attention to what you hear: with the measure you use, it will be measured to you, and still more will be added to you.25 For to the one who has, more will be given, and from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away."

The Parable of the Seed Growing

26 And he said, "The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground.27 He sleeps and rises night and day, and the seed sprouts and grows; he knows not how.28 The earth produces by itself, first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear.29 But when the grain is ripe, at once he puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come."

The Parable of the Mustard Seed

30 And he said, "With what can we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable shall we use for it?31 It is like a grain of mustard seed, which, when sown on the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on earth,32 yet when it is sown it grows up and becomes larger than all the garden plants and puts out large branches, so that the birds of the air can make nests in its shade."

33 With many such parables he spoke the word to them, as they were able to hear it.34 He did not speak to them without a parable, but privately to his own disciples he explained everything.

Jesus Calms a Storm

35 On that day, when evening had come, he said to them, "Let us go across to the other side."36 And leaving the crowd, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. And other boats were with him.37 And a great windstorm arose, and the waves were breaking into the boat, so that the boat was already filling.38 But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion. And they woke him and said to him, "Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?"39 And he awoke and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, "Peace! Be still!" And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm.40 He said to them, "Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?"41 And they were filled with great fear and said to one another, "Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?"

Mark 5

Jesus Heals a Man with a Demon

1 They came to the other side of the sea, to the country of the Gerasenes.t2 And when Jesust had stepped out of the boat, immediately there met him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit.3 He lived among the tombs. And no one could bind him anymore, not even with a chain,4 for he had often been bound with shackles and chains, but he wrenched the chains apart, and he broke the shackles in pieces. No one had the strength to subdue him.5 Night and day among the tombs and on the mountains he was always crying out and cutting himself with stones.6 And when he saw Jesus from afar, he ran and fell down before him.7 And crying out with a loud voice, he said, "What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I adjure you by God, do not torment me."8 For he was saying to him, "Come out of the man, you unclean spirit!"9 And Jesus asked him, "What is your name?" He replied, "My name is Legion, for we are many."10 And he begged him earnestly not to send them out of the country.11 Now a great herd of pigs was feeding there on the hillside,12 and they begged him, saying, "Send us to the pigs; let us enter them."13 So he gave them permission. And the unclean spirits came out, and entered the pigs, and the herd, numbering about two thousand, rushed down the steep bank into the sea and were drowned in the sea.

14 The herdsmen fled and told it in the city and in the country. And people came to see what it was that had happened.15 And they came to Jesus and saw the demon-possessedt man, the one who had had the legion, sitting there, clothed and in his right mind, and they were afraid.16 And those who had seen it described to them what had happened to the demon-possessed man and to the pigs.17 And they began to beg Jesust to depart from their region.18 As he was getting into the boat, the man who had been possessed with demons begged him that he might be with him.19 And he did not permit him but said to him, "Go home to your friends and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you."20 And he went away and began to proclaim in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him, and everyone marveled.

Jesus Heals a Woman and Jairus's Daughter

21 And when Jesus had crossed again in the boat to the other side, a great crowd gathered about him, and he was beside the sea.22 Then came one of the rulers of the synagogue, Jairus by name, and seeing him, he fell at his feet23 and implored him earnestly, saying, "My little daughter is at the point of death. Come and lay your hands on her, so that she may be made well and live."

24 And he went with him.
And a great crowd followed him and thronged about him. 25 And there was a woman who had had a discharge of blood for twelve years,26 and who had suffered much under many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was no better but rather grew worse.27 She had heard the reports about Jesus and came up behind him in the crowd and touched his garment.28 For she said, "If I touch even his garments, I will be made well."29 And immediately the flow of blood dried up, and she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease.30 And Jesus, perceiving in himself that power had gone out from him, immediately turned about in the crowd and said, "Who touched my garments?"31 And his disciples said to him, "You see the crowd pressing around you, and yet you say, 'Who touched me?'"32 And he looked around to see who had done it.33 But the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came in fear and trembling and fell down before him and told him the whole truth.34 And he said to her, "Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease."

35 While he was still speaking, there came from the ruler's house some who said, "Your daughter is dead. Why trouble the Teacher any further?"36 But overhearingt what they said, Jesus said to the ruler of the synagogue, "Do not fear, only believe."37 And he allowed no one to follow him except Peter and James and John the brother of James.38 They came to the house of the ruler of the synagogue, and Jesust saw a commotion, people weeping and wailing loudly.39 And when he had entered, he said to them, "Why are you making a commotion and weeping? The child is not dead but sleeping."40 And they laughed at him. But he put them all outside and took the child's father and mother and those who were with him and went in where the child was.41 Taking her by the hand he said to her, "Talitha cumi," which means, "Little girl, I say to you, arise."42 And immediately the girl got up and began walking (for she was twelve years of age), and they were immediately overcome with amazement.43 And he strictly charged them that no one should know this, and told them to give her something to eat.