Luke 11

1 And it happened, while he was in a certain place praying, that when he stopped one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples.” 2 And he said to them, “When you pray, say: [a] †

5 And he said to them, “Which of you will have a friend, and will go to him at midnight and say to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves, 6 since a friend of mine has come to me from a journey and I have nothing to set before him’ — 7 and that one from inside will answer and say, ‘Do not make trouble for me; the door is already shut, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot get up and give you anything’? 8 I tell you, even if he will not get up and give to him because he is his friend, yet because of his shamelessness he will rouse himself and give him whatever he needs. [d]

9 “And I tell you: ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 10 For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. 11 And which father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will hand him a snake instead of a fish? [e] 12 Or if he also asks for an egg, will hand him a scorpion? 13 So if you, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the Father from heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him.”

14 And he was driving out a demon that could not speak; and it happened, when the demon had gone out, that the man who could not speak spoke. And the crowds were amazed. [f] 15 But some of them said, “By Beelzebul, the ruler of the demons, he drives out the demons.” [g] 16 And others, testing him, were looking for a sign from heaven from him.

17 But he knew their thoughts and said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and house falls upon house. 18 And if Satan too was divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand? — because you say that I drive out the demons by Beelzebul. 19 And if I drive out the demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your sons drive them out? For this reason they will be your judges. 20 But if I drive out the demons by the finger of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. [h]

21 “When the strong man, fully armed, guards his own courtyard, his possessions are at peace; 22 but when one stronger than he comes upon him and overpowers him, he takes away the full armor he had trusted in, and hands out his spoils. 23 The one who is not with me is against me, and the one who does not gather with me scatters.

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

27 And it happened, as he was saying these things, that a woman in the crowd raised her voice and said to him, “Blessed is the womb that carried you, and the breasts you nursed at.” 28 But he said, “On the contrary — blessed are those who hear the word of God and keep it.”

29 As the crowds were massing, he began to say, “This generation is an evil generation. It looks for a sign, and no sign will be given it except the sign of Jonah. 30 For just as Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites, so also will the Son of Man be to this generation. 31 The queen of the south will be raised at the judgment with the men of this generation and will condemn them, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon — and look, something greater than Solomon is here. 32 Men of Nineveh will rise up at the judgment with this generation and will condemn it, because they had a change of mind at the proclamation of Jonah — and look, something greater than Jonah is here.

33 “No one, after lighting a lamp, puts it in a cellar or under the measuring bowl, but on the lampstand, so that those who come in may see the light. 34 The lamp of the body is your eye. When your eye is single, your whole body also is full of light; but when it is evil, your body also is dark. 35 So watch out that the light in you is not darkness. 36 So if your whole body is full of light, with no part of it dark, it will be wholly full of light, as when the lamp lights you up with its flash.”

37 And as he was speaking, a Pharisee asks him to have the midday meal with him; and he went in and reclined. 38 But the Pharisee, seeing it, was surprised that he had not first been immersed before the meal. [i] 39 And the Lord said to him, “Now you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and the dish, but your inside is full of plunder and wickedness. 40 Fools! Did not the one who made the outside make the inside too? 41 But give what is inside as an act of mercy, and look, everything is clean for you. [j]

42 “But woe to you Pharisees, because you tithe the mint and the rue and every garden herb, and you pass by the judgment and the love of God. These you had to do, and not leave those aside. 43 Woe to you Pharisees, because you love the first seat in the synagogues and the greetings in the marketplaces. 44 Woe to you, because you are like the unmarked tombs, and the people who walk over them do not know it.”

45 And one of the lawyers answered and says to him, “Teacher, in saying these things you insult us too.” 46 And he said, “Woe to you lawyers too, because you load people with loads hard to carry, and you yourselves do not touch the loads with one of your fingers. 47 Woe to you, because you build the tombs of the prophets, and your fathers killed them. 48 So you are witnesses, and you consent to the works of your fathers, because they killed them and you build.

49 “For this reason the wisdom of God also said, ‘I will send them prophets and apostles, and some of them they will kill and pursue,’ 50 so that the blood of all the prophets poured out from the foundation of the world may be required of this generation, 51 from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah, who perished between the altar and the house. Yes, I tell you, it will be required of this generation. [k] 52 Woe to you lawyers, because you took away the key of knowledge; you did not go in yourselves, and you hindered those going in.”

53 And when he had gone out from there, the scribes and the Pharisees began to press him hard and to draw him out on many things, 54 lying in wait for him, to hunt something out of his mouth.