< Luke 11 >
1 It happened that Jesus was praying in a certain place; and when he had done, one of his disciples said to him, Master, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples.
2 He said to them, When you pray, say, Father, thy name be hallowed; thy Reign come;
3 give us each day our daily bread;
4 and forgive us our sins, for even we forgive all who offend us; and lead us not into temptation.
5 Moreover, he said to them, Should one of you have a friend, and go to him at midnight, and say, Friend, lend me three loaves;
6 for a friend of mine is come off his road to see me, and I have nothing to set before him;
7 and he, from within, should answer, Do not disturb me; the door is now locked; I and my children are in bed; I can not rise to give you:
8 I tell you, though he will not rise and supply him, because he is his friend; he will, because of his importunity, get up, and give him as many as he wants.
9 I likewise tell you, ask, and you shall obtain; seek, and you shall find; knock, and the door shall be opened to you:
10 for whosoever asks, obtains; whosoever seeks, finds; and to every one who knocks, the door is opened.
11 What father amongst you, would give his son a stone when he asks bread; or, when he asks a fish, would, instead of a fish, give him a serpent;
12 or, when he asks an egg, would give him a scorpion?
13 If you, therefore, bad as you are, can give good things to your children; how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him!
14 Again, he was expelling a demon, which caused dumbness; and when the demon was gone out, the dumb spake, and the people wondered.
15 Some, however, said, He expels demons by Beelzebub, the prince of demons.
16 Others, to try him, asked of him a sign from heaven.
17 But he, knowing their thoughts, said to them, By intestine broils, any kingdom may be desolated, one family falling after another.
18 Now, if there be intestine broils in the kingdom of Satan; how can that kingdom subsist? for, you say, that I expel demons by Beelzebub.
19 Moreover, if I by Beelzebub expel demons; by whom do your sons expel them? Wherefore they shall be your judges.
20 But if I, by the finger of God, expel demons, the Reign of God has overtaken you.
21 When the strong one armed, guards his palace, his effects are secure.
22 But if he who is stronger, shall attack and overcome him, he will strip him of his armor, on which he relied, and dispose of his spoils.
23 He who is not for me, is against me; and he who gathers not with me, scatters.
24 The unclean spirit, when he is gone out of a man, wanders over parched deserts, in search of a resting place. But not finding any, he says, I will return to my house, whence I came.
25 Being come, he finds it swept and embellished.
26 Then he goes and brings seven other spirits more wicked than himself; and having entered, they dwell there; and the last state of that man becomes worse than the first.
27 While he was saying these things, a woman, raising her voice, cried to him, from amidst the crowd, Happy the womb which bore you! and the breast which suckled you!
28 Say, rather, replied he, Happy they who hear the word of God, and obey.
29 When the people crowded together, he said, This is an evil generation. They demand a sign; but no sign shall be given them, only the sign of Jonah.
30 For, as Jonah was a sign to the Ninevites, so shall the Son of Man be to this generation.
31 The queen of the south country will arise in the judgment against the men of this generation, and cause them to be condemned: because she came from the extremities of the earth, to hear the wise discourses of Solomon: and behold, here is something greater than Solomon.
32 The men of Nineveh will stand up in the judgment against this generation, and cause it to be condemned: because they reformed when warned by Jonah: and behold, here is something greater than Jonah.
33 A lamp is lighted, not to be concealed, or put under a vessel, but on a stand; that they who enter may have light.
34 The lamp of the body is the eye: when, therefore, your eye is sound, the whole body is enlightened; but when your eye is distempered, your body is in darkness.
35 Take heed, then, lest the light which is in you, be darkness.
36 If your whole body, therefore, be enlightened, having no part dark; the whole will be so enlightened, as when a lamp lights you by its flame.
37 While he was speaking, a Pharisee asked him to dine with him. And he went and placed himself at table.
38 But the Pharisee was surprised to observe that he used no washing before dinner.
39 Then the Lord said to him, As for you, Pharisees, you cleanse the outside of your cups and dishes, while you yourselves are inwardly full of rapacity and malevolence.
40 Unthinking men! did not he who made the outside, make the inside also?
41 Only give in alms what you have, and all things shall be clean to you.
42 Alas, for you, Pharisees! because you pay the tithe of mint and rue, and of every kind of herb, and neglect justice and the love of God. These things you ought to have practiced, and not to have omitted those.
43 Alas, for you, Pharisees! because you love the most conspicuous seats in synagogues, and salutations in public places.
44 Alas, for you! because you are like concealed graves, over which people walk without knowing it.
45 Here, one of the lawyers interposing, said, By speaking thus, Rabbi, you reproach us also.
46 He answered, Alas, for you, lawyers! also; because you lade men with intolerable burdens--burdens which you yourselves will not so much as touch with one of your fingers.
47 Alas, for you! because you build the monuments of the prophets, whom your fathers killed.
48 Surely you are both vouchers and accessories to the deeds of your fathers; for they killed them, and you build their monuments.
49 Wherefore, thus says the wisdom of God, I will send them prophets and Apostles: some of them they will kill, others they will banish;
50 so that the blood of all the prophets, which has been shed since the formation of the world, shall be required of this generation;
51 from the blood of Abel, to the blood of Zechariah, who fell between the altar and the house of God. Yes, I assure you, all shall be required of this generation.
52 Alas, for you, lawyers! because you have carried off the key of knowledge; you have not entered yourselves, and those who entering, you hindered.
53 While he spoke these things, the Scribes and the Pharisees began vehemently to press him with questions, on many points;
54 laying snares for him, in order to draw from his own mouth, matter of accusation against him.
