Mark 3; Luke 6; Matthew 12:1–21

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Mark 3

A Man with a Withered Hand

cAgain dhe entered the synagogue, and a man was there with a withered hand. And ethey watched Jesus,1 to see whether he would heal him on the Sabbath, so that they might accuse him. And he said to the man with the withered hand, Come here. And he said to them, fIs it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save life or to kill? But they were silent. And he glooked around at them with anger, grieved at htheir hardness of heart, and said to the man, Stretch out your hand. iHe stretched it out, and his hand was restored. jThe Pharisees went out and immediately jheld counsel with kthe Herodians against him, how to destroy him.

A Great Crowd Follows Jesus

lJesus withdrew with his disciples to the sea, and ma great crowd followed, from Galilee and Judea and Jerusalem and nIdumea and from beyond the Jordan and from around oTyre and Sidon. When the great crowd heard all that he was doing, they came to him. And he told his disciples to phave a boat ready for him because of the crowd, lest they qcrush him, 10 for rhe had healed many, so that all who had sdiseases pressed around him tto touch him. 11 uAnd whenever the unclean spirits saw him, they vfell down before him and cried out, You are wthe Son of God. 12 And xhe strictly ordered them not to make him known.

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,2 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 brothers3 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! 35 tFor whoever udoes the will of God, he is my brother and sister and mother.


Luke 6

Jesus Is Lord of the Sabbath

sOn a Sabbath,1 while he was going through the grainfields, his disciples tplucked and ate some heads of grain, rubbing them in their hands. But some of the Pharisees said, uWhy are you doing vwhat is not lawful to do on the Sabbath? And Jesus answered them, wHave you not read xwhat David did when he was hungry, he and those who were with him: how he entered the house of God and took and ate ythe bread of the Presence, ywhich is not lawful for any but the priests to eat, and also gave it to those with him? And he said to them, zThe Son of Man is lord of the Sabbath.

A Man with a Withered Hand

On another Sabbath, ahe entered the synagogue band was teaching, and a man was there whose right hand was withered. And the scribes and the Pharisees cwatched him, to see whether he would heal on the Sabbath, dso that they might find a reason to accuse him. But ehe knew their thoughts, and he said to the man with the withered hand, Come and stand here. And he rose and stood there. And Jesus said to them, I ask you, fis it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save life or to destroy it? 10 And gafter looking around at them all he said to him, Stretch out your hand. And hhe did so, and his hand was restored. 11 But they were filled with ifury and discussed with one another what they might do to Jesus.

The Twelve Apostles

12 In these days jhe went out to the mountain to pray, and all night he continued in prayer to God. 13 And when day came, khe called his disciples land mchose from them twelve, whom he named napostles: 14 Simon, owhom he named Peter, and pAndrew his brother, and pJames and John, and Philip, and Bartholomew, 15 and qMatthew, and Thomas, and James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon who was called rthe Zealot, 16 and sJudas the son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor.

Jesus Ministers to a Great Multitude

17 And the came down with them and stood on a level place, with ua great crowd of his disciples and a great multitude of people from all Judea and Jerusalem and the seacoast of vTyre and Sidon, 18 who came to hear him and to be healed of their diseases. wAnd those who were troubled with unclean spirits were cured. 19 And all the crowd xsought to touch him, for ypower came out from him and healed them all.

The Beatitudes

20 And zhe lifted up his eyes on his disciples, aand said:

Blessed are you who are poor, for byours is the kingdom of God.

21 cBlessed are you who are hungry now, for you shall be satisfied.

dBlessed are you who weep now, for you shall laugh.

22 Blessed are you when epeople hate you and when they fexclude you and revile you and gspurn your name as evil, hon account of the Son of Man! 23 iRejoice in that day, and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven; for jso their fathers did to the prophets.

Jesus Pronounces Woes

24 kBut woe to you who are rich, lfor you mhave received your consolation.

25 Woe to you who are full now, for nyou shall be hungry.

Woe to oyou who laugh now, ofor you shall mourn and weep.

