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- Jesus withdrew to the sea with His disciples; and a great multitude from Galilee followed; and also from Judea,
- and from Jerusalem, and from Idumea, and beyond the Jordan, and the vicinity of Tyre and Sidon, a great number of people heard of all that He was doing and came to Him.
- And He told His disciples that a boat should stand ready for Him because of the crowd, so that they would not crowd Him;
- for He had healed many, with the result that all those who had afflictions pressed around Him in order to touch Him.
- Whenever the unclean spirits saw Him, they would fall down before Him and shout, "You are the Son of God!"
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- And He earnestly warned them not to tell who He was.
- And He went up on the mountain and summoned those whom He Himself wanted, and they came to Him.
- And He appointed twelve, so that they would be with Him and that He could send them out to preach,
- and to have authority to cast out the demons.
- And He appointed the twelve: Simon (to whom He gave the name Peter),
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- and James, the son of Zebedee, and John the brother of James (to them He gave the name Boanerges, which means, "Sons of Thunder");
- and Andrew, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas, and James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus, and Simon the Zealot;
- and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed Him.
- And He came home, and the crowd gathered again, to such an extent that they could not even eat a meal.
- When His own people heard of this, they went out to take custody of Him; for they were saying, "He has lost His senses."
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- The scribes who came down from Jerusalem were saying, "He is possessed by Beelzebul," and "He casts out the demons by the ruler of the demons."
- And He called them to Himself and began speaking to them in parables, "How can Satan cast out Satan?
- "If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand.
- "If a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand.
- "If Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand, but he is finished!
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- "But no one can enter the strong man's house and plunder his property unless he first binds the strong man, and then he will plunder his house.
- "Truly I say to you, all sins shall be forgiven the sons of men, and whatever blasphemies they utter;
- but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin"--
- because they were saying, "He has an unclean spirit."
- Then His mother and His brothers arrived, and standing outside they sent word to Him and called Him.
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- A crowd was sitting around Him, and they said to Him, "Behold, Your mother and Your brothers are outside looking for You."
- Answering them, He said, "Who are My mother and My brothers?"
- Looking about at those who were sitting around Him, He said, "Behold My mother and My brothers!
- "For whoever does the will of God, he is My brother and sister and mother."
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