Luke 11
The Model Prayer
1
Now 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.”
2 So He
said to them, “When you pray, say:
Our Father in heaven,
Hallowed be Your name.
Your kingdom come.
Your will be done
On earth as it is in heaven.
3
Give us day by day our daily bread.
4
And forgive us our sins,
For we also forgive everyone who is indebted to
us.
And do not lead us into temptation,
But deliver us from the evil one.”
A Friend Comes at Midnight
5
And 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;
6 for a
friend of mine has come to me on his journey, and I have
nothing to set before him’;
7 and 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’?
8 I say
to you, though 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.Keep
Asking, Seeking, Knocking
9
“So I say to 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 he who seeks finds,
and to him who knocks it will be opened.
11 If a
son asks for bread 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?
12 Or if
he asks for an egg, will he offer him a scorpion?
13 If you
then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your
children, how much more will your heavenly Father
give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!”A
House Divided Cannot Stand
14
And 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.
15 But
some of them said, “He casts out demons by Beelzebub,
the ruler of the demons.”
16
Others, testing Him, sought from Him a sign from
heaven. 17
But He, knowing their thoughts, said to them: “Every
kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation,
and a house divided against a house falls.
18 If
Satan also is divided against himself, how will his
kingdom stand? Because you say I cast out demons by
Beelzebub. 19
And if I cast out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your
sons cast them out? Therefore they will be your
judges. 20
But if I cast out demons with the finger of God, surely
the kingdom of God has come upon you.
21 When a
strong man, fully armed, guards his own palace, his
goods are in peace.
22 But
when a stronger than he comes upon him and overcomes
him, he takes from him all his armor in which he
trusted, and divides his spoils.
23 He who
is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather
with Me scatters.An Unclean Spirit Returns
24
“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.’
25 And
when he comes, he finds it swept and put in
order. 26
Then he goes and takes with him seven other
spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter and
dwell there; and the last state of that man is
worse than the first.”Keeping the Word
27
And it happened, as He spoke these things, that a
certain woman from the crowd raised her voice and said
to Him, “Blessed is the womb that bore You, and
the breasts which nursed You!”
28 But He
said, “More than that, blessed are those who hear
the word of God and keep it!”Seeking a Sign
29
And while the crowds were thickly gathered together, He
began to say, “This is an evil generation. It seeks a
sign, and no sign will be given to it except the sign of
Jonah the prophet.
30 For as
Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites, so also the Son of
Man will be to this generation.
31 The
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 greater than Solomon is
here. 32
The men of Nineveh will rise up in the judgment with
this generation and condemn it, for they repented at the
preaching of Jonah; and indeed a greater than Jonah
is here.The Lamp of the Body
33 “No
one, when he has lit a lamp, puts it in a secret
place or under a basket, but on a lampstand, that those
who come in may see the light.
34 The
lamp of the body is the eye. Therefore, when your eye is
good, your whole body also is full of light. But when
your eye is bad, your body also is full of
darkness. 35
Therefore take heed that the light which is in you is
not darkness.
36 If 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.”Woe to the Pharisees
and Lawyers
37 And as
He spoke, a certain Pharisee asked Him to dine with him.
So He went in and sat down to eat.
38 When
the Pharisee saw it, he marveled that He had not
first washed before dinner.
39 Then
the Lord said to him, “Now you Pharisees make the
outside of the cup and dish clean, but your inward part
is full of greed and wickedness.
40
Foolish ones! Did not He who made the outside make the
inside also? 41
But rather give alms of such things as you have; then
indeed all things are clean to you.
42 “But
woe to you Pharisees! For you tithe mint and rue and all
manner of herbs, and pass by justice and the love of
God. These you ought to have done, without leaving the
others undone.
43 Woe to you Pharisees! For you love the best
seats in the synagogues and greetings in the
marketplaces.
44 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!
For you are like graves which are not seen, and the men
who walk over them are not aware of them.”
45 Then
one of the lawyers answered and said to Him, “Teacher,
by saying these things You reproach us also.”
46 And He
said, “Woe to you also, lawyers! For you load men with
burdens hard to bear, and you yourselves do not touch
the burdens with one of your fingers.
47 Woe to
you! For you build the tombs of the prophets, and your
fathers killed them.
48 In
fact, you bear witness that you approve the deeds of
your fathers; for they indeed killed them, and you build
their tombs. 49
Therefore the wisdom of God also said, ‘I will send them
prophets and apostles, and some of them they will
kill and persecute,’
50 that
the blood of all the prophets which was shed 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 temple. Yes, I say to
you, it shall be required of this generation.
52 “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.”
53 And 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,
54 lying
in wait for Him, and seeking to catch Him in something
He might say, that they might accuse Him.
