Luke 11:1-33

1It happened that while 1Jesus was praying in a certain place, after He had finished, one of His disciples said to Him, “Lord, teach us to pray just as John also taught his disciples.” 2And He said to them, “2When you pray, say: ‘3Father, hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come.3Give us 4each day our 5daily bread.4And forgive us our sins, For we ourselves also forgive everyone who 6is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation.’”

5Then He said to them, “7Suppose one of you has a friend, and goes to him at midnight and says to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves; 6for a friend of mine has come to me from a journey, and I have nothing to set before him’; 7and from inside he answers and says, ‘Do not bother me; the door has already been shut and my children 8and I are in bed; I cannot get up and give you anything.’ 8I tell you, even though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet 9because of his 10persistence he will get up and give him as much as he needs.

9“So I say to you, 1112ask, and it will be given to you; 13seek, and you will find; 14knock, and it will be opened to you. 10For everyone who asks, receives; and he who seeks, finds; and to him who knocks, it will be opened. 11Now 15suppose one of you fathers is asked by his son for a 16fish; he will not give him a snake instead of a fish, will he? 12Or if he is asked for an egg, he will not give him a scorpion, will he? 1317If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your 18heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him?”

1419And He was casting out a demon, and it was mute; when the demon had gone out, the mute man spoke; and the crowds were amazed. 15But some of them said, “He casts out demons 20by 21Beelzebul, the ruler of the demons.” 16Others, 22to test Him, 23were demanding of Him a 24sign from heaven. 1725But He knew their thoughts and said to them, “26Any kingdom divided against itself is laid waste; and a house divided against 27itself falls. 18If 28Satan also is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand? For you say that I cast out demons by 29Beelzebul. 19And if I by 30Beelzebul cast out demons, by whom do your sons cast them out? So they will be your judges. 20But if I cast out demons by the 31finger of God, then 32the kingdom of God has come upon you. 21When 33a strong man, fully armed, guards his own house, his possessions are 34undisturbed. 22But when someone stronger than he attacks him and overpowers him, he takes away from him all his armor on which he had relied and distributes his plunder. 2335He who is not with Me is against Me; and he who does not gather with Me, scatters.

24“36When the unclean spirit goes out of 37a man, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, and not finding any, it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ 25And when it comes, it finds it swept and put in order. 26Then it goes and takes along seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they go in and live there; and the last state of that man becomes worse than the first.”

27While 38Jesus was saying these things, one of the women in the crowd raised her voice and said to Him, “39Blessed is the womb that bore You and the breasts at which You nursed.” 28But He said, “On the contrary, blessed are 40those who hear the word of God and observe it.”

29As the crowds were increasing, He began to say, “41This generation is a wicked generation; it 42seeks for a 43sign, and yet no 44sign will be given to it but the 45sign of Jonah. 30For just as 46Jonah became a 47sign to the Ninevites, so will the Son of Man be to this generation. 31The 48Queen of the South will rise up with the men of this generation at the judgment and condemn them, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and behold, something greater than Solomon is here. 32The men of Nineveh will stand up with this generation at the judgment and condemn it, because 49they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and behold, something greater than Jonah is here.

33“50No one, after lighting a lamp, puts it away in a cellar nor under a basket, but on the lampstand, so that those who enter may see the light.