Mark 3:13-30

Then Jesus went up on a mountain and called to him those he wanted, and they came to him. Jesus chose twelve and called them apostles. He wanted them to be with him, and he wanted to send them out to preach and to have the authority to force demons out of people. These are the twelve men he chose: Simon (Jesus named him Peter), James and John, the sons of Zebedee (Jesus named them Boanerges, which means “Sons of Thunder”), Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James the son of Alphaeus, Thaddaeus, Simon the Zealot, and Judas Iscariot, who later turned against Jesus. Then Jesus went home, but again a crowd gathered. There were so many people that Jesus and his followers could not eat. When his family heard this, they went to get him because they thought he was out of his mind. But the teachers of the law from Jerusalem were saying, “Beelzebul is living inside him! He uses power from the ruler of demons to force demons out of people.” So Jesus called the people together and taught them with stories. He said, “Satan will not force himself out of people. A kingdom that is divided cannot continue, and a family that is divided cannot continue. And if Satan is against himself and fights against his own people, he cannot continue; that is the end of Satan. No one can enter a strong person’s house and steal his things unless he first ties up the strong person. Then he can steal things from the house. I tell you the truth, all sins that people do and all the things people say against God can be forgiven. But anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven; he is guilty of a sin that continues forever.” Jesus said this because the teachers of the law said that he had an evil spirit inside him.