Luke 11
1 Once Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples asked him, “Lord, please teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.”
Then it happened, when He finished praying in a certain place, that one of His disciples said to Him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John also taught his disciples.”
2 Jesus told them, “When you pray, say, ‘Father, let your name be honored as holy. May your kingdom come.
So He said to them: “Whenever you pray, say: Our Father who is in the heavens, your name must be reverenced. Your Kingdom must come. Your will must be done on earth as it is in heaven.
3 Give us every day the food we need.
Give us day by day our daily bread.
4 Forgive us our sins, just as we forgive everyone who sins against us. Keep us from temptation.’”
Also, forgive us our sins, because we also forgive everyone indebted to us. And, do not lead us into testing, but deliver us from the malignant one.”
5 Jesus went on to tell them, “Say you have a friend and you go to him in the middle of the night and ask, ‘My friend, lend me three loaves of bread
Then He said to them: “Who among you will have a friend and go to him at midnight and say to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves,
6 because a friend of mine has come to visit me, and I don't have any food to give him.’
because a friend has come to me from a journey, and I have nothing to set before him’;
7 Your friend in the house might reply, ‘Don't bother me—I've already locked the door, and I and my children have gone to bed. I can't get up to give you anything now.’
and he will answer from within and say, ‘Don't bother me; the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot get up and give to you?’
8 I tell you, even though he refuses to get up and give you anything, despite you being his friend, if you are persistent, your friend will get up and give you everything you need.
I say to you, even if he will not get up and give 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: ask, and you shall receive; seek, and you shall find; knock, and the door shall be opened to you.
“So I say to 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 everyone who seeks, finds; and to everyone who knocks the door will be opened.
Because everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.
11 Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, would give him a snake instead?
And which father among you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if a fish, will he give him a snake instead of a fish?
12 Or if he asks for an egg, would you give him a scorpion?
Or if he asks for an egg, will he give him a scorpion?
13 So if you, even though you are evil, still know to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him?”
If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!”
14 Jesus was driving out a demon that had made a man dumb. When the demon had left, the man who was dumb spoke, and the crowds were amazed.
Then He was casting out a demon, and it was mute. As a result, when the demon had gone out the mute spoke! And the crowds marveled.
15 But some of them said, “He is driving out demons using the power of Beelzebub, the ruler of demons.”
But some of them said, “It's by Beelzebul, the ruler of the demons, that he casts out demons.”
16 Others were trying to test Jesus by demanding a miraculous sign from heaven.
While others kept asking Him for a sign from heaven, testing.
17 Jesus knew what they were thinking and said, “Any kingdom divided against itself will be destroyed. A family divided against itself will fall.
But He, knowing their thoughts, said to them: “Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and a house divided against itself falls.
18 If Satan is divided against himself, how can his kingdom stand? You say that I cast out demons using the power of Beelzebub.
So if Satan also is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand?—since you say I cast out demons by Beelzebul!
19 But if I drive out demons by the power of Beelzebub, by whose power do your own people drive them out? They themselves will condemn you as wrong!
Further, if I am casting out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore they will be your judges.
20 However, if I am driving out demons by the power of God, then this proves God's kingdom has arrived. It's right here among you!
But if I cast out demons by the finger of God, surely the Kingdom of God has come upon you.
21 When a strong man who is fully armed guards his house, all he owns is safe.
“When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own dwelling, his possessions are safe.
22 But if a stronger man comes and defeats him, taking from him all his weapons that he depended on, then he can carry off all his possessions.
But when someone stronger than he attacks, he overcomes him, takes away all his armor in which he trusted, and distributes his spoils.
23 Anyone who is not with me is against me, and anyone who doesn't build together with me is breaking it all apart.
“He who is not with me is against me, and he who does not gather with me scatters.
24 When an evil spirit leaves someone, it goes through the desert looking for a place to stay. When it doesn't find anywhere, it says, ‘I'll return to the house I left.’
“Whenever an unclean spirit goes out from 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 out.’
25 When it returns, it finds its old home is swept and tidy.
And coming it finds it swept and put in order.
26 So it goes and finds seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they go in and live there. In the end that man is worse off than before.”
Then it goes and picks up seven other spirits, more malignant than itself, and they go in and live there; so the last state of that man becomes worse than the first.”
27 As he was speaking, a woman in the crowd called out, “Blessed is the womb from where you came and the breasts that nursed you.”
And then, as He was saying these things, a woman in the crowd raised her voice and said to Him, “Blessed is the womb that bore you, and the breasts that you sucked!”
28 But Jesus said, “Even more blessed are those who hear God's word, and follow what it says.”
But He said, “More than that, blessed are those who hear the word of God and obey it!”
29 As people crowded around him, Jesus began telling them, “This is an evil generation for it's looking for some miraculous sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah.
Now as the crowds were increasing, He began to say: “This is a malignant generation. It keeps wanting a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah.
30 In the same way that Jonah was a sign to the people of Nineveh, so will the Son of man be a sign to this generation.
Just as Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites, so also will the Son of the Man be to this generation.