26 Woe to you, pwhen all people speak well of you, for qso their fathers did to rthe false prophets.

Love Your Enemies

27 But I say to you who hear, sLove your enemies, tdo good to those who hate you, 28 ubless those who curse you, spray for those who abuse you. 29 vTo one who wstrikes you on the cheek, offer the other also, and from one who takes away your cloak do not withhold your tunic2 either. 30 xGive to everyone who begs from you, and from one who takes away your goods do not demand them back. 31 And yas you wish that others would do to you, do so to them.

32 zIf you love those who love you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. 33 And if you do good to those who do good to you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. 34 And aif you blend to those from whom you expect to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, to get back the same amount. 35 But clove your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and dyou will be sons of ethe Most High, for fhe is kind to the ungrateful and the evil. 36 gBe merciful, even as hyour Father is merciful.

Judging Others

37 ijJudge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not, and you will not be condemned; jforgive, and you will be forgiven; 38 kgive, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put linto your lap. For mwith the measure you use it will be measured back to you.

39 He also told them a parable: nCan a blind man lead a blind man? Will they not both fall into a pit? 40 oA disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone when he is pfully trained will be like his teacher. 41 iWhy do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but qdo not notice the log that is in your own eye? 42 How can you say to your brother, Brother, let me take out the speck that is in your eye, when you yourself do not see the log that is in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take out the speck that is in your brother’s eye.

A Tree and Its Fruit

43 For rno good tree bears bad fruit, nor again does a bad tree bear good fruit, 44 for seach tree is known by its own fruit. For figs are not gathered from thornbushes, nor are grapes picked from a bramble bush. 45 tThe good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces uevil, vfor out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.

Build Your House on the Rock

46 wWhy xdo you call me Lord, Lord, and not do what I tell you? 47 yEveryone who comes to me and hears my words and does them, I will show you what he is like: 48 he is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when a flood arose, the stream broke against that house and could not shake it, because it had been well built.3 49 zBut the one who hears and does not do them is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. When the stream broke against it, immediately it fell, and athe ruin of that house was great.


Matthew 12:1–21

Jesus Is Lord of the Sabbath

At that time wJesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry, and xthey began to pluck heads of grain and to eat. But when the Pharisees saw it, they said to him, yLook, your disciples are doing zwhat is not lawful to do on the Sabbath. He said to them, aHave you not read what David did when he was hungry, and those who were with him: how he entered the house of God and ate bthe bread of the Presence, which it was not lawful for him to eat nor for those who were with him, but only for the priests? Or have you not read cin the Law how on the Sabbath the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath and are guiltless? I tell you, dsomething greater than the temple is here. And if you had known ewhat this means, fI desire mercy, and not sacrifice, you would not have condemned the guiltless. For gthe Son of Man is lord of the Sabbath.

A Man with a Withered Hand

He went on from there and hentered their synagogue. 10 And a man was there with a withered hand. And they asked him, iIs it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?jso that they might accuse him. 11 He said to them, Which one of you who has a sheep, kif it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will not take hold of it and lift it out? 12 lOf how much more value is a man than a sheep! So mit is lawful to do good on the Sabbath. 13 Then he said to the man, Stretch out your hand. And nthe man stretched it out, and it was restored, healthy like the other. 14 But the Pharisees went out and conspired against him, how to destroy him.

God’s Chosen Servant

15 Jesus, aware of this, owithdrew from there. And pmany followed him, and he healed them all 16 and qordered them not to make him known. 17 rThis was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah:

18  sBehold, my tservant whom I have chosen,

my beloved with whom my soul is well pleased.

uI will put my Spirit upon him,

and he will proclaim justice to the Gentiles.

19  He will not quarrel or cry aloud,

nor will anyone hear his voice in the streets;

20  a bruised reed he will not break,

and a smoldering wick he will not quench,

until he brings justice to victory;

21  vand in his name the Gentiles will hope.