the Sabbath The story is told in the synoptic gospels (, , ). In a synagogue, Jesus calls forward a man with a withered hand on a Sabbath. The synagogue was possibly the one in Capernaum, but many commentators argue that "it is impossible to say where the synagogue was to which [the] Pharisees belonged". Healing him by the verbal command: "Stretch forth thy hand", Jesus challenges the priestly authorities. They do not argue with him directly, but are "filled with anger" (verse 11 in the New Life Version, NLV). On the Sabbath they begin to plot against Jesus, ignoring his question: "I will ask you one thing. Does the Law say to do good on the Day of Rest or to do bad? To save life or to kill?" (NLV). The choosing of the twelve apostles (6:12-16) After retreating in prayer on a mountain, Jesus chooses twelve apostles, according to Luke (): "Simon (whom he named Peter), his brother Andrew, James, John, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James son of Alphaeus, Simon who was called the Zealot, Judas son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor". The commission of the Twelve is also recounted in and . The Sermon on the Plain (6:17-49) The commissioning of the apostles is followed by a description of the multitude gathered from all Judea and Jerusalem, and from the seacoast of Tyre and Sidon, and then by a sermon that lays down key aspects of Jesus' teachings. In the parallel section of Matthew's gospel, the crowds are said to have come from Galilee, and from the Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea, and beyond the Jordan. Mark's description is the most extensive of the three synoptic gospels: "a great multitude from Galilee followed Him, and from Judea and Jerusalem and Idumea and beyond the Jordan; and those from Tyre and Sidon". The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges concludes "thus there were Jews, Greeks, Phoenicians, and Arabs among our Lord’s hearers". The four beatitudes and the four woes (6:20–26) The sermon starts with a set of teachings about the four beatitudes and the four woes. The sermon may be compared with the more extensive Sermon on the Mount as recounted by the Gospel of Matthew. Both seem to occur shortly after the commissioning of the twelve apostles featuring Jesus on a mountain. In Luke, he delivers the sermon below the mountain at a level spot: