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from Jerusalem, from the territory of Idumea, from the territory on the east side of the Jordan, and from the region around the cities of Tyre and Sidon. All these people came to Jesus because they had heard of the things he was doing.
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The crowd was so large that Jesus told his disciples to get a boat ready for him, so that the people would not crush him.
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He had healed many people, and all the sick kept pushing their way to him in order to touch him.
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And whenever the people who had evil spirits in them saw him, they would fall down before him and scream, "You are the Son of God!"
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Jesus sternly ordered the evil spirits not to tell anyone who he was.
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Then Jesus went up a hill and called to himself the men he wanted. They came to him,
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and he chose twelve, whom he named apostles. "I have chosen you to be with me," he told them. "I will also send you out to preach,
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and you will have authority to drive out demons."
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These are the twelve he chose: Simon (Jesus gave him the name Peter);
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James and his brother John, the sons of Zebedee (Jesus gave them the name Boanerges, which means "Men of Thunder");
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Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James son of Alphaeus, Thaddaeus, Simon the Patriot,
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and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed Jesus.
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Then Jesus went home. Again such a large crowd gathered that Jesus and his disciples had no time to eat.
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When his family heard about it, they set out to take charge of him, because people were saying, "He's gone mad!"
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Some 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."
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So Jesus called them to him and spoke to them in parables: "How can Satan drive out Satan?
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If a country divides itself into groups which fight each other, that country will fall apart.