Luke 11:21-54

21When 1a strong man, fully armed, guards his own house, his possessions are 2undisturbed. 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. 233He who is not with Me is against Me; and he who does not gather with Me, scatters.

24“4When the unclean spirit goes out of 5a 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 6Jesus was saying these things, one of the women in the crowd raised her voice and said to Him, “7Blessed is the womb that bore You and the breasts at which You nursed.” 28But He said, “On the contrary, blessed are 8those who hear the word of God and observe it.”

29As the crowds were increasing, He began to say, “9This generation is a wicked generation; it 10seeks for a 11sign, and yet no 12sign will be given to it but the 13sign of Jonah. 30For just as 14Jonah became a 15sign to the Ninevites, so will the Son of Man be to this generation. 31The 16Queen 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 17they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and behold, something greater than Jonah is here.

33“18No 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. 3419The eye is the lamp of your body; when your eye is 20clear, your whole body also is full of light; but when it is 21bad, your body also is full of darkness. 35Then watch out that the light in you is not darkness. 36If therefore your whole body is full of light, with no dark part in it, it will be wholly illumined, as when the lamp illumines you with its rays.”

37Now when He had spoken, a Pharisee asked Him to have lunch with him; and He went in, and reclined at the table. 38When the Pharisee saw it, he was surprised that He had not first 2223ceremonially washed before the 24meal. 39But 25the Lord said to him, “Now 26you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and of the platter; but 27inside of you, you are full of robbery and wickedness. 4028You foolish ones, did not He who made the outside make the inside also? 41But 29give that which is within as charity, and 30then all things are 31clean for you.

42“32But woe to you Pharisees! For you 33pay tithe of mint and rue and every kind of garden herb, and yet disregard justice and the love of God; but these are the things you should have done without neglecting the others. 43Woe to you Pharisees! For you 34love the chief seats in the synagogues and the respectful greetings in the market places. 4435Woe to you! For you are like 36concealed tombs, and the people who walk over them are unaware of it.”

45One of the 3738lawyers said to Him in reply, “Teacher, when You say this, You insult us too.” 46But He said, “Woe to you 39lawyers as well! For 40you weigh men down with burdens hard to bear, 41while you yourselves will not even touch the burdens with one of your fingers. 4742Woe to you! For you build the 43tombs of the prophets, and it was your fathers who killed them. 48So you are witnesses and approve the deeds of your fathers; because it was they who killed them, and you build their tombs. 49For this reason also 44the wisdom of God said, ‘45I will send to them prophets and apostles, and some of them they will kill and some they will 46persecute, 50so that the blood of all the prophets, shed 47since the foundation of the world, may be 48charged against this generation, 51from 49the blood of Abel to 50the blood of Zechariah, who was killed between the altar and the house of God; yes, I tell you, it shall be 51charged against this generation.’ 52Woe to you 5253lawyers! For you have taken away the key of knowledge; 54you yourselves did not enter, and you hindered those who were entering.”

53When He left there, the scribes and the Pharisees began to be very hostile and to question Him closely on many subjects, 5455plotting against Him 56to catch 57Him in something He might say.