Mark 3:11-35

11And when the unclean spirits saw Him, they fell down before Him and cried out, “You are the Son of God!” 12But He warned them sternly not to make Him known.

13Then Jesus went up on the mountain and called for those He wanted, and they came to Him. 14He appointed twelve of them, whom He designated as apostles,1 to accompany Him, to be sent out to preach, 15and to have authority2 to drive out demons.

16These are the twelve He appointed:3 Simon (whom He named Peter), 17James son of Zebedee and his brother John (whom He named Boanerges, meaning “Sons of Thunder”), 18Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James son of Alphaeus, Thaddaeus, Simon the Zealot,4 19and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed Jesus.5

20Then Jesus went home,6 and once again a crowd gathered, so that He and His disciples could not even eat. 21When His family heard about this, they went out to take custody of Him, saying, “He is out of His mind.”

22And the scribes who had come down from Jerusalem were saying, “He is possessed by Beelzebul,7” and, “By the prince of the demons He drives out demons.”

23So Jesus called them together and began to speak to them in parables: “How can Satan drive out Satan? 24If a kingdom is divided against itself, it cannot stand. 25If a house is divided against itself, it cannot stand. 26And if Satan is divided and rises against himself, he cannot stand; his end has come. 27Indeed, no one can enter a strong man’s house to steal his possessions unless he first ties up the strong man. Then he can plunder his house.

28Truly I tell you, the sons of men will be forgiven all sins and blasphemies, as many as they utter. 29But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven; he is guilty of eternal sin.”

30Jesus made this statement because they were saying, “He has an unclean spirit.”

31Then Jesus’ mother and brothers came and stood outside. They sent someone in to summon Him, 32and a crowd was sitting around Him. “Look,” He was told, “Your mother and brothers8 are outside, asking for You.”

33But Jesus replied, “Who are My mother and My brothers?” 34Looking at those seated in a circle around Him, He said, “Here are My mother and My brothers! 35For whoever does the will of God is My brother and sister and mother.”