Luke 11

1. Now it came to pass that as He was praying in a certain place, when He finished, one of His disciples said to Him, “Lord, teach us how to pray, as John also taught his disciples.”

2. And He said to them, “When you pray, say, ‘Our Father Who is in heaven, hallowed be Your name; Your kingdom come; Your will be done, as in heaven, so also upon the earth.

3. Give us our bread as needed day by day;

4. And forgive us our sins, as we ourselves also forgive everyone who is indebted to us; and lead us not into temptation, but rescue us from the evil one.’ “

5. Then He said to them, “Who among you has a friend that he shall go to at midnight, and say to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves;

6. For a friend of mine has come to me on a journey, and I do not have anything to set before him’;

7. And from within he shall answer, saying, ‘Do not disturb me. The door has already been shut, and my children are in bed with me. I cannot get up to give to you.’

8. I say to you, even if he will not rise to give to him on account of being his friend, yet because of his importunity he will rise and give him as much as he needs.

9. And I say to you, ask, and it shall be given to you; seek, and you shall find; knock, and it shall be opened to you. The force of the Greek means: ask, and keep on asking; seek, and keep on seeking; knock, and keep on knocking.

10. For everyone who asks receives; and the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, it shall be opened.

11. But which of you who is a father, if a son shall ask for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he shall ask for a fish, will give him a serpent instead of a fish?

12. Or if he shall ask for an egg, will give him a scorpion?

13. Therefore if you, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more shall your Father Who is in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him?”

14. Now He was casting out a demon, and it was dumb; but it came to pass that when the demon had gone out, the one who had been dumb spoke. And the multitudes were amazed.

15. But some of them said, “He is casting out demons by the power of Beelzebub, prince of the demons.”

16. And others, tempting Him, were seeking a sign from heaven.

17. But He, knowing their thoughts, said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and a house divided against a house falls.

18. And if Satan also is divided against himself, how shall his kingdom stand? Consider now, because you are saying that I cast out demons by Beelzebub.

19. And if I by Beelzebub cast out demons, by whom do your sons cast them out? Because of this, they shall be your judges.

20. But if I by the finger of God cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.

21. When a strong man who is armed guards his own dwelling, his goods are safe.

22. But when a stronger man than he comes upon him, he overcomes him, and takes away his armor in which he trusted, and divides his spoil.

23. The one who is not with Me is against Me, and the one who does not gather with Me scatters.

24. When the unclean spirit has gone out of a man, it goes through waterless places, seeking rest; and when it does not find any, it says, ‘I will return to the house from which I came out.’

25. And when it comes, it finds it swept and adorned.

26. Then it goes and takes seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they enter in and dwell there; and the last state of that man is worse than the first.”

27. And it came to pass that as He spoke these things, a certain woman lifted up her voice from the multitude and said to Him, “Blessed is the womb that bore You, and the breasts that You sucked.”

28. And He said, “Yes, rather, blessed are those who hear the Word of God and keep it.”

29. Now when the multitudes had crowded around even more, He began to say, “This is an evil generation, seeking after a sign; but no sign shall be given to it except the sign of Jonah the prophet.

30. For as Jonah was a sign to the Ninevites, in the same way also shall the Son of man be a sign to this generation.

31. The queen of the south shall rise up in the judgment with the men of this generation, and shall condemn them, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and behold, a greater than Solomon is here.

32. The men of Nineveh shall stand up in the judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it, because they repented at Jonah’s proclamation; and behold, a greater than Jonah is here.

33. Now no one who lights a lamp sets it in a secret place or under a bushelbasket, but on a lampstand, so that those who are entering may see the light.

34. The light of the body is the eye. Therefore, when your eye is without guile, your whole body is light; but when your eye is evil, your body also is dark.

35. Therefore, beware that the light that is in you is not darkness.

36. Now then, if your whole body is light, not having any part dark, it shall be full of light, as when a lamp shining brightly gives you light.”

37. Now while He was speaking, a certain Pharisee asked Him to dine with him; and He went in and sat down.

38. But the Pharisee, seeing this, wondered why He had not first washed before dinner.

39. Then the Lord said to him, “Now, you Pharisees cleanse the outside of the cup and the dish, but inside you are full of greediness and wickedness.

40. Fools, did not He Who made the outside also make the inside?

41. Rather, give alms from the things that are within; and behold, all things are clean to you.

42. But woe to you, Pharisees! For you pay tithes of mint and rue and every herb, but you pass over the judgment and the love of God. It is obligatory for you to do these things, and not to set aside those lesser things.

43. Woe to you, Pharisees! For you love the chief seat in the synagogues and the salutations in the marketplaces.

44. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are as unseen tombs, and men who walk over them do not know it.”

45. And one of the doctors of the law answered and said to Him, “Teacher, by saying these things You are also insulting us.”

46. And He said, “Woe to you also, doctors of the law! For you weigh men down with burdens heavy to bear, but you yourselves do not touch the burdens with one of your fingers.

47. Woe to you! For you build the tombs of the prophets, whom your fathers killed.

48. Therefore, you are bearing witness and consenting to the works of your fathers; for they indeed killed them, and you build their tombs.

49. Because of this, the wisdom of God also said, ‘I will send prophets and apostles to them; and some of them they shall kill, and others they shall drive out

50. So that the blood of all the prophets, poured out from the foundation of the world, may be required of this generation

51. From the blood of Abel to the blood of Zacharias, who perished between the altar and the house of God.’ Yes, I tell you, it shall be required of this generation.

52. Woe to you, doctors of the law! For you have taken away the key of knowledge; you yourselves did not enter, and you prevented those who were entering.”

53. And as He was saying these things to them, the scribes and the Pharisees began vehemently to press and provoke Him to speak about many things,

54. While they kept a close watch on Him, seeking to catch something out of His mouth so that they might accuse Him.