Luke 11
1 Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples.”
2 He said to them, “When you pray, say: ‘Father, may your name be kept holy; may your kingdom come;
3 Give us each day our daily bread;
4 And forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who owes us; and do not lead us into temptation.’”
5 He said to them, “Which of you has a friend and will go to him at midnight and say, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread.
6 A friend of mine has arrived at my house from a journey, and I have nothing to serve him.’
7 And the one inside will answer, ‘Don't bother me; the door is already shut, and my children are in bed with me. I can't get up and give you anything.’
8 I tell you, even if he won't get up and give him anything because he is his friend, because of his friend's persistence he will get up and give him whatever he needs.
9 And I tell you: ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you.
10 For everyone who asks receives; whoever seeks finds; and the door will be opened to whoever knocks.
11 Which father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead of a fish?
12 Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion?
13 So if you, though you are evil, 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!”
14 Jesus was driving out a demon, and it was mute. When the demon came out, the mute man spoke, and the crowds were amazed.
15 But some of them said, “He drives out demons by Beelzebul, the ruler of demons.”
16 Others, to test him, kept asking him for a sign from heaven.
17 But he knew their thoughts and said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and one house falls upon another.
18 If Satan is also divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand? For you say that I drive out demons by Beelzebul.
19 And if I drive out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your sons drive them out? So they will be your judges.
20 But if I drive out demons by the finger of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.
21 When a strong man, fully armed, guards his house, his possessions are secure.
22 But when someone stronger than he is comes and defeats him, he takes away the armor he trusted in and divides up his plunder.
23 Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters.
24 When an impure spirit comes out of a person, it roams through waterless places, looking for rest. Finding none, it says, ‘I will return to my house, where I came from.’
25 When it arrives, it finds the house swept and put in order.
26 Then it goes and brings along seven other spirits more evil than itself; they enter and settle there, and that person's final state is worse than the first.”
27 As Jesus 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.”
28 But he said, “Rather, blessed are those who hear the word of God and keep it.”
29 As the crowds gathered around him, he began to say, “This generation is an evil generation. It asks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah.
30 For just as Jonah was a sign to the Ninevites, so the Son of Man will be to this generation.
31 The Queen of the South will rise at the judgment with the men of this generation and condemn them, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear Solomon's wisdom, and here is something greater than Solomon.
32 The men of Nineveh will rise at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because they repented at Jonah's preaching, and here is something greater than Jonah.
33 No one lights a lamp and puts it in a hidden place or under a bowl, but on a lampstand, so that those who come in can see the light.
34 Your eye is the lamp of your body. When your eye is healthy, your whole body is bright; but when it is unhealthy, your body is also dark.
35 So be careful that the light in you is not darkness.
36 If, then, your whole body is bright, with no part dark, it will be entirely bright, as when a lamp lights you with its gleam.”
37 When Jesus had finished speaking, a Pharisee invited him to have lunch with him. He went in and took his place at the table.
38 The Pharisee was surprised to see that he had not first washed ceremonially before the meal.
39 But 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.
40 Fools! Didn't the one who made the outside make the inside too?
41 Instead, give what is inside as alms, and then everything will be clean for you.
42 But woe to you Pharisees! You give a tenth of mint, rue, and every kind of garden herb, but you pass over justice and the love of God. You should have done these things without neglecting the others.
43 Woe to you Pharisees! You love the front seats in the synagogues and the greetings in the marketplaces.
44 Woe to you! You are like unmarked graves, and people walk over them without knowing it.”
45 Then one of the experts in the Law replied, “Teacher, when you say these things, you insult us too.”
46 He said, “Woe to you experts in the Law too! You load people with burdens that are hard to carry, while you yourselves don't touch the burdens with even one of your fingers.
47 Woe to you! You build the tombs of the prophets, and it was your ancestors who killed them.
48 So you are witnesses and approve of what your ancestors did: they killed them, and you build their tombs.
49 That is why the wisdom of God said, ‘I will send them prophets and apostles, and they will kill and persecute some of them.
50 As a result, the blood of all the prophets, shed since the foundation of the world, will be charged to this generation,
51 from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah, who died between the altar and the temple.’ Yes, I tell you, it will be charged to this generation.
52 Woe to you experts in the Law! You have taken away the key to knowledge. You yourselves did not enter, and you hindered those who were entering.”
53 When he left there, the scribes and Pharisees began to oppose him fiercely and press him with questions about many things,
54 laying traps for him, trying to catch him saying something.
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