Luke 11:1-33

1Once Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he stopped praying, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray as John taught his disciples.”

2Jesus told them, “When you pray, say this: Father, let your name be kept holy. Let your kingdom come.

3Give us our bread day by day.

4Forgive us as we forgive everyone else. Don’t allow us to be tempted.”

5Jesus said to his disciples, “Suppose one of you has a friend. Suppose you go to him at midnight and say, ‘Friend, let me borrow three loaves of bread.

6A friend of mine on a trip has dropped in on me, and I don’t have anything to serve him.’

7Your friend might answer you from inside his house, ‘Don’t bother me! The door is already locked, and my children are in bed. I can’t get up to give you anything.’

8I can guarantee that although he doesn’t want to get up to give you anything, he will get up and give you whatever you need because he is your friend and because you were so bold.

9“So I tell you to ask, and you will receive. Search, and you will find. Knock, and the door will be opened for you.

10Everyone who asks will receive. The one who searches will find, and for the person who knocks, the door will be opened.

11“If your child asks you, his father, for a fish, would you give him a snake instead?

12Or if your child asks you for an egg, would you give him a scorpion?

13Even though you’re evil, you know how to give good gifts to your children. So how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him?”

14Jesus was forcing a demon out of a man. The demon had made the man unable to talk. When the demon had gone out, the man began to talk. The people were amazed.

15But some of them said, “He can force demons out of people only with the help of Beelzebul, the ruler of demons.”

16Others wanted to test Jesus and demanded that he show them some miraculous sign from heaven.

17Since Jesus knew what they were thinking, he said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself is ruined. A house divided against itself falls.

18Now, if Satan is divided against himself, how can his kingdom last? I say this because you say Beelzebul helps me force demons out of people.

19If I force demons out with the help of Beelzebul, who helps your followers force them out? That’s why they will be your judges.

20But if I force out demons with the help of God’s power, then God’s kingdom has come to you.

21“When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own mansion, his property is safe.

22But a stronger man than he may attack him and defeat him. Then the stronger man will take away all the weapons in which the strong man trusted and will divide the loot.

23“Whoever isn’t with me is against me. Whoever doesn’t gather with me scatters.

24“When an evil spirit comes out of a person, it goes through dry places looking for a place to rest. But it doesn’t find any. Then it says, ‘I’ll go back to the home I left.’

25When it comes, it finds the house swept clean and in order.

26Then the spirit goes and brings along seven other spirits more evil than itself. They enter and take up permanent residence there. In the end the condition of that person is worse than it was before.”

27While Jesus was speaking, a woman in the crowd shouted, “How blessed is the mother who gave birth to you and the breasts that nursed you.”

28Jesus replied, “Rather, how blessed are those who hear and obey God’s word.”

29As the people were gathering around him, Jesus said, “The people living today are evil. They look for a miraculous sign. But the only sign they will get is the sign of Jonah.

30Just as Jonah became a miraculous sign to the people of Nineveh, so the Son of Man will be a miraculous sign to the people living today.

31The queen from the south will stand up at the time of judgment with the men who live today. She will condemn them, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear Solomon’s wisdom. But look, someone greater than Solomon is here!

32The men of Nineveh will stand up at the time of judgment with the people living today. Since the men of Nineveh turned to God and changed the way they thought and acted when Jonah spoke his message, they will condemn the people living today. But look, someone greater than Jonah is here!

33“No one lights a lamp and hides it or puts it under a basket. Instead, everyone who lights a lamp puts it on a lamp stand so that those who come in will see its light.