Luke 11
1 One day Jesus was at a certain place praying, and, when he had finished, one of his disciples said to him, ‘Master, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples.’
And it came to pass as he was in a certain place praying, that when he ceased, a certain man of his disciples said to him, Lord, teach us to pray as John also taught his disciples.
2 ‘When you pray,’ Jesus answered, ‘say – “Father, may your name be held holy, your kingdom come.
And he said to them, When ye pray, say, Our Father in the heavens, hallowed be thy name. May thy kingdom come, may thy will happen on the earth as also in heaven.
3 Give us each day the bread that we will need;
Give us our bread sufficient for each day.
4 and forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone who wrongs us; and take us not into temptation.”’
And forgive us our sins, for we ourselves also forgive every man who is indebted to us. And bring us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
5 Jesus also said to them, ‘Suppose that one of you who has a friend were to go to him in the middle of the night and say “Friend, lend me three loaves,
And he said to them, Which of you will have a friend, and will go to him at midnight, and say to him, Friend, lend me three loaves,
6 for a friend of mine has arrived at my house after a journey, and I have nothing to offer him;”
since a friend arrived from the road to me, and I do not have what I would set before him,
7 And suppose that the other should answer from inside “Do not trouble me; the door is already fastened, and my children and I are in bed; I cannot get up and give you anything”;
and that man from inside, having answered, would say, Do not cause toils for me. The door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed. I am not able, after getting up, to give thee?
8 I tell you that, even though he will not get up and give him anything because he is a friend, yet because of his persistence he will rouse himself and give him what he wants.
I say to you, though he will not give him, after getting up, because he is his friend, yet because of his persistence, having awaken, he will give him as many as he needs.
9 ‘And so I say to you – Ask, and your prayer will be granted, search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you.
And I say to you, ask, and it will be given you. Seek, and ye will find. Knock, and it will be opened.
10 For the person who asks receives, everyone who searches finds, and to the person who knocks the door will be opened.
For every man who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.
11 What father among you, if his son asks him for a fish, will give him a snake instead,
And which father of you, if the son will ask a loaf, will give him a stone, or also if a fish, in place of a fish will give him a serpent?
12 or, if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion?
Or if he should ask for an egg, will he give him a scorpion?
13 If you, then, naturally wicked though you are, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!’
If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more the Father from heaven will give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him?
14 Once Jesus was driving out a mute demon, and, when the demon had gone out, the mute man spoke. The people were amazed at this;
And he was casting out a demon, and it was mute. And it happened when the demon was gone out, the mute man spoke. And the multitudes marveled,
15 but some of them said, ‘He drives out demons by the help of Beelzebul, the chief of the demons’;
but some of them said, He casts out the demons by Beelzebub, ruler of the demons.
16 while others, to test him, asked him for some sign from the heavens.
And others, challenging, sought from him a sign from the sky.
17 Jesus himself, however, was aware of what they were thinking, and said to them, ‘Any kingdom wholly divided against itself becomes a desolation; and a divided house falls.
But he, knowing their thoughts, said to them, Every kingdom that was divided against itself is made desolate, and a house against a house falls.
18 So, too, if Satan is wholly divided against himself, how can his kingdom last? Yet you say that I drive out demons by the help of Beelzebul.
And if Satan also is divided against himself, how will his kingdom be made to stand? Because ye say that I cast out the demons by Beelzebub.
19 But, if it is by Beelzebul’s help that I drive out demons, by whose help is it that your own sons drive them out? Therefore they will themselves be your judges.
And if I cast out the demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your sons cast them out? Because of this they will be your judges.
20 But, if it is by the hand of God that I drive out demons, then the kingdom of God must already be upon you.
But if by a finger of God I cast out the demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.
21 When a strong man is keeping guard, fully armed, over his own mansion, his property is in safety;
When the fully armed strong man guards his palace, the things possessed by him are in peace,
22 but, when one still stronger has attacked and overpowered him, he takes away all the weapons on which the other had relied, and divides his spoil.
but when a stronger than he comes, after defeating him, he takes away his full armor in which he trusted, and divides his booty.
23 Whoever is not with me is against me, and the person who does not help me to gather is scattering.
He who is not with me is against me, and he who does not gather with me scatters.
24 No sooner does a foul spirit leave someone, than it passes through places where there is no water, in search of rest; and finding none, it says “I will go back to the home which I left”;
When the unclean spirit departs out of the man, it passes through waterless places seeking rest. And not finding, it says, I will return to my house from where I came out.
25 but, on coming there, it finds it unoccupied, swept, and put in order.
And when it comes, it finds it swept and put in order.
26 Then it goes and brings with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in, and make their home there; and the last state of that person proves to be worse than the first.’
Then it goes, and takes along seven other spirits more evil than itself, and having enter in, it dwells there. And the last state of that man becomes worse than the first.
27 As Jesus was saying this, a woman in the crowd, raising her voice, exclaimed, ‘Happy was the mother who bore you and nursed you!’
And it came to pass, as he said these things, a certain woman, having lifted up her voice out of the crowd, said to him, Blessed is the belly that bore thee, and the breasts that thou suckled.
28 But Jesus replied, ‘Rather, happy are those who listen to God’s message and keep it.’
But he said, Blessed rather, are those who hear the word of God, and keep it.
29 As the crowds increased, Jesus began to speak, ‘This generation is a wicked generation. It is asking a sign, but no sign will be given it except the sign of Jonah.
