₂₀Then Jesus went home. Again such a large crowd gathered that Jesus and his disciples had no time to eat. ₂₁When his family heard about it, they set out to take charge of him, because people were saying, “He's gone mad!”

₂₂Some teachers of the Law who had come from Jerusalem were saying, “He has Beelzebul in him! It is the chief of the demons who gives him the power to drive them out.”

₂₃So Jesus called them to him and spoke to them in parables: “How can Satan drive out Satan? ₂₄If a country divides itself into groups which fight each other, that country will fall apart. ₂₅If a family divides itself into groups which fight each other, that family will fall apart. ₂₆So if Satan's kingdom divides into groups, it cannot last, but will fall apart and come to an end.

₂₇“No one can break into a strong man's house and take away his belongings unless he first ties up the strong man; then he can plunder his house.

₂₈“I assure you that people can be forgiven all their sins and all the evil things they may say. ₂₉But whoever says evil things against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven, because he has committed an eternal sin.” ₃₀(Jesus said this because some people were saying, “He has an evil spirit in him.”)

₃₁Then Jesus' mother and brothers arrived. They stood outside the house and sent in a message, asking for him. ₃₂A crowd was sitting round Jesus, and they said to him, “Look, your mother and your brothers and sisters are outside, and they want you.”

₃₃Jesus answered, “Who is my mother? Who are my brothers?” ₃₄He looked at the people sitting round him and said, “Look! Here are my mother and my brothers! ₃₅Whoever does what God wants him to do is my brother, my sister, my mother.”