31 The queen of the south will rise in the judgment together with the people of this generation and will condemn them, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear Solomon's wisdom, and now there is someone greater than Solomon here!
The queen of the South will be raised up in the judgment with the men of this generation, and she will condemn them, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and indeed a greater than Solomon is here.
32 The people of Nineveh rise in the judgment together with this generation, and will condemn it, for they repented when they heard Jonah's message, and now there's someone greater than Jonah here!
The men of Nineveh will rise up in the judgment with this generation, and they will condemn it, because they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and indeed a greater than Jonah is here.
33 No one lights a lamp and then hides it or places it under a bowl. No, you put it on a lamp stand so that those who come into the house can see the light.
“No one, having lit a lamp, puts it in hiding or under a basket, but on its stand, so that those who come in may see the light.
34 Your eye is the light for your body. When your eye is good, your whole body is full of light. But when your eye is bad, your body is in the dark.
The lamp of the body is the eye. Therefore, whenever your ‘eye’ is good, your whole body is illuminated. But when it is malignant, your body also is darkened.
35 So make sure the light you have in you is not actually darkness.
So see to it that the ‘light’ in you not be darkness.
36 If your whole body is full of light, with no areas of darkness, then it will be completely illuminated, just as a bright lamp gives you light.”
If then your whole body is full of light, not having any part dark, the whole will be illuminated, as when the bright shining of a lamp gives you light.”
37 After Jesus had finished speaking, a Pharisee invited him to come and eat with him. So Jesus went and sat down to a meal.
Now as He spoke, a certain Pharisee invited Him to eat with him. So He went in and reclined.
38 The Pharisee was surprised that Jesus didn't wash his hands before eating as ceremonially required.
But the Pharisee, noticing that He did not first wash before the meal, was critical.
39 So the Lord told him, “You Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and the dish, but inside you're full of greed and wickedness.
So the Lord said to him: “Now you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and the dish, but your inside is full of greed and malignancy.
40 You're so foolish! Don't you think the one who made the outside made the inside as well?
Fools! Did not He who made the outside also make the inside?
41 If, acting from within, you do acts of kindness to others, then everything will be clean to you.
Nevertheless, give what is possible as alms; then indeed all things are clean to you.
42 Shame on you Pharisees! You pay tithe on herbs and plants, but you neglect justice and the love of God. You need to pay attention to the latter, while not leaving the former things undone.
“But woe to you Pharisees! You tithe mint and rue and every herb, but you ignore justice and the love of God. These it was necessary to do, without leaving those undone.
43 Shame on you Pharisees! You love to have the best seats in the synagogues, and to be greeted with respect when you go to the markets.
Woe to you Pharisees! You love the best seat in the synagogues, and greetings in the marketplaces.
44 Shame on you! You are like unmarked graves that people walk over without knowing.”
Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! You are like unperceived graves, that people walk on without knowing it.”
45 One of the experts in religious law reacted, saying, “Teacher, when you talk like this, you're insulting us too!”
Then one of the lawyers reacted and said to him, “Teacher, by saying these things you insult us also!”
46 Jesus replied, “Shame on you lawyers too! You place burdens on people that are too hard to carry, but you don't lift a finger to help them.
So He said: “Woe to you lawyers also! You load men down with burdens hard to carry, but you yourselves do not touch the burdens with one of your fingers.
47 Shame on you! You build memorial tombs to honor the prophets, but it was your own fathers who killed them in the first place!
Woe to you! You restore the tombs of the prophets, it being your fathers who killed them.
48 By doing this you are witnesses showing that you agree with what your fathers did. They killed the prophets, and you build their tombs!
Thereby you witness to and approve of the deeds of your fathers; because they indeed killed them, while you restore their tombs.
49 This is why God in his wisdom said, ‘I will send them prophets and apostles; some they will kill, and others they will persecute.’
Also, because of this ‘the wisdom of God’ said: ‘I will send them prophets and apostles, and some of them they will kill and persecute,’
50 Consequently, this generation will be held accountable for the blood of all the prophets shed from the beginning of the world,
so 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 right up to the blood of Zachariah who was killed between the altar and the sanctuary. Yes, I tell you, this generation will be held accountable for all of it.
from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah, who perished between the altar and the sanctuary. Yes, I say to you, it shall be required of this generation!
52 Shame on you lawyers! You have removed the key of knowledge. You didn't go in yourselves, and you prevented others from going in too.”
Woe to you lawyers! You have taken away the key of knowledge; you yourselves have not entered, and you have hindered those who were entering!”
53 As Jesus was leaving, the religious teachers and the Pharisees began to attack him aggressively, asking questions to provoke him.
Well when He had said these things to them, the scribes and the Pharisees began to urge Him on vehemently and to cross-examine Him about many things,
54 They were hoping to catch him out, trying to get him to say something they could use against him.
lying in wait for Him, trying to catch Him in something He might say, so that they might accuse Him.
