< Luke 11 >
1 And it came to pass as he was in a certain place praying, when he ceased, one of his disciples said to him, Lord, teach us to pray, even as John also taught his disciples.
2 And he said to them, When ye pray, say, Father, thy name be hallowed; thy kingdom come;
3 give us our needed bread for each day;
4 and remit us our sins, for we also remit to every one indebted to us; and lead us not into temptation.
5 And he said to them, Who among you shall have a friend, and shall go to him at midnight and say to him, Friend, let me have three loaves,
6 since a friend of mine on a journey is come to me, and I have nothing to set before him;
7 and he within answering should say, Do not disturb me; the door is already shut, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot rise up to give [it] thee?
8 — I say to you, Although he will not get up and give [them] to him because he is his friend, because of his shamelessness, at any rate, he will rise and give him as many as he wants.
9 And I say to you, Ask, and it shall be given to you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened to you.
10 For every one that asks receives; and he that seeks finds; and to him that knocks it will be opened.
11 But of whom of you that is a father shall a son ask bread, and [the father] shall give him a stone? or also a fish, and instead of a fish shall give him a serpent?
12 or if also he shall ask an egg, shall give him a scorpion?
13 If therefore ye, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much rather shall the Father who is of heaven give [the] Holy Spirit to them that ask him?
14 And he was casting out a demon, and it was dumb; and it came to pass, the demon being gone out, the dumb [man] spoke. And the crowds wondered.
15 But some from among them said, By Beelzebub the prince of the demons casts he out demons.
16 And others tempting [him] sought from him a sign out of heaven.
17 But he, knowing their thoughts, said to them, Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation: and a house set against a house falls;
18 and if also Satan is divided against himself, how shall his kingdom subsist? because ye say that I cast out demons by Beelzebub.
19 But if I by Beelzebub cast out demons, your sons — by whom do they cast [them] out? For this reason they shall be your judges.
20 But if by the finger of God I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God is come upon you.
21 When the strong [man] armed keeps his own house, his goods are in peace;
22 but when the stronger than he coming upon [him] overcomes him, he takes away his panoply in which he trusted, and he will divide the spoil [he has taken] from him.
23 He that is not with me is against me, and he that gathers not with me scatters.
24 When the unclean spirit has gone out of the man, he goes through dry places seeking rest; and not finding [any] he says, I will return to my house whence I came out.
25 And having come, he finds it swept and adorned.
26 Then he goes and takes seven other spirits worse than himself, and entering in, they dwell there; and the last condition of that man becomes worse than the first.
27 And it came to pass as he spake these things, a certain woman, lifting up her voice out of the crowd, said to him, Blessed is the womb that has borne thee, and the paps which thou hast sucked.
28 But he said, Yea rather, blessed are they who hear the word of God and keep [it].
29 But as the crowds thronged together, he began to say, This generation is a wicked generation: it seeks a sign, and a sign shall not be given to it but the sign of Jonas.
30 For as Jonas was a sign to the Ninevites, thus shall also the Son of man be to this generation.
31 A 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, more than Solomon is here.
32 Men of Nineveh shall stand up in the judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: for they repented at the preaching of Jonas; and behold, more than Jonas is here.
33 But no one having lit a lamp sets it in secret, nor under the corn-measure, but on the lamp-stand, that they who enter in may see the light.
34 The lamp of the body is thine eye: when thine eye is simple, thy whole body also is light; but when it is wicked, thy body also is dark.
35 See therefore that the light which is in thee be not darkness.
36 If therefore thy whole body [is] light, not having any part dark, it shall be all light as when the lamp lights thee with its brightness.
37 But as he spoke, a certain Pharisee asked him that he would dine with him; and entering in he placed himself at table.
38 But the Pharisee seeing [it] wondered that he had not first washed before dinner.
39 But the Lord said to him, Now do ye Pharisees cleanse the outside of the cup and of the dish, but your inward [parts] are full of plunder and wickedness.
40 Fools, has not he who has made the outside made the inside also?
41 But rather give alms of what ye have, and behold, all things are clean to you.
42 But woe unto you, Pharisees, for ye pay tithes of mint and rue and every herb, and pass by the judgment and the love of God: these ye ought to have done, and not have left those aside.
43 Woe unto you, Pharisees, for ye love the first seat in the synagogues and salutations in the market-places.
44 Woe unto you, for ye are as the sepulchres which appear not, and the men walking over them do not know [it].
45 And one of the doctors of the law answering says to him, Teacher, in saying these things thou insultest us also.
46 And he said, To you also woe, doctors of the law, for ye lay upon men burdens heavy to bear, and yourselves do not touch the burdens with one of your fingers.
47 Woe unto you, for ye build the sepulchres of the prophets, but your fathers killed them.
48 Ye bear witness then, and consent to the works of your fathers; for they killed them, and ye build [their sepulchres].
49 For this reason also the wisdom of God has said, I will send to them prophets and apostles, and of these shall they kill and drive out by persecution,
50 that the blood of all the prophets which has been 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; yea, I say to you, it shall be required of this generation.
52 Woe unto you, the doctors of the law, for ye have taken away the key of knowledge; yourselves have not entered in, and those who were entering in ye have hindered.
53 And as he said these things to them, the scribes and the Pharisees began to press him urgently, and to make him speak of many things;
54 watching him, [and seeking] to catch something out of his mouth, [that they might accuse him].