The Lord’s Prayer

1He was praying in a certain place, and when he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John also taught his disciples.”

2He said to them, “Whenever you pray, say,

Father,

your name be honored as holy.

Your kingdom come.

3Give us each day our daily bread.

4And forgive us our sins,

for we ourselves also forgive everyone

in debt to us.

And do not bring us into temptation.”

Ask, Search, Knock

5He also said to them, “Suppose one of you has a friend and goes to him at midnight and says to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread, 6because a friend of mine on a journey has come to me, and I don’t have anything to offer him.’ 7Then he will answer from inside and say, ‘Don’t bother me! The door is already locked, and my children and I have gone to bed. I can’t get up to give you anything.’ 8I tell you, even though he won’t get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his friend’s shameless boldness, he will get up and give him as much as he needs.

9“So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you. Seek, and you will find. Knock, and the door will be opened to you. 10For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. 11What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead of a fish? 12Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? 13If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him?”

A House Divided

14Now he was driving out a demon that was mute. When the demon came out, the man who had been mute spoke, and the crowds were amazed. 15But some of them said, “He drives out demons by Beelzebul, the ruler of the demons.” 16And others, as a test, were demanding of him a sign from heaven.

17Knowing their thoughts, he told them, “Every kingdom divided against itself is headed for destruction, and a house divided against itself falls. 18If Satan also is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand? For you say I drive out demons by Beelzebul. 19And if I drive out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your sons drive them out? For this reason they will be your judges. 20If I drive out demons by the finger of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. 21When a strong man, fully armed, guards his estate, his possessions are secure. 22But when one stronger than he attacks and overpowers him, he takes from him all his weapons he trusted in, and divides up his plunder. 23Anyone who is not with me is against me, and anyone who does not gather with me scatters.

An Unclean Spirit’s Return

24“When an unclean spirit comes out of a person, it roams through waterless places looking for rest, and not finding rest, it then says, ‘I’ll go back to my house that I came from.’ 25Returning, it finds the house swept and put in order. 26Then it goes and brings seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they enter and settle down there. As a result, that person’s last condition is worse than the first.”

True Blessedness

27As he was saying these things, a woman from the crowd raised her voice and said to him, “Blessed is the womb that bore you and the one who nursed you!”

28He said, “Rather, blessed are those who hear the word of God and keep it.”

The Sign of Jonah

29As the crowds were increasing, he began saying, “This generation is an evil generation. It demands a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah. 30For just as Jonah became a sign to the people of Nineveh, so also the Son of Man will be to this generation. 31The queen of the south will rise up at the judgment with the men of this generation and 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. 32The men of Nineveh will stand up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because they repented at Jonah’s preaching, and look — something greater than Jonah is here.

The Lamp of the Body

33“No one lights a lamp and puts it in the cellar or under a basket, but on a lampstand, so that those who come in may see its light. 34Your eye is the lamp of the body. When your eye is healthy, your whole body is also full of light. But when it is bad, your body is also full of darkness. 35Take care, then, that the light in you is not darkness. 36If, therefore, your whole body is full of light, with no part of it in darkness, it will be entirely illuminated, as when a lamp shines its light on you.”

Religious Hypocrisy Denounced

37As he was speaking, a Pharisee asked him to dine with him. So he went in and reclined at the table. 38When the Pharisee saw this, he was amazed that he did not first perform the ritual washing before dinner. 39But the Lord said to him, “Now you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside you are full of greed and evil. 40Fools! Didn’t he who made the outside make the inside too? 41But give from what is within to the poor, and then everything is clean for you.

42“But woe to you Pharisees! You give a tenth of mint, rue, and every kind of herb, and you bypass justice and love for God. These things you should have done without neglecting the others.

43“Woe to you Pharisees! You love the front seat in the synagogues and greetings in the marketplaces.

44“Woe to you! You are like unmarked graves; the people who walk over them don’t know it.”

45One of the experts in the law answered him, “Teacher, when you say these things you insult us too.”

46Then he said, “Woe also to you experts in the law! You load people with burdens that are hard to carry, and yet you yourselves don’t touch these burdens with one of your fingers.

47“Woe to you! You build tombs for the prophets, and your fathers killed them. 48Therefore, you are witnesses that you approve the deeds of your fathers, for they killed them, and you build their monuments. 49Because of this, the wisdom of God said, ‘I will send them prophets and apostles, and some of them they will kill and persecute,’ 50so that this generation may be held responsible for the blood of all the prophets shed since the foundation of the world —  51from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah, who perished between the altar and the sanctuary.

“Yes, I tell you, this generation will be held responsible.

52“Woe to you experts in the law! You have taken away the key to knowledge. You didn’t go in yourselves, and you hindered those who were trying to go in.”

53When he left there, the scribes and the Pharisees began to oppose him fiercely and to cross-examine him about many things; 54they were lying in wait for him to trap him in something he said.