Mark 3:17-27

17 James, son of Zebedee, John, brother of James (Jesus nicknamed the Zebedee brothers Boanerges, meaning "Sons of Thunder"),
18 Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James, son of Alphaeus, Thaddaeus, Simon the Canaanite,
19 Judas Iscariot (who betrayed him).
20 Jesus came home and, as usual, a crowd gathered - so many making demands on him that there wasn't even time to eat.
21 His friends heard what was going on and went to rescue him, by force if necessary. They suspected he was getting carried away with himself.
22 The religion scholars from Jerusalem came down spreading rumors that he was working black magic, using devil tricks to impress them with spiritual power.
23 Jesus confronted their slander with a story: "Does it make sense to send a devil to catch a devil, to use Satan to get rid of Satan?
24 A constantly squabbling family disintegrates. If Satan were fighting Satan, there soon wouldn't be any Satan left.
27 Do you think it's possible in broad daylight to enter the house of an awake, able-bodied man, and walk off with his possessions unless you tie him up first? Tie him up, though, and you can clean him out.
Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.