And when the multitudes gathered together he began to say, This generation is evil. They seek a sign, and no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah, the prophet.
30 For, as Jonah became a sign to the people of Nineveh, so will the Son of Man be to this generation.
For as Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites, so also the Son of man will be to this generation.
31 At the judgment the Queen of the South will rise up with the people of this generation, and will condemn them, because she came from the ends of the earth to listen to the wisdom of Solomon; and here is more than a Solomon!
The queen of the south will awake in the judgment with the men of this generation, and will condemn them, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and behold, a greater than Solomon is here.
32 At the judgment the men of Nineveh will stand up with this generation, and will condemn it, because they repented at Jonah’s proclamation; and here is more than a Jonah!
The men of Nineveh will rise up in the judgment with this generation, and will condemn it, because they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and behold, a greater than Jonah is here.
33 No one lights a lamp, and then puts it in the cellar or under a basket, but he puts it on the lamp-stand, so that anyone who comes in may see the light.
And no man, having lit a lamp, puts it in a concealed place, nor under the bushel, but on the lampstand, so that those who enter in may see the light.
34 The lamp of the body is your eye. When your eye is unclouded, your whole body, also, is lit up; but, as soon as your eye is diseased, your body, also, is darkened.
The lamp of thy body is the eye. Therefore, when thine eye is sound, thy whole body is also bright, but when it is bad, thy body is also dark.
35 Take care, therefore, that the inner light is not darkness.
Watch therefore the light in thee not be darkness.
36 If, then, your whole body is lit up, and no corner of it darkened, the whole will be lit up, just as when a lamp gives you light by its brilliance.’
If therefore thy whole body is bright, not having any part dark, the whole will be bright, as when the lamp illuminates thee by the radiance.
37 As Jesus finished speaking, a Pharisee asked him to breakfast with him, and Jesus went in and took his place at the table.
Now as he spoke a certain Pharisee asks him that he might dine with him. And having entered in, he sat down.
38 The Pharisee noticed, to his astonishment, that Jesus omitted the ceremonial washing before breakfast.
And when the Pharisee saw, he marveled that he did not first wash before dinner.
39 But the Master said to him, ‘You Pharisees do, it is true, clean the outside of the cup and of the plate, but inside you yourselves are filled with greed and wickedness.
And the Lord said to him, Now ye Pharisees cleanse the outside of the cup and of the platter, but your interior is full of plundering and wickedness.
40 Fools! Did not the maker of the outside make the inside too?
Ye foolish men, did not he who made the outside also make the inside?
41 Only give away what is in them in charity, and at once you have the whole clean.
But give compassion, things that are inside, and behold, all things are clean to you.
42 But alas for you Pharisees! You pay tithes on mint, rue, and herbs of all kinds, and pass over justice and love to God. These last you ought to have put into practice without neglecting the first.
But woe to you Pharisees! Because ye tithe mint and rue and every plant, and pass by justice and the love of God. It is necessary to do these things, and not to neglect those things.
43 Alas for you Pharisees! You delight to have the front seat in the synagogues, and to be greeted in the markets with respect.
Woe to you Pharisees! Because ye love the place of honor in the synagogues, and the greetings in the marketplaces.
44 Alas for you! You are like unsuspected graves, over which men walk unawares.’
Woe to you scholars and Pharisees, hypocrites! Because ye are like the unseen sepulchers, and the men who walk over them do not know.
45 Here one of the students of the Law interrupted him by saying, ‘Teacher, when you say this, you are insulting us also.’
And having answered, a certain man of the lawyers says to him, Teacher, in saying these things thou rebuke us also.
46 But Jesus went on, ‘Alas for you, too, you students of the Law! You load people with loads that are too heavy to carry, but do not, yourselves, touch them with one of your fingers.
And he said, Woe also to you lawyers! Because ye load men with burdens difficult to bear, and ye yourselves touch not the burdens with one of your fingers.
47 Alas for you! You build the monuments of the prophets whom your ancestors killed.
Woe to you! Because ye build the sepulchers of the prophets, but your fathers killed them.
48 You are actually witnesses to your ancestors’ acts and show your approval of them, because, while they killed the prophets, you build tombs for them.
Consequently, ye testify and approve the works of your fathers, because they indeed killed them, and ye build their sepulchers.
49 That is why the wisdom of God said – “I will send to them prophets and apostles,
Because of this also the wisdom of God said, I will send to them prophets and apostles. And some of them they will kill and persecute,
50 some of whom they will persecute and kill, in order that the blood of all the prophets that has been spilt since the creation of the world may be exacted from this generation –
so that the blood of all the prophets that was shed from the foundation of the world may be required of this generation,
51 from the blood of Abel down to the blood of Zechariah, who was slain between the altar and the house of God.” Yes, I tell you, it will be exacted from this generation.
from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zachariah, who perished between the altar and the sanctuary. Yes, I say to you, it will be required of this generation.
52 Alas for you students of the Law! You have taken away the key of the door of knowledge. You have not gone in yourselves and you have hindered those who try to go in.’
Woe to you lawyers! Because ye took away the key of knowledge. Ye did not enter in yourselves, and ye hindered those who were entering in.
53 When Jesus left the house, the teachers of the Law and the Pharisees began to press him hard and question him closely on many subjects,
And after he said these things to them, the scholars and the Pharisees began to harass him extremely, and to provoke him to speak impulsively about more things,
54 laying traps for him, so as to seize on anything that he might say.
waiting to ambush him, seeking to catch something out of his mouth so that they might accuse him.
