Chapter 11
1 When he finished praying in a certain place , one of his disciples said to him , " Lord , teach us to pray , just as John also taught his disciples ."
2 He said to them , " When you pray , say , ‘ Our Father in heaven, may your name be kept holy. May your Kingdom come . May your will be done on earth, as it is in heaven.
3 Give us day by day our daily bread.
4 Forgive us our sins, for we ourselves also forgive everyone who is indebted to us . Bring us not into temptation , but deliver us from the evil one .’"
5 He said to them , " Which of you , if you go to a friend at midnight and tell him , ‘ Friend , lend me three loaves of bread,
6 for a friend of mine has come to me from a journey , and I have nothing to set before him ,’
7 and he from within will answer and say , ‘Don’ t bother me . The door is now shut , and my children are with me in bed . I can ’ t get up and give it to you ’?
8 I tell you , although he will not rise and give it 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 , keep asking , and it will be given you . Keep seeking , and you will find . Keep knocking , and it will be opened to you .
10 For everyone who asks receives . He who seeks finds . To him who knocks it will be opened.
11 " Which of you fathers , if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone ? Or if he asks for a fish , he won’ t give him a snake instead of a fish , will he ?
12 Or if he asks for an egg , he won’t give him a scorpion , will he ?
13 If you then , being evil , know how to give good gifts to your children , how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him ?"
14 He was casting out a demon , and it was mute . When the demon had gone out , the mute man spoke ; and the multitudes marvelled .
15 But some of them said , " He casts out demons by Beelzebul, the prince of the demons ."
16 Others , testing him , sought from him a sign from heaven .
17 But he , knowing their thoughts , said to them , " Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation. A house divided against itself falls .
18 If Satan also is divided against himself , how will his kingdom stand ? For you say that I cast out demons by Beelzebul.
19 But if I cast out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your children cast them out ? Therefore they will be your judges .
20 But if I by God ’s finger cast out demons , then God ’s Kingdom has come to you .
21 " When the strong man , fully armed , guards his own dwelling, his goods are safe .
22 But when someone stronger attacks him and overcomes him , he takes from him his whole armour in which he trusted , and divides his plunder .
23 " He who is not with me is against me . He who doesn’ t gather with me scatters .
24 The unclean spirit , when he has gone out of the man , passes through dry places , seeking rest; and finding none , he says , ‘ I will turn back to my house from which I came out .’
25 When he returns, he finds it swept and put in order .
26 Then he goes and takes seven other spirits more evil than himself , and they enter in and dwell there . The last state of that man becomes worse than the first ."
27 It came to pass , as he said these things , a certain woman out of the multitude lifted up her voice and said to him , " Blessed is the womb that bore you , and the breasts which nursed you !"
28 But he said , " On the contrary , blessed are those who hear the word of God , and keep it ."
29 When the multitudes were gathering together to him , he began to say , " This is an evil generation . It seeks after a sign . No sign will be given to it but the sign of Jonah the prophet.
30 For even as Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites , so the Son of Man will also be to this generation .
31 The Queen of the South will rise up in the judgement with the men of this generation and will condemn them , for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon ; and behold , one greater than Solomon is here .
32 The men of Nineveh will stand up in the judgement with this generation , and will condemn it , for they repented at the preaching of Jonah ; and behold , one greater than Jonah is here .
33 " No one , when he has lit a lamp , puts it in a cellar or under a basket , but on a stand, that those who come in may see the light .
34 The lamp of the body is the eye . Therefore when your eye is good , your whole body is also full of light ; but when it is evil , your body also is full of darkness .
35 Therefore see whether the light that is in you isn’ t darkness .
36 If therefore your whole body is full of light , having no part dark , it will be wholly full of light , as when the lamp with its bright shining gives you light ."
37 Now as he spoke , a certain Pharisee asked him to dine with him . He went in and sat at the table.
38 When the Pharisee saw it , he marvelled that he had not first washed himself before dinner.
39 The Lord said to him , " Now you Pharisees cleanse the outside of the cup and of the platter , but your inward part is full of extortion and wickedness .
40 You foolish ones, didn’ t he who made the outside make the inside also ?
41 But give for gifts to the needy those things which are within , and behold , all things will be clean to you .
42 But woe to you Pharisees ! For you tithe mint and rue and every herb , but you bypass justice and God ’s love. You ought to have done these , and not to have left the other undone.
43 Woe to you Pharisees ! For you love the best seats in the synagogues and the greetings in the marketplaces.
44 Woe to you , scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like hidden graves , and the men who walk over them don’ t know it ."
45 One of the lawyers answered him , " Teacher , in saying this you insult us also ."
46 He said , " Woe to you lawyers also ! For you load men with burdens that are difficult to carry, and you yourselves won’ t even lift one finger to help carry those burdens .
47 Woe to you ! For you build the tombs of the prophets , and your fathers killed them .
48 So you testify and consent to the works of your fathers . For they killed them , and you build their tombs.
49 Therefore also the wisdom of God said , ‘ I will send to them prophets and apostles; and some of them they will kill and persecute ,
50 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 to the blood of Zachariah, who perished between the altar and the sanctuary.’ Yes , I tell you , it will be required of this generation .
52 Woe to you lawyers ! For you took away the key of knowledge . You didn’ t enter in yourselves , and those who were entering in , you hindered ."
53 As he said these things to them , the scribes and the Pharisees began to be terribly angry, and to draw many things out of him ,
54 lying in wait for him , and seeking to catch him in something he might say , that they might accuse him .