Luke 11

Instruction about Prayer

1It happened that while 1Jesus was praying in a certain place, when 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, 4hallowed be Your name. 5Your kingdom come.3Give us 6each day our 7daily bread.4And forgive us our sins, For we ourselves also forgive everyone who 8is indebted to us. And do not lead us into temptation.’”

5And He said to them, “9Suppose one of you has a friend, and goes to him at midnight and says to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves, 6because a friend of mine has come to me from a journey and I have nothing to serve him’; 7and from inside he answers and says, ‘Do not bother me; the door has already been shut and my children 10and I are in bed; I cannot get up and give you anything.’ 8I tell you, even if he will not get up and give him anything just because he is his friend, yet 11because of his 12shamelessness he will get up and give him as much as he needs.

9“So I say to you, 1314ask, and it will be given to you; 15seek, and you will find; 16knock, 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. 11Now 17which one of you fathers will his son ask for a 18fish, and instead of a fish, he will give him a snake? 12Or he will even ask for an egg, and his father will give him a scorpion? 13So 19if you, despite being 20evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will 21your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him?”

Pharisees’ Blasphemy

1422And He was casting out a mute demon; when the demon had gone out, the man who was previously unable to speak talked, and the crowds were amazed. 15But some of them said, “He casts out the demons 23by 24Beelzebul, the ruler of the demons.” 16Others, 25to test Him, 26were demanding of Him a 27sign from heaven. 1728But He knew their thoughts and said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste; and a house divided against 29itself falls. 18And if 30Satan also has been divided against himself, how will his kingdom 31stand? For you claim that I cast out the demons by 32Beelzebul. 19Yet if by 33Beelzebul I cast out the demons, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore, they will be your judges. 20But if I cast out the demons by 34the 35finger of God, then 36the kingdom of God has come upon you. 21When 37a strong man, fully armed, guards his own house, his possessions are 38secure. 22But when someone stronger than he attacks him and overpowers him, that man takes away his armor on which he had relied and distributes his plunder. 2339The one who is not with Me is against Me; and the one who does not gather with Me scatters.

24“40When the unclean spirit comes out of 41a person, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, and not finding any, it then 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 brings along seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they come in and live there; and the last condition of that person becomes worse than the first.”

27While 42Jesus was saying these things, one of the women in the crowd raised her voice and said to Him, “43Blessed is the womb that carried You, and the breasts at which You nursed!” 28But He said, “On the contrary, blessed are 44those who hear the word of God and follow it.”

The Sign of Jonah

29Now as the crowds were increasing, He began to say, “45This generation is a wicked generation; it 46demands a 47sign, and so no 48sign will be given to it except the 49sign of Jonah. 30For just as 50Jonah became a 51sign to the Ninevites, so will the Son of Man be to this generation. 31The 52Queen 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 listen to 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 53they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and behold, something greater than Jonah is here.

33“54No one lights a lamp and puts it away in a cellar nor under a basket, but on the lampstand, so that those who enter may see the light. 3455Your eye is the lamp of your body; when your eye is 56clear, your whole body also is full of light; but when it is 57bad, your body also is full of darkness. 35So watch out that the light in you is not darkness. 36Therefore if your whole body is full of light, without any dark part, it will be wholly illuminated, as when the lamp illuminates you with its light.”

Woes upon the Pharisees

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 this, he was surprised that Jesus had not first 5859ceremonially washed before the 60meal. 39But 61the Lord said to him, “Now 62you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and of the dish; but your inside is full of greed and wickedness. 4063You foolish ones, did He who made the outside not make the inside also? 41But 64give that which is within as a charitable gift, and 65then all things are 66clean for you.

42“67But woe to you Pharisees! For you 68pay tithes of mint, rue, and every kind of garden herb, and yet you 69ignore 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 70love the seat of honor in the synagogues and personal greetings in the marketplaces. 4471Woe to you! For you are like 72unseen tombs, and the people who walk over them are unaware of it.”

45One of the 7374lawyers said to Him in reply, “Teacher, when You say these things, You insult us too.” 46But He said, “Woe to you 75lawyers as well! For 76you load people with burdens that are hard to bear, 77while you yourselves will not even 78touch the burdens with one of your fingers. 4779Woe to you! For you build the 80tombs of the prophets, and it was your fathers who killed them. 48So you are witnesses and you approve of the deeds of your fathers; because it was they who killed them, and you build their 81tombs. 49For this reason also, 82the wisdom of God said, ‘83I will send them prophets and apostles, and some of them they will kill, and some they will 84persecute, 50so that the blood of all the prophets, shed 85since the foundation of the world, may be charged 86against this generation, 51from 87the blood of Abel to 88the blood of Zechariah, who was killed between the altar and the house of God; yes, I tell you, it shall be charged 89against this generation.’ 52Woe to you 9091lawyers! For you have taken away the key of knowledge; 92you yourselves did not enter, and you hindered those who were entering.”

53When He left that place, the scribes and the Pharisees began to be very hostile and to interrogate Him about many subjects, 5493plotting against Him 94to catch 95Him in something He might say.