12. But Jesus gave the spirits a strong warning not to tell anyone who he was.
13. Then Jesus went up on a hill and invited those he wanted to go with him. So they joined him there.
14. And he chose twelve men and called them apostles. He wanted these twelve men to be with him, and he wanted to send them to other places to tell people God’s message.
15. He also wanted them to have the power to force demons out of people.
16. These are the names of the twelve men Jesus chose: Simon (the one Jesus named Peter),
17. James and his brother John, the sons of Zebedee (the ones Jesus named Boanerges, which means “Sons of Thunder”),
18. Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James, the son of Alphaeus, Thaddaeus, Simon, the Zealot,
19. Judas Iscariot (the one who handed Jesus over to his enemies).
20. Then Jesus went home, but again a large crowd gathered there. There were so many people that he and his followers could not eat.
21. His family heard about all these things. They went to get him because people said he was crazy.
22. And the teachers of the law from Jerusalem said, “Satan is living inside him! He uses power from the ruler of demons to force demons out of people.”
23. So Jesus called them together and talked to them using some stories. He said, “Satan will not force his own demons out of people.
24. A kingdom that fights against itself will not survive.
25. And a family that is divided will not survive.
26. If Satan is against himself and is fighting against his own people, he will not survive. That would be the end of Satan.
27. “Whoever wants to enter a strong man’s house and steal his things must first tie him up. Then they can steal the things from his house.
28. “I want you to know that people can be forgiven for all the sinful things they do. They can even be forgiven for the bad things they say against God.
29. But anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven. They will always be guilty of that sin.”
30. Jesus said this because the teachers of the law had accused him of having an evil spirit inside him.