Luke 11

The Lord’s Prayer

Matt. 6:9–13

11Now it came to pass, as He was praying in a certain place, when He ceased, that one of His disciples said to Him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples.”

²So He said to them, “When you pray, say:

^aOur ¹Father ²in heaven,

Hallowed be Your name.

Your kingdom come.

³Your will be done

On earth as it is in heaven.

³Give us day by day our daily bread.

⁴And ^bforgive us our sins,

For we also forgive everyone who is indebted to us.

And do not lead us into temptation,

⁴But deliver us from the evil one.”

Parable of the Persistent Friend

⁵And He said to them, “Which of you shall have a friend, and go to him at midnight and say to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves; ⁶for a friend of mine has come to me on his journey, and I have nothing to set before him’; ⁷and he will answer from within and say, ‘Do not trouble me; the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot rise and give to you’? ⁸I say to you, ^cthough he will not rise and give to him because he is his friend, yet because of his persistence he will rise and give him as many as he needs.

^9d“So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; ^eseek, and you will find; knock, 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.

Parable of the Good Father

Matt. 7:7–11

^11fIf a son asks for ⁵bread from any father among you, will he give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent instead of a fish? ¹²Or if he asks for an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? ¹³If you then, being evil, know how to give ^ggood gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!”

Christ Heals the Demoniac

^14hAnd He was casting out a demon, and it was mute. So it was, when the demon had gone out, that the mute spoke; and the multitudes marveled.

Christ’s Power Not from Satan

Matt. 12:25–30, 43–45; Mark 3:22–27

¹⁵But some of them said, ⁱ“He casts out demons by ⁶Beelzebub, the ruler of the demons.”

¹⁶Others, testing Him, ^jsought from Him a sign from heaven. ^17kBut ^lHe, knowing their thoughts, said to them: “Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and a house divided against a house falls. ¹⁸If Satan also is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand? Because you say I cast out demons by Beelzebub. ¹⁹And if I cast out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore they will be your judges. ²⁰But if I cast out demons ^mwith the finger of God, surely the kingdom of God has come upon you. ²¹ⁿWhen a strong man, fully armed, guards his own palace, his goods are in peace. ²²But ^owhen a stronger than he comes upon him and overcomes him, he takes from him all his armor in which he trusted, and divides his ⁷spoils. ^23pHe who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters.

^24q“When an unclean spirit goes out of a man, he goes through dry places, seeking rest; and finding none, he says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ ²⁵And when he comes, he finds it swept and put in order. ²⁶Then he goes and takes with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter and dwell there; and ^rthe last state of that man is worse than the first.”

²⁷And it happened, as He spoke these things, that a certain woman from the crowd raised her voice and said to Him, ^s“Blessed is the womb that bore You, and the breasts which nursed You!”

²⁸But He said, ^t“More than that, blessed are those who hear the word of God and keep it!”

Christ’s Only Sign is Jonah

Matt. 12:39–42

^29uAnd while the crowds were thickly gathered together, He began to say, “This is an evil generation. It seeks a ^vsign, and no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah ⁸the prophet. ³⁰For as ^wJonah became a sign to the Ninevites, so also the Son of Man will be to this generation. ^31xThe queen of the South will rise up in the judgment with the men of this generation and condemn them, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and indeed a ^ygreater than Solomon is here. ³²The men of Nineveh will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for ^zthey repented at the preaching of Jonah; and indeed a greater than Jonah is here.

Parable of the Lighted Lamp

^33a“No one, when he has lit a lamp, puts it in a secret place or under a ^bbasket, but on a lampstand, that those who come in may see the light. ^34cThe lamp of the body is the eye. Therefore, when your eye is ⁹good, your whole body also is full of light. But when your eye is ¹bad, your body also is full of darkness. ³⁵Therefore take heed that the light which is in you is not darkness. ³⁶If then your whole body is full of light, having no part dark, the whole body will be full of light, as when the bright shining of a lamp gives you light.”

“Woes” on the Pharisees

³⁷And as He spoke, a certain Pharisee asked Him to dine with him. So He went in and sat down to eat. ^38dWhen the Pharisee saw it, he marveled that He had not first washed before dinner.

^39eThen the Lord said to him, “Now you Pharisees make the outside of the cup and dish clean, but ^fyour inward part is full of ²greed and wickedness. ⁴⁰Foolish ones! Did not ^gHe who made the outside make the inside also? ^41hBut rather give alms of ³such things as you have; then indeed all things are clean to you.

⁴²ⁱ“But woe to you Pharisees! For you tithe mint and rue and all manner of herbs, and ^jpass by justice and the ^klove of God. These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone. ^43lWoe to you Pharisees! For you love the ⁴best seats in the synagogues and greetings in the marketplaces. ^44mWoe to you, ⁵scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! ⁿFor you are like graves which are not seen, and the men who walk over them are not aware of them.”

“Woes” on the Lawyers

⁴⁵Then one of the lawyers answered and said to Him, “Teacher, by saying these things You reproach us also.”

⁴⁶And He said, “Woe to you also, lawyers! ^oFor you load men with burdens hard to bear, and you yourselves do not touch the burdens with one of your fingers. ^47pWoe to you! For you build the tombs of the prophets, and your fathers killed them. ⁴⁸In fact, you bear witness that you approve the deeds of your fathers; for they indeed killed them, and you build their tombs. ⁴⁹Therefore the wisdom of God also said, ^q‘I will send them prophets and apostles, and some of them they will kill and persecute,’ ⁵⁰that the blood of all the prophets which was shed from the foundation of the world may be required of this generation, ^51rfrom the blood of Abel to ^sthe blood of Zechariah who perished between the altar and the temple. Yes, I say to you, it shall be required of this generation.

^52t“Woe to you lawyers! For you have taken away the key of knowledge. You did not enter in yourselves, and those who were entering in you hindered.”

⁵³⁶And as He said these things to them, the scribes and the Pharisees began to assail Him vehemently, and to cross-examine Him about many things, ⁵⁴lying in wait for Him, ⁷and ^useeking to catch Him in something He might say, ⁸that they might accuse Him.