12. But Jesus warned the spirits not to tell who he was.
13. Jesus decided to ask some of his disciples to go up on a mountain with him, and they went.
14. Then he chose twelve of them to be his apostles, so that they could be with him. He also wanted to send them out to preach
15. and to force out demons.
16. Simon was one of the twelve, and Jesus named him Peter.
17. There were also James and John, the two sons of Zebedee. Jesus called them Boanerges, which means “Thunderbolts”.
18. Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus were also apostles. The others were Simon, known as the Eager One,
19. and Judas Iscariot, who later betrayed Jesus.
20. Jesus went back home, and once again such a large crowd gathered that there was no chance even to eat.
21. When Jesus' family heard what he was doing, they thought he was mad and went to get him under control.
22. Some teachers of the Law of Moses came from Jerusalem and said, “This man is under the power of Beelzebul, the ruler of demons! He is even forcing out demons with the help of Beelzebul.”
23. Jesus told the people to gather around him. Then he spoke to them in riddles and said:How can Satan force himself out?
24. A nation whose people fight each other won't last very long.