Luke 11

One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.”

It happened that while ^[a]Jesus was praying in a certain place, after He had finished, one of His disciples said to Him, “Lord, teach us to pray just as John also taught his disciples.”

He said to them, “When you pray, say:

Then Jesus said to them, “Suppose you have a friend, and you go to him at midnight and say, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread;

Then He said to them, “^[d]Suppose one of you has a friend, and goes to him at midnight and says to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves;

a friend of mine on a journey has come to me, and I have no food to offer him.’

for a friend of mine has come to me from a journey, and I have nothing to set before him’;

And suppose the one inside answers, ‘Don’t bother me. The door is already locked, and my children and I are in bed. I can’t get up and give you anything.’

and from inside he answers and says, ‘Do not bother me; the door has already been shut and my children ^[e]and I are in bed; I cannot get up and give you anything.’

I tell you, even though he will not get up and give you the bread because of friendship, yet because of your shameless audacity^[e] he will surely get up and give you as much as you need.

I tell you, even though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his ^[f]persistence he will get up and give him as much as he needs.

“So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.

“So I say to you, ^[g]ask, and it will be given to you; ^[h]seek, and you will find; ^[i]knock, and it will be opened to you.

For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.

For everyone who asks, receives; and he who seeks, finds; and to him who knocks, it will be opened.

“Which of you fathers, if your son asks for^[f] a fish, will give him a snake instead?

Now ^[j]suppose one of you fathers is asked by his son for a ^[k]fish; he will not give him a snake instead of a fish, will he?

Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion?

Or if he is asked for an egg, he will not give him a scorpion, will he?

If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”

Jesus and Beelzebul

If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your ^[l]heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him?”

Pharisees’ Blasphemy

Jesus was driving out a demon that was mute. When the demon left, the man who had been mute spoke, and the crowd was amazed.

And He was casting out a demon, and it was mute; when the demon had gone out, the mute man spoke; and the crowds were amazed.

But some of them said, “By Beelzebul, the prince of demons, he is driving out demons.”

But some of them said, “He casts out demons by Beelzebul, the ruler of the demons.”

Others tested him by asking for a sign from heaven.

Others, ^[m]to test Him, were demanding of Him a ^[n]sign from heaven.

Jesus knew their thoughts and said to them: “Any kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and a house divided against itself will fall.

But He knew their thoughts and said to them, “^[o]Any kingdom divided against itself is laid waste; and a house divided against ^[p]itself falls.

If Satan is divided against himself, how can his kingdom stand? I say this because you claim that I drive out demons by Beelzebul.

If Satan also is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand? For you say that I cast out demons by Beelzebul.

Now if I drive out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your followers drive them out? So then, they will be your judges.

And if I by Beelzebul cast out demons, by whom do your sons cast them out? So they will be your judges.

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

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

“When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own house, his possessions are safe.

When ^[q]a strong man, fully armed, guards his own house, his possessions are ^[r]undisturbed.

But when someone stronger attacks and overpowers him, he takes away the armor in which the man trusted and divides up his plunder.

But when someone stronger than he attacks him and overpowers him, he takes away from him all his armor on which he had relied and distributes his plunder.

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

He who is not with Me is against Me; and he who does not gather with Me, scatters.

“When an impure spirit comes out of a person, it goes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it. Then it says, ‘I will return to the house I left.’

“When the unclean spirit goes out of ^[s]a man, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, and not finding any, it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’

When it arrives, it finds the house swept clean and put in order.

And when it comes, it finds it swept and put in order.

Then it goes and takes seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there. And the final condition of that person is worse than the first.”

Then it goes and takes along seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they go in and live there; and the last state of that man becomes worse than the first.”

As Jesus was saying these things, a woman in the crowd called out, “Blessed is the mother who gave you birth and nursed you.”

While ^[t]Jesus was saying these things, one of the women in the crowd raised her voice and said to Him, “Blessed is the womb that bore You and the breasts at which You nursed.”

He replied, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it.”

The Sign of Jonah

But He said, “On the contrary, blessed are those who hear the word of God and observe it.”

The Sign of Jonah

As the crowds increased, Jesus said, “This is a wicked generation. It asks for a sign, but none will be given it except the sign of Jonah.

As the crowds were increasing, He began to say, “This generation is a wicked generation; it seeks for a ^[u]sign, and yet no ^[v]sign will be given to it but the ^[w]sign of Jonah.

For as Jonah was a sign to the Ninevites, so also will the Son of Man be to this generation.

For just as Jonah became a ^[x]sign to the Ninevites, so will the Son of Man be to this generation.

The Queen of the South will rise at the judgment with the people of this generation and condemn them, for she came from the ends of the earth to listen to Solomon’s wisdom; and now something greater than Solomon is here.

The Queen of the South will rise up with the men of this generation at the judgment and condemn them, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and behold, something greater than Solomon is here.

