Father, 2 may your name be honored; 3
may your kingdom come. 4
11:3 Give us each day our daily bread, 5
11:4 and forgive us our sins,
for we also forgive everyone who sins 6 against us.
And do not lead us into temptation.” 7
11:5 Then 8 he said to them, “Suppose one of you 9 has a friend, and you go to him 10 at midnight and say to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread, 11 11:6 because a friend of mine has stopped here while on a journey, 12 and I have nothing to set before 13 him.’ 11:7 Then 14 he will reply 15 from inside, ‘Do not bother me. The door is already shut, and my children and I are in bed. 16 I cannot get up and give you anything.’ 17 11:8 I tell you, even though the man inside 18 will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of the first man’s 19 sheer persistence 20 he will get up and give him whatever he needs.
11:9 “So 21 I tell you: Ask, 22 and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and the door 23 will be opened for you. 11:10 For everyone who asks 24 receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks, the door 25 will be opened. 11:11 What father among you, if your 26 son asks for 27 a fish, will give him a snake 28 instead of a fish? 11:12 Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? 29 11:13 If you then, although you are 30 evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit 31 to those who ask him!”
11:14 Now 32 he was casting out a demon that was mute. 33 When 34 the demon had gone out, the man who had been mute began to speak, 35 and the crowds were amazed. 11:15 But some of them said, “By the power of Beelzebul, 36 the ruler 37 of demons, he casts out demons.” 11:16 Others, to test 38 him, 39 began asking for 40 a sign 41 from heaven. 11:17 But Jesus, 42 realizing their thoughts, said to them, 43 “Every kingdom divided against itself is destroyed, 44 and a divided household falls. 45 11:18 So 46 if 47 Satan too is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand? I ask you this because 48 you claim that I cast out demons by Beelzebul. 11:19 Now if I cast out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your sons 49 cast them 50 out? Therefore they will be your judges. 11:20 But if I cast out demons by the finger 51 of God, then the kingdom of God 52 has already overtaken 53 you. 11:21 When a strong man, 54 fully armed, guards his own palace, 55 his possessions are safe. 56 11:22 But 57 when a stronger man 58 attacks 59 and conquers him, he takes away the first man’s 60 armor on which the man relied 61 and divides up 62 his plunder. 63 11:23 Whoever is not with me is against me, 64 and whoever does not gather with me scatters. 65
11:24 “When an unclean spirit 66 goes out of a person, 67 it passes through waterless places 68 looking for rest but 69 not finding any. Then 70 it says, ‘I will return to the home I left.’ 71 11:25 When it returns, 72 it finds the house 73 swept clean and put in order. 74 11:26 Then it goes and brings seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they go in and live there, so 75 the last state of that person 76 is worse than the first.” 77
11:27 As 78 he said these things, a woman in the crowd spoke out 79 to him, “Blessed is the womb 80 that bore you and the breasts at which you nursed!” 81 11:28 But he replied, 82 “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey 83 it!”
11:29 As 84 the crowds were increasing, Jesus 85 began to say, “This generation is a wicked generation; it looks for a sign, 86 but no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah. 87 11:30 For just as Jonah became a sign to the people of Nineveh, 88 so the Son of Man will be a sign 89 to this generation. 90 11:31 The queen of the South 91 will rise up at the judgment 92 with the people 93 of this generation and condemn them, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon – and now, 94 something greater 95 than Solomon is here! 11:32 The people 96 of Nineveh will stand up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because they repented when Jonah preached to them 97 – and now, 98 something greater than Jonah is here!
11:33 “No one after lighting a lamp puts it in a hidden place 99 or under a basket, 100 but on a lampstand, so that those who come in can see the light. 11:34 Your eye is the lamp of your body. When your eye is healthy, 101 your whole body is full of light, but when it is diseased, 102 your body is full of darkness. 11:35 Therefore see to it 103 that the light in you 104 is not darkness. 11:36 If 105 then 106 your whole body is full of light, with no part in the dark, 107 it will be as full of light as when the light of a lamp shines on you.” 108
11:37 As he spoke, 109 a Pharisee 110 invited Jesus 111 to have a meal with him, so he went in and took his place at the table. 112 11:38 The 113 Pharisee was astonished when he saw that Jesus 114 did not first wash his hands 115 before the meal. 11:39 But the Lord said to him, “Now you Pharisees clean 116 the outside of the cup and the plate, but inside you are full of greed and wickedness. 117 11:40 You fools! 118 Didn’t the one who made the outside make the inside as well? 119 11:41 But give from your heart to those in need, 120 and 121 then everything will be clean for you. 122
11:42 “But woe to you Pharisees! 123 You give a tenth 124 of your mint, 125 rue, 126 and every herb, yet you neglect justice 127 and love for God! But you should have done these things without neglecting the others. 128 11:43 Woe to you Pharisees! You love the best seats 129 in the synagogues 130 and elaborate greetings 131 in the marketplaces! 11:44 Woe to you! 132 You are like unmarked graves, and people 133 walk over them without realizing it!” 134
11:45 One of the experts in religious law 135 answered him, “Teacher, when you say these things you insult 136 us too.” 11:46 But Jesus 137 replied, 138 “Woe to you experts in religious law as well! 139 You load people 140 down with burdens difficult to bear, yet you yourselves refuse to touch 141 the burdens with even one of your fingers! 11:47 Woe to you! You build 142 the tombs of the prophets whom your ancestors 143 killed. 11:48 So you testify that you approve of 144 the deeds of your ancestors, 145 because they killed the prophets 146 and you build their 147 tombs! 148 11:49 For this reason also the wisdom 149 of God said, ‘I will send them prophets and apostles, some of whom they will kill and persecute,’ 11:50 so that this generation may be held accountable 150 for the blood of all the prophets that has been shed since the beginning 151 of the world, 152 11:51 from the blood of Abel 153 to the blood of Zechariah, 154 who was killed 155 between the altar and the sanctuary. 156 Yes, I tell you, it will be charged against 157 this generation. 11:52 Woe to you experts in religious law! You have taken away 158 the key to knowledge! You did not go in yourselves, and you hindered 159 those who were going in.”
11:53 When he went out from there, the experts in the law 160 and the Pharisees began to oppose him bitterly, 161 and to ask him hostile questions 162 about many things, 11:54 plotting against 163 him, to catch 164 him in something he might say.