Luke 11

11 ¹ Now it happened that while he was praying in a certain place, when he stopped, one of his disciples said to him, "Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples."

² He said to them, "When you pray, say: Father, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come." ³ "Give us each day our daily bread." ⁴ "And forgive us our sins, for we ourselves also forgive everyone who is indebted to us. And do not lead us into temptation."

⁵ And he said to them, "Which of you who has a friend will go to him at midnight and say to him, 'Friend, lend me three loaves,' ⁶ "because a friend of mine has come to me on a journey, and I have nothing to set before him,' ⁷ "and he answers from inside, 'Do not bother me; the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed. I cannot get up and give you anything'? ⁸ "I tell you, even though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his shameless persistence he will rise and give him whatever he needs."

⁹ "And I tell you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. ¹⁰ "For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.

¹¹ "What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a snake; ¹² "or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? ¹³ "If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the Father from heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!"

Our Father's Kingdom Has Come

¹⁴ Now he was casting out a demon that was mute. When the demon had gone out, the mute man spoke, and the crowds were amazed. ¹⁵ But some of them said, "By Beelzebul, the ruler of the demons, he casts out demons," ¹⁶ while others, testing him, kept seeking from him a sign from heaven. ¹⁷ But knowing their thoughts, he said to them, "Every kingdom divided against itself is ruined, and a house divided against a house falls. ¹⁸ "And if Satan also is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand? For you say that I cast out demons by Beelzebul. ¹⁹ "And if I cast out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore they will be your judges. ²⁰ "But if I cast out demons by the finger of our Father, then the kingdom of our Father has come upon you.

²¹ "When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own palace, his possessions are safe. ²² "But when one stronger than he attacks him and overcomes him, he takes away the armor in which he trusted and divides up his plunder.

²³ "Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters.

²⁴ "When the unclean spirit has gone out of a person, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, and finding none it says, 'I will return to my house from which I came.' ²⁵ "And when it comes, it finds the house swept and put in order. ²⁶ "Then it goes and takes seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they enter and live there. And the last state of that person becomes worse than the first."

²⁷ Now as he said these things, a woman in the crowd raised her voice and said to him, "Blessed is the womb that bore you, and the breasts at which you nursed!"

²⁸ But he said, "Blessed rather are those who hear the word of our Father and keep it!"

One Greater Than Jonah Is Here

²⁹ As the crowds were increasing, he began to say, "This generation is an evil generation. It seeks a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah. ³⁰ "For just as Jonah became a sign to the people of Nineveh, so will the Son of Man be to this generation. ³¹ "The queen of the South will rise up at the judgment with the men of this generation and condemn them, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and something greater than Solomon is here. ³² "The men of Nineveh will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and something greater than Jonah is here.

The Lamp of the Body

³³ "No one, after lighting a lamp, puts it in a cellar or under a basket, but on a stand, so that those who come in may see the light. ³⁴ "Your eye is the lamp of your body. When your eye is healthy, your whole body is full of light, but when it is bad, your body is full of darkness. ³⁵ "Therefore be careful that the light in you is not darkness. ³⁶ "If then your whole body is full of light, with no part of it dark, it will be wholly bright, as when a lamp gives you light with its rays."

Woe to Empty Religion

³⁷ Now as he was speaking, a Pharisee asked him to dine with him, so he went in and reclined at the table. ³⁸ The Pharisee was astonished to see that he did not first wash before the meal. ³⁹ And the Lord said to him, "Now you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and the dish, but inside you are full of greed and wickedness. ⁴⁰ "You fools! Did not the one who made the outside make the inside also? ⁴¹ "But give to the poor the things that are within, and everything will be clean for you. ⁴² "But woe to you Pharisees! For you tithe mint and rue and every herb, and neglect justice and the love of our Father. These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others. ⁴³ "Woe to you Pharisees! For you love the best seat in the synagogues and the greetings in the marketplaces. ⁴⁴ "Woe to you! For you are like unmarked graves, and people walk over them without knowing it."

⁴⁵ One of the lawyers answered him, "Teacher, in saying these things you insult us also."

⁴⁶ And he said, "Woe to you lawyers also! For you load people with burdens hard to bear, and you yourselves do not touch the burdens with one of your fingers. ⁴⁷ "Woe to you! For you build the tombs of the prophets, and it was your fathers who killed them. ⁴⁸ "So you are witnesses and you consent to the deeds of your fathers, for they killed them, and you build their tombs. ⁴⁹ "For this reason also the wisdom of our Father said, 'I will send them prophets and apostles, some of whom they will kill and persecute,' ⁵⁰ "so that the blood of all the prophets, shed from the foundation of the world, may be charged against this generation, ⁵¹ "from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah, who perished between the altar and the sanctuary. Yes, I tell you, it will be charged against this generation. ⁵² "Woe to you lawyers! For you have taken away the key of knowledge. You did not enter yourselves, and you hindered those who were entering."

⁵³ As he went away from there, the scribes and the Pharisees began to press him hard and to provoke him to speak about many things, ⁵⁴ lying in wait for him, to catch him in something he might say.