11
1 When
he finished
praying in a
certain place, one
of his disciples
said to him, “Lord, teach us to
pray, just as
John also taught
his disciples.”
2 He
said to them,
“When you pray,
say,
‘Our Father
in heaven,
may your name
be kept holy.
May your Kingdom
come.
May your will
be done on earth,
as it is
in heaven.
3 Give us day
by day our
daily bread.
4 Forgive us our sins,
for we
ourselves also forgive
everyone who is
indebted to us.
Bring us not
into temptation,
but deliver us
from the evil
one.’ ”
5 He
said to them,
“Which of you,
if you go
to a friend
at midnight and
tell him, ‘Friend, lend me
three loaves of bread,
6 for a friend
of mine has
come to me
from a journey,
and I have
nothing to set
before him,’
7 and he from
within will answer
and say, ‘Don’t
bother me. The
door is now
shut, and my
children are
with me in
bed. I can’t
get up and
give it to
you’?
8 I tell you,
although he will
not rise and
give it to
him because he
is his friend,
yet because of
his persistence, he
will get up
and give him
as many as
he needs.
9 “I tell you,
keep asking, and
it will be
given you. Keep
seeking, and you
will find. Keep
knocking, and it
will be opened
to you.
10 For everyone
who asks receives.
He who seeks
finds. To him
who knocks it
will be opened.
11 “Which of you
fathers, if your
son asks for bread,
will give him
a stone? Or
if he asks for
a fish, he won’t
give him a
snake instead of
a fish, will
he?
12 Or if he asks
for an egg,
he won’t give
him a scorpion,
will he?
13 If you then,
being evil, know
how to give
good gifts to
your children,
how much more
will your
heavenly Father
give the Holy
Spirit to those
who ask him?”
14 He
was casting out
a demon, and
it was mute.
When the demon
had gone out,
the mute man
spoke; and the
multitudes marveled.
15 But
some of them
said, “He casts
out demons
by Beelzebul, the prince
of the demons.”
16 Others,
testing him,
sought from him
a sign from
heaven.
17 But
he, knowing their
thoughts, said to
them,
“Every kingdom divided
against itself
is brought
to desolation. A
house divided
against itself
falls.
18 If Satan also
is divided
against himself,
how will
his kingdom stand?
For you say
that I cast
out demons
by Beelzebul.
19 But if I
cast out demons
by Beelzebul, by
whom do your
children cast
them out?
Therefore they
will be your
judges.
20 But if I
by God’s finger
cast out demons,
then God’s Kingdom
has come to
you.
21 “When the
strong man,
fully armed,
guards his
own dwelling, his goods
are safe.
22 But when
someone stronger
attacks him and
overcomes him,
he takes from
him his whole
armor in which
he trusted,
and divides his
plunder.
23 “He who is
not with me
is against me.
He who doesn’t
gather with me
scatters.
24 The unclean spirit,
when he has
gone out of
the man, passes
through dry places,
seeking rest; and
finding none, he
says, ‘I will
turn back to
my house from
which I came
out.’
25 When he returns,
he finds it
swept and put
in order.
26 Then he goes
and takes seven
other spirits
more evil than
himself, and
they enter in
and dwell there.
The last state
of that man
becomes worse
than the
first.”
27 It
came to pass,
as he said
these things, a
certain woman out
of the multitude
lifted up her
voice and said
to him, “Blessed
is the womb
that bore you, and
the breasts which
nursed you!”
28 But
he said,
“On the
contrary, blessed
are those
who hear the
word of God,
and keep
it.”
29 When
the multitudes
were gathering
together to him,
he began to
say,
“This is an
evil generation.
It seeks after
a sign. No
sign will be
given to it
but the sign
of Jonah
the prophet.
30 For even as
Jonah became a
sign to the
Ninevites, so
the Son of
Man will also
be to this
generation.
31 The Queen of
the South will
rise up in
the judgment
with the men
of this
generation and
will condemn
them, for she
came from the
ends of the
earth to hear
the wisdom of
Solomon; and
behold, one
greater than
Solomon is here.
32 The men of
Nineveh will
stand up in
the judgment
with this
generation, and
will condemn it,
for they
repented at the
preaching of
Jonah; and
behold, one
greater than
Jonah is
here.
33 “No one, when
he has lit a
lamp, puts it
in a cellar
or under a
basket, but on
a stand, that
those who come
in may see the
light.
34 The lamp of
the body is
the eye.
Therefore when
your eye is
good, your whole
body is also
full of light;
but when it
is evil, your
body also is
full of darkness.
35 Therefore see whether
the light that
is in you isn’t
darkness.
36 If therefore
your whole body
is full of
light, having no
part dark, it
will be wholly
full of light,
as when the
lamp with its
bright shining gives you
light.”
37 Now
as he spoke,
a certain Pharisee
asked him to dine
with him. He
went in and sat
at the table.
38 When
the Pharisee saw
it, he marveled
that he had
not first washed himself
before dinner.
39 The
Lord said to
him,
“Now you
Pharisees cleanse
the outside of
the cup and
of the platter,
but your inward
part is full
of extortion and
wickedness.
40 You foolish ones, didn’t
he who made
the outside make
the inside also?
41 But give for
gifts to
the needy those
things which are
within, and
behold, all
things will be
clean to you.
42 But woe to
you Pharisees!
For you tithe
mint and rue
and every herb,
but you bypass
justice and God’s
love. You ought
to have done
these, and not
to have left
the other undone.
43 Woe to you
Pharisees! For
you love the best
seats in the
synagogues and
the greetings in
the marketplaces.
44 Woe to you,
scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!
For you are
like hidden graves,
and the men
who walk over
them don’t know
it.”
45 One
of the lawyers
answered him, “Teacher, in saying this
you insult us
also.”
46 He
said,
“Woe to you
lawyers also!
For you load
men with burdens
that are difficult
to carry, and
you yourselves won’t
even lift one
finger to help carry
those burdens.
47 Woe to you!
For you build
the tombs of
the prophets,
and your
fathers killed them.
48 So you testify
and consent to
the works of
your fathers.
For they killed
them, and you
build their tombs.
49 Therefore also
the wisdom of
God said, ‘I
will send to
them prophets
and apostles; and
some of them
they will kill
and persecute,
50 that the blood
of all the
prophets, which
was shed from
the foundation
of the world,
may be required
of this
generation,
51 from the blood
of Abel to
the blood of Zachariah,
who perished between
the altar and
the sanctuary.’ Yes,
I tell you,
it will
be required of
this generation.
52 Woe to you
lawyers! For you
took away the
key of knowledge.
You didn’t enter
in yourselves,
and those who
were entering in,
you hindered.”
53 As
he said these
things to them,
the scribes and
the Pharisees began
to be terribly angry,
and to draw many
things out of
him,
54 lying
in wait for
him, and seeking
to catch him
in something he
might say, that
they might accuse
him.