Luke 11:1-39 ▼

1 And it came to pass, as he was in a certain place praying, that, when he ceased, 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, Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name; thy kingdom come; thy will be done, as in heaven, so on earth.

3 Give us, day by day, the bread sufficient for our support;

4 and forgive us our sins, for we also forgive every one that is indebted to us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.

5 And he said to them: Which of you shall have a friend, and shall go to him at midnight, and say to him, Friend, lend me three loaves;

6 for a friend of mine, who is on a journey, has come to me, and I have nothing to set before him?

7 And he from within shall answer and say, Trouble me not; the door is already closed, and my children and myself are in bed; I can not rise and give you.

8 I say to you, Although he will not arise and give him, because he is his friend, yet, on account of his importunity, he will arise and give him as many as he needs.

9 And I say to you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and you shall find; knock, and it shall be opened to you.

10 For every one that asks, receives; and he that seeks, finds; and to him that knocks, it shall be opened.

11 If a son ask bread of any one of you that is a father, will he give him a stone? Or if he ask a fish, will he, instead of a fish, give him a serpent?

12 Or if he ask an egg, will he give him a scorpion?

13 If, then, you, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?

14 And he was casting out a demon, and it was dumb; and it came to pass, when the demon had gone out, that the dumb man spoke: and the multitudes wondered.

15 But some of them said: He casts out demons by Beelzebul, the prince of the demons.

16 And others, that they might tempt him, asked of him a sign from heaven.

17 But, knowing their purpose, he said to them: Every kingdom divided against itself, is brought to desolation; and a house that is divided against a house, falls.

18 If Satan be divided against himself, how shall his kingdom stand? For you say, that I cast out demons by Beelzebul.

19 But if I cast out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore, they shall be your judges.

20 But if I cast out demons by the finger of God, then has the kingdom of God already come upon you.

21 When the strong man armed keeps guard over his palace, his goods are in peace;

22 but when one stronger than he comes upon him and overcomes him, he takes away all his armor in which he trusted, and divides his spoils.

23 He that is not with me, is against me; and he that gathers not with me, scatters.

24 "When the unclean spirit has gone out of a man, he goes through dry places, seeking rest; and finding none, he says, I will return to my house out of which I came.

25 And he comes and finds it swept, and set in order.

26 Then he goes and takes with him seven other spirits, more wicked than himself, and they enter in, and dwell there: and the last state of that man is worse than the first.

27 And it came to pass, that, when he said these things, a certain woman from among the multitude lifted up her voice, and said to him: Blessed is the womb that bore thee, and the breasts that thou didst suck.

28 And he said: Yes, rather blessed are they that hear the word of God, and keep it.

29 And when the multitudes were crowded together, he began to say: This is an evil generation; it asks for a sign, and no sign shall be given to it but the sign of Jonah the prophet.

30 For as Jonah was a sign to the Ninevites, so the Son of man shall also be to this generation.

31 The queen of the south shall rise in the judgment with the men of this generation, and shall condemn them; for she came from the most distant parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and lo, something greater than Solomon is here.

32 The men of Nineveh shall rise in the judgment with this generation, and condemn it; for they repented in accordance with the preaching of Jonah; and lo something greater than Jonah is here.

33 No one, when he has lighted a lamp, puts it in a secret place, nor under the measure, but upon the lamp-stand, that those who come in may see the light.

34 The lamp of the body is the eye; when, therefore, your eye is sound, your whole body also is light; but if it be diseased, your body also is dark.

35 Take heed, therefore, lest the light that is in you be darkness.

36 If, therefore, your whole body is light, having no part dark, the whole shall be light, as when a lamp, by its brightness, gives you light.

37 And as he spoke, a certain Pharisee asked him to dine with him. And he went in and reclined at table.

38 And when the Pharisee saw it, he wondered that he had not first immersed himself before dinner.

39 And the Lord said to him: Now you Pharisees cleanse the outside of the cup and the plate; but your inward part is full of extortion and wickedness.