Luke 11
11
Jesus Teaches About Prayer
1One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples spoke to him. “Lord,” he said, “teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.”
2Jesus said to them, “When you pray, this is what you should say.
“ ‘Father,
may your name be honored.
May your kingdom come.
3Give us each day our daily bread.
4Forgive us our sins,
as we also forgive everyone who sins against us.
Keep us from falling into sin when we are tempted.’ ”
5Then Jesus said to them, “Suppose you have a friend. You go to him at midnight and say, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread. 6A friend of mine on a journey has come to stay with me. I have no food to give him.’ 7And suppose the one inside answers, ‘Don’t bother me. The door is already locked. My children and I are in bed. I can’t get up and give you anything.’ 8I tell you, that person will not get up. And he won’t give you bread just because he is your friend. But because you keep bothering him, he will surely get up. He will give you as much as you need.
9“So here is what I say to you. Ask, and it will be given to you. Search, and you will find. Knock, and the door will be opened to you. 10Everyone who asks will receive. The one who searches will find. And the door will be opened to the one who knocks.
11“Fathers, suppose your son asks for a fish. Which of you will give him a snake instead? 12Or suppose he asks for an egg. Which of you will give him a scorpion? 13Even though you are evil, you know how to give good gifts to your children. How much more will your Father who is in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”
Jesus and Beelzebul
14Jesus was driving out a demon. The man who had the demon could not speak. When the demon left, the man began to speak. The crowd was amazed. 15But some of them said, “Jesus is driving out demons by the power of Beelzebul, the prince of demons.” 16Others tested Jesus by asking for a sign from heaven.
17Jesus knew what they were thinking. So he said to them, “Any kingdom that fights against itself will be destroyed. A family that is divided against itself will fall. 18If Satan fights against himself, how can his kingdom stand? I say this because of what you claim. You say I drive out demons by the power of Beelzebul. 19Suppose I do drive out demons with Beelzebul’s help. With whose help do your followers drive them out? So then, they will be your judges. 20But suppose I drive out demons with the help of God’s powerful finger. Then God’s kingdom has come upon you.
21“When a strong man is completely armed and guards his house, what he owns is safe. 22But when someone stronger attacks, he is overpowered. The attacker takes away the armor the man had trusted in. Then he divides up what he has stolen.
23“Whoever is not with me is against me. And whoever does not gather with me scatters.
24“What happens when an evil spirit comes out of a person? It goes through dry areas looking for a place to rest. But it doesn’t find it. Then it says, ‘I will return to the house I left.’ 25When it arrives there, it finds the house swept clean and put in order. 26Then the evil spirit goes and takes seven other spirits more evil than itself. They go in and live there. That person is worse off than before.”
27As Jesus was saying these things, a woman in the crowd called out. She shouted, “Blessed is the mother who gave you birth and nursed you.”
28He replied, “Instead, blessed are those who hear God’s word and obey it.”
The Sign of Jonah
29As the crowds grew larger, Jesus spoke to them. “The people of today are evil,” he said. “They ask for a sign from God. But none will be given except the sign of Jonah. 30He was a sign from God to the people of Nineveh. In the same way, the Son of Man will be a sign from God to the people of today. 31The Queen of the South will stand up on judgment day with the people now living. And she will prove that they are guilty. She came from very far away to listen to Solomon’s wisdom. And now something more important than Solomon is here. 32The men of Nineveh will stand up on judgment day with the people now living. And the Ninevites will prove that those people are guilty. The men of Nineveh turned away from their sins when Jonah preached to them. And now something more important than Jonah is here.
The Eye Is the Lamp of the Body
33“No one lights a lamp and hides it. No one puts it under a bowl. Instead, they put a lamp on its stand. Then those who come in can see the light. 34Your eye is like a lamp for your body. Suppose your eyes are healthy. Then your whole body also is full of light. But suppose your eyes can’t see well. Then your body also is full of darkness. 35So make sure that the light inside you is not darkness. 36Suppose your whole body is full of light. And suppose no part of it is dark. Then your body will be full of light. It will be just as when a lamp shines its light on you.”
Six Warnings
37Jesus finished speaking. Then a Pharisee invited him to eat with him. So Jesus went in and took his place at the table. 38But the Pharisee was surprised. He noticed that Jesus did not wash before the meal.
39Then the Lord spoke to him. “You Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and dish,” he said. “But inside you are full of greed and evil. 40You foolish people! Didn’t the one who made the outside make the inside also? 41Give freely to poor people to show what is inside you. Then everything will be clean for you.
42“How terrible it will be for you Pharisees! You give God a tenth of your garden plants, such as mint and rue. But you have forgotten to be fair and to love God. You should have practiced the last things without failing to do the first.
43“How terrible for you Pharisees! You love the most important seats in the synagogues. You love having people greet you with respect in the market.
44“How terrible for you! You are like graves that are not marked. People walk over them without knowing it.”
45An authority on the law spoke to Jesus. He said, “Teacher, when you say things like that, you say bad things about us too.”
46Jesus replied, “How terrible for you authorities on the law! You put such heavy loads on people that they can hardly carry them. But you yourselves will not lift one finger to help them.
47“How terrible for you! You build tombs for the prophets. It was your people of long ago who killed them. 48So you show that you agree with what your people did long ago. They killed the prophets, and now you build the prophets’ tombs. 49So God in his wisdom said, ‘I will send prophets and apostles to them. They will kill some. And they will try to hurt others.’ 50So the people of today will be punished. They will pay for all the prophets’ blood spilled since the world began. 51I mean from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah. He was killed between the altar and the temple. Yes, I tell you, the people of today will be punished for all these things.
