Isaiah 14:3–27; Mark 3:13–34

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Isaiah 14:3–27

Israel’s Remnant Taunts Babylon

When the Lord has given you rest from your pain and turmoil and the hard service with which you were made to serve, you will take up this utaunt against the king of Babylon:

How the oppressor has ceased,

vthe insolent fury1 ceased!

The Lord has broken the wstaff of the wicked,

the wscepter of rulers,

xthat struck the peoples in wrath

with unceasing blows,

that ruled the nations in anger

with unrelenting persecution.

The whole earth is at rest and quiet;

ythey break forth into singing.

zaThe cypresses rejoice at you,

bthe cedars of Lebanon, saying,

Since you were laid low,

no woodcutter comes up against us.

Sheol beneath is stirred up

to meet you when you come;

it rouses the shades to greet you,

all who were leaders of the earth;

it raises from their thrones

all who were kings of the nations.

10  cAll of them will answer

and say to you:

You too have become as weak as we!

You have become like us!

11  Your pomp is brought down to Sheol,

the sound of your harps;

maggots are laid as a bed beneath you,

and worms are your covers.

12  How dyou are fallen from heaven,

O Day Star, eson of Dawn!

How you are cut down to the ground,

you who laid the nations low!

13  You said in your heart,

fI will ascend to heaven;

above the stars of God

gI will set my throne on high;

I will sit on the mount of assembly

in the far reaches of the north;2

14  I will ascend above the heights of the clouds;

I will make myself like the Most High.

15  hBut you are brought down to Sheol,

to the far reaches of the pit.

16  Those who see you will stare at you

and ponder over you:

Is this ithe man who made the earth tremble,

who shook kingdoms,

17  who made the world like a desert

and overthrew its cities,

jwho did not let his prisoners go home?

18  All the kings of the nations lie in glory,

each in his own tomb;3

19  but you are cast out, away from your grave,

like a loathed branch,

kclothed with the slain, those pierced by the sword,

who go down to the stones of the pit,

like a dead body trampled underfoot.

20  You will not be joined with them in burial,

because you have destroyed your land,

you have slain your people.

May lthe offspring of evildoers

nevermore be named!

21  Prepare slaughter for his sons

mbecause of the guilt of their fathers,

lest they rise and possess the earth,

and fill the face of the world with cities.

22 I will rise up against them, declares the Lord of hosts, and will cut off from Babylon name and nremnant, odescendants and posterity, declares the Lord. 23 And I will make it a possession of the phedgehog,4 and pools of water, and I will sweep it with the broom of destruction, declares the Lord of hosts.

An Oracle Concerning Assyria

24  The Lord of hosts has sworn:

qAs I have planned,

so shall it be,

and as I have purposed,

so shall it stand,

25  that rI will break the Assyrian in my land,

and on my mountains trample him underfoot;

and shis yoke shall depart from them,

and shis burden from their shoulder.

26  This is the purpose that is purposed

concerning the whole earth,

and this is tthe hand that is stretched out

over all the nations.

27  uFor the Lord of hosts has purposed,

and who will annul it?

tHis hand is stretched out,

and who will turn it back?


Mark 3:13–34

The Twelve Apostles

13 yAnd he went up on the mountain and called to him those zwhom he desired, and they came to him. 14 yAnd he appointed twelve (whom he also named apostles) so that they might be with him and he might send them out to preach 15 yand have authority to cast out demons. 16 He appointed the twelve: aSimon (to whom bhe gave the name Peter); 17 cJames 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 dMatthew, and Thomas, and James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus, and Simon the Zealot,1 19 and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.

20 Then he went ehome, and the crowd gathered again, fso that they could not even eat. 21 gAnd when hhis family heard it, they went out to seize him, for they were saying, He iis out of his mind.

Blasphemy Against the Holy Spirit

22 And jthe scribes who came down from Jerusalem were saying, kHe is possessed by Beelzebul, and by the prince of demons he casts out the demons. 23 lAnd 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 mno one can enter a strong man’s house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man. nThen indeed he may plunder his house.

28 oTruly, I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the children of man, and whatever blasphemies they utter, 29 but whoever pblasphemes 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 qAnd his mother and his rbrothers 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 brothers2 are outside, seeking you. 33 And he answered them, Who are my mother and my brothers? 34 And slooking about at those who sat around him, he said, Here are my mother and my brothers!