Luke 11
1And it happened that while he was in a certain place praying, when he finished, one of his disciples said to him, "Lord, teach us to pray, just as John also taught his disciples."
2He said to them, "When you pray, say: Father, let your name be treated as holy; let your kingdom come. 3Give us each day our bread for the coming day. 4And forgive us our sins, for we ourselves also forgive everyone indebted to us. And do not bring us into the time of testing."
5And he said to them, "Suppose one of you has a friend, and you go to him at midnight and say to him, 'Friend, lend me three loaves, 6because a friend of mine has arrived from traveling and I have nothing to set before him.' 7And suppose he answers from inside, 'Don't bother me! The door has already been bolted, and my children are with me in bed. I cannot get up and give you anything.' 8I tell you, even if he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of the man's shameless persistence he will get up and give him whatever he needs.
9"And I tell you: Keep asking, and it will be given to you. Keep seeking, and you will find. Keep knocking, and it will be opened to you. 10For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.
11"What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? 12Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? 13If you then, being wicked, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the Father from heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!"
14Now he was casting out a demon that caused muteness. When the demon had gone out, the mute man spoke, and the crowds were amazed. 15But some of them said, "He casts out demons by Beelzebul, the ruler of the demons." 16Others, testing him, kept demanding a sign from heaven.
17But he, knowing their thoughts, said to them, "Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and house falls against house. 18If Satan also is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand? For you say I cast out demons by Beelzebul. 19But if I cast out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore they will be your judges. 20But if I cast out demons by the finger of God, then the kingdom of God has arrived upon you.
21"When the strong man, fully armed, guards his own estate, his possessions are secure. 22But when one stronger than he attacks and overpowers him, he takes away the full armor in which he trusted, and distributes his plunder.
23"Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters.
24"When the unclean spirit goes out of a person, it passes through waterless regions seeking rest, and finding none, it says, 'I will return to my house from which I came.' 25And when it arrives, it finds the house swept and put in order. 26Then it goes and brings along seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they enter and settle there, and the final condition of that person becomes worse than the first."
27As he was saying these things, a woman in the crowd raised her voice and said to him, "Blessed is the womb that carried you and the breasts that nursed you!" 28But he said, "Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and guard it."
29As the crowds were increasing, he began to say, "This generation is a wicked generation. It seeks a sign, and no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah. 30For just as Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites, so also will the Son of Man be to this generation. 31The Queen of the South will rise at 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 look, something greater than Solomon is here. 32The men of Nineveh will rise up at the judgment with this generation and will condemn it, because they repented at the proclamation of Jonah—and look, something greater than Jonah is here.
33"No one lights a lamp and puts it in a cellar or under a basket, but on the lampstand, so that those who enter may see the light. 34The lamp of the body is your eye. When your eye is sound, your whole body also is full of light. But when it is diseased, your body also is dark. 35Watch out, then, that the light in you is not darkness. 36If therefore your whole body is full of light, with no part dark, it will be entirely radiant, as when the lamp illuminates you with its flash."
37While he was speaking, a Pharisee asked him to dine with him. So he went in and reclined at table. 38The Pharisee, seeing this, was astonished that he did not first perform the ritual washing before the meal. 39But the Lord said to him, "Now you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and the dish, but inside you are full of greed and wickedness. 40Fools! Did not the one who made the outside also make the inside? 41But give what is within as charity, and look—everything becomes clean for you.
42"But woe to you Pharisees! For you tithe mint and rue and every garden herb, yet you neglect justice and the love of God. These things you ought to have done without neglecting the others. 43Woe to you Pharisees! For you love the seat of honor in the synagogues and the greetings in the marketplaces. 44Woe to you! For you are like unmarked graves, and people walk over them without knowing it."
45One of the legal experts answered him, "Teacher, when you say these things, you insult us too." 46And he said, "Woe to you legal experts as well! For you load people with burdens hard to carry, yet you yourselves do not touch the burdens with even one of your fingers. 47Woe to you! For you build the tombs of the prophets, but your fathers killed them. 48So you are witnesses and approve of the deeds of your fathers: they killed them, and you build their tombs.
49"For this reason also the Wisdom of God said, 'I will send them prophets and apostles, and some of them they will kill and persecute,' 50so that the blood of all the prophets shed since the foundation of the world may be charged against this generation— 51from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah, who perished between the altar and the sanctuary. Yes, I tell you, it will be charged against this generation.
52"Woe to you legal experts! For you have taken away the key of knowledge. You yourselves did not enter, and those who were entering you hindered."
53When he went out from there, the scribes and the Pharisees began to be fiercely hostile and to interrogate him about many things, 54lying in wait for him to catch something from his mouth.