52“How terrible for you authorities on the law! You have taken away the key to the door of knowledge. You yourselves have not entered. And you have stood in the way of those who were entering.”
53When Jesus went outside, the Pharisees and the teachers of the law strongly opposed him. They threw a lot of questions at him. 54They set traps for him. They wanted to catch him in something he might say.
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Luke 11: NIrV
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Holy Bible, New International Reader’s Version®, NIrV®
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Luke 11
11
1And it came to pass as he was in a certain place praying, when he ceased, one of his disciples said to him, Lord, teach us to pray, even as John also taught his disciples. 2And he said to them, When ye pray, say, Father, thy name be hallowed; thy kingdom come; 3give us our needed bread for each day; 4and remit us our sins, for we also remit to every one indebted to us; and lead us not into temptation. 5And he said to them, Who among you shall have a friend, and shall go to him at midnight and say to him, Friend, let me have three loaves, 6since a friend of mine on a journey is come to me, and I have nothing to set before him; 7and he within answering should say, Do not disturb me; the door is already shut, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot rise up to give it thee? 8— I say to you, Although he will not get up and give them to him because he is his friend, because of his shamelessness, at any rate, he will rise and give him as many as he wants. 9And I say to you, Ask, and it shall be given to you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened to you. 10For every one that asks receives; and he that seeks finds; and to him that knocks it will be opened. 11But of whom of you that is a father shall a son ask bread, and the father shall give him a stone? or also a fish, and instead of a fish shall give him a serpent? 12or if also he shall ask an egg, shall give him a scorpion? 13If therefore ye, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much rather shall the Father who is of heaven give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?
14And he was casting out a demon, and it was dumb; and it came to pass, the demon being gone out, the dumb man spoke. And the crowds wondered. 15But some from among them said, By Beelzebub the prince of the demons casts he out demons. 16And others tempting him sought from him a sign out of heaven. 17But he, knowing their thoughts, said to them, Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation: and a house set against a house falls; 18and if also Satan is divided against himself, how shall his kingdom subsist? because ye say that I cast out demons by Beelzebub. 19But if I by Beelzebub cast out demons, your sons — by whom do they cast them out? For this reason they shall be your judges. 20But if by the finger of God I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God is come upon you. 21When the strong man armed keeps his own house, his goods are in peace; 22but when the stronger than he coming upon him overcomes him, he takes away his panoply in which he trusted, and he will divide the spoil he has taken from him. 23He that is not with me is against me, and he that gathers not with me scatters. 24When the unclean spirit has gone out of the man, he goes through dry places seeking rest; and not finding any he says, I will return to my house whence I came out. 25And having come, he finds it swept and adorned. 26Then he goes and takes seven other spirits worse than himself, and entering in, they dwell there; and the last condition of that man becomes worse than the first.
27And it came to pass as he spake these things, a certain woman, lifting up her voice out of the crowd, said to him, Blessed is the womb that has borne thee, and the paps which thou hast sucked. 28But he said, Yea rather, blessed are they who hear the word of God and keep it.
29But as the crowds thronged together, he began to say, This generation is a wicked generation: it seeks a sign, and a sign shall not be given to it but the sign of Jonas. 30For as Jonas was a sign to the Ninevites, thus shall also the Son of man be to this generation. 31A queen of the south shall rise up in the judgment with the men of this generation, and shall condemn them: for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and behold, more than Solomon is here. 32Men of Nineveh shall stand up in the judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: for they repented at the preaching of Jonas; and behold, more than Jonas is here. 33But no one having lit a lamp sets it in secret, nor under the corn-measure, but on the lamp-stand, that they who enter in may see the light. 34The lamp of the body is thine eye: when thine eye is simple, thy whole body also is light; but when it is wicked, thy body also is dark. 35See therefore that the light which is in thee be not darkness. 36If therefore thy whole body is light, not having any part dark, it shall be all light as when the lamp lights thee with its brightness.
37But as he spoke, a certain Pharisee asked him that he would dine with him; and entering in he placed himself at table. 38But the Pharisee seeing it wondered that he had not first washed before dinner. 39But the Lord said to him, Now do ye Pharisees cleanse the outside of the cup and of the dish, but your inward parts are full of plunder and wickedness. 40Fools, has not he who has made the outside made the inside also? 41But rather give alms of what ye have, and behold, all things are clean to you. 42But woe unto you, Pharisees, for ye pay tithes of mint and rue and every herb, and pass by the judgment and the love of God: these ye ought to have done, and not have left those aside. 43Woe unto you, Pharisees, for ye love the first seat in the synagogues and salutations in the market-places. 44Woe unto you, for ye are as the sepulchres which appear not, and the men walking over them do not know it. 45And one of the doctors of the law answering says to him, Teacher, in saying these things thou insultest us also. 46And he said, To you also woe, doctors of the law, for ye lay upon men burdens heavy to bear, and yourselves do not touch the burdens with one of your fingers. 47Woe unto you, for ye build the sepulchres of the prophets, but your fathers killed them. 48Ye bear witness then, and consent to the works of your fathers; for they killed them, and ye build their sepulchres. 49For this reason also the wisdom of God has said, I will send to them prophets and apostles, and of these shall they kill and drive out by persecution, 50that the blood of all the prophets which has been poured out from the foundation of the world may be required of this generation, 51from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zacharias, who perished between the altar and the house; yea, I say to you, it shall be required of this generation. 52Woe unto you, the doctors of the law, for ye have taken away the key of knowledge; yourselves have not entered in, and those who were entering in ye have hindered. 53And as he said these things to them, the scribes and the Pharisees began to press him urgently, and to make him speak of many things; 54watching him, and seeking to catch something out of his mouth, that they might accuse him.
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First published in 1890. This edition is maintained by the British and Foreign Bible Society.