The men of Nineveh will stand up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and now something greater than Jonah is here.

The Lamp of the Body

The men of Nineveh will stand up with this generation at the judgment and condemn it, because they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and behold, something greater than Jonah is here.

“No one lights a lamp and puts it in a place where it will be hidden, or under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, so that those who come in may see the light.

“No one, after lighting a lamp, puts it away in a cellar nor under a basket, but on the lampstand, so that those who enter may see the light.

Your eye is the lamp of your body. When your eyes are healthy,^[g] your whole body also is full of light. But when they are unhealthy,^[h] your body also is full of darkness.

The eye is the lamp of your body; when your eye is ^[y]clear, your whole body also is full of light; but when it is ^[z]bad, your body also is full of darkness.

See to it, then, that the light within you is not darkness.

Then watch out that the light in you is not darkness.

Therefore, if your whole body is full of light, and no part of it dark, it will be just as full of light as when a lamp shines its light on you.”

Woes on the Pharisees and the Experts in the Law

If therefore your whole body is full of light, with no dark part in it, it will be wholly illumined, as when the lamp illumines you with its rays.”

Woes upon the Pharisees

When Jesus had finished speaking, a Pharisee invited him to eat with him; so he went in and reclined at the table.

Now when He had spoken, a Pharisee *asked Him to have lunch with him; and He went in, and reclined at the table.

But the Pharisee was surprised when he noticed that Jesus did not first wash before the meal.

When the Pharisee saw it, he was surprised that He had not first ^[aa]ceremonially washed before the ^[ab]meal.

Then the Lord said to him, “Now then, you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside you are full of greed and wickedness.

But the Lord said to him, “Now you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and of the platter; but ^[ac]inside of you, you are full of robbery and wickedness.

You foolish people! Did not the one who made the outside make the inside also?

You foolish ones, did not He who made the outside make the inside also?

But now as for what is inside you—be generous to the poor, and everything will be clean for you.

But give that which is within as charity, and ^[ad]then all things are clean for you.

“Woe to you Pharisees, because you give God a tenth of your mint, rue and all other kinds of garden herbs, but you neglect justice and the love of God. You should have practiced the latter without leaving the former undone.

“But woe to you Pharisees! For you pay tithe of mint and rue and every kind of garden herb, and yet disregard justice and the love of God; but these are the things you should have done without neglecting the others.

“Woe to you Pharisees, because you love the most important seats in the synagogues and respectful greetings in the marketplaces.

Woe to you Pharisees! For you love the chief seats in the synagogues and the respectful greetings in the market places.

“Woe to you, because you are like unmarked graves, which people walk over without knowing it.”

Woe to you! For you are like ^[ae]concealed tombs, and the people who walk over them are unaware of it.”

One of the experts in the law answered him, “Teacher, when you say these things, you insult us also.”

One of the ^[af]lawyers *said to Him in reply, “Teacher, when You say this, You insult us too.”

Jesus replied, “And you experts in the law, woe to you, because you load people down with burdens they can hardly carry, and you yourselves will not lift one finger to help them.

But He said, “Woe to you lawyers as well! For you weigh men down with burdens hard to bear, ^[ag]while you yourselves will not even touch the burdens with one of your fingers.

“Woe to you, because you build tombs for the prophets, and it was your ancestors who killed them.

Woe to you! For you build the ^[ah]tombs of the prophets, and it was your fathers who killed them.

So you testify that you approve of what your ancestors did; they killed the prophets, and you build their tombs.

So you are witnesses and approve the deeds of your fathers; because it was they who killed them, and you build their tombs.

Because of this, God in his wisdom said, ‘I will send them prophets and apostles, some of whom they will kill and others they will persecute.’

For this reason also the wisdom of God said, ‘I will send to them prophets and apostles, and some of them they will kill and some they will ^[ai]persecute,

Therefore this generation will be held responsible for the blood of all the prophets that has been shed since the beginning of the world,

so that the blood of all the prophets, shed since the foundation of the world, may be ^[aj]charged against this generation,

from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah, who was killed between the altar and the sanctuary. Yes, I tell you, this generation will be held responsible for it all.

from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah, who was killed between the altar and the house of God; yes, I tell you, it shall be ^[ak]charged against this generation.’

“Woe to you experts in the law, because you have taken away the key to knowledge. You yourselves have not entered, and you have hindered those who were entering.”

Woe to you ^[al]lawyers! For you have taken away the key of knowledge; you yourselves did not enter, and you hindered those who were entering.”

When Jesus went outside, the Pharisees and the teachers of the law began to oppose him fiercely and to besiege him with questions,

When He left there, the scribes and the Pharisees began to be very hostile and to question Him closely on many subjects,

waiting to catch him in something he might say.

plotting against Him to catch ^[am]Him in something He might say.