Luke 11
11
Prayer
(Matthew 6.9-13; 7.7-11)
1When Jesus had finished praying, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his followers to pray.”
2So Jesus told them, “Pray in this way:
‘Father, help us
to honour your name.
Come and set up
your kingdom.
3Give us each day
the food we need.#11.3 the food we need: Or “food for today” or “food for the coming day”.
4Forgive our sins,
as we forgive everyone
who has done wrong to us.
And keep us
from being tempted.’ ”
5Then Jesus went on to say:
Suppose one of you goes to a friend in the middle of the night and says, “Let me borrow three loaves of bread. 6A friend of mine has dropped in, and I don't have a thing for him to eat.” 7And suppose your friend answers, “Don't bother me! The door is bolted, and my children and I are in bed. I cannot get up to give you something.”
8He may not get up and give you the bread, just because you are his friend. But he will get up and give you as much as you need, simply because you are not ashamed to keep on asking.
9So I tell you to ask and you will receive, search and you will find, knock and the door will be opened for you. 10Everyone who asks will receive, everyone who searches will find, and the door will be opened for everyone who knocks. 11Which one of you fathers would give your hungry child a snake if the child asked for a fish? 12Which one of you would give your child a scorpion if the child asked for an egg? 13As bad as you are, you still know how to give good gifts to your children. But your heavenly Father is even more ready to give the Holy Spirit to anyone who asks.
Jesus and the ruler of demons
(Matthew 12.22-30; Mark 3.20-27)
14Jesus forced a demon out of a man who could not talk. And after the demon had gone out, the man started speaking, and the crowds were amazed. 15But some people said, “He forces out demons by the power of Beelzebul, the ruler of the demons!”#Mt 9.34; 10.25.
16Others wanted to put Jesus to the test. So they asked him to show them a sign from God.#Mt 12.38; 16.1; Mk 8.11. 17Jesus knew what they were thinking, and he said:
A kingdom where people fight each other will end up in ruin. And a family that fights will break up. 18If Satan fights against himself, how can his kingdom last? Yet you say that I force out demons by the power of Beelzebul. 19If I use his power to force out demons, whose power do your own followers use to force them out? They are the ones who will judge you. 20But if I use God's power to force out demons, it proves that God's kingdom has already come to you.
21When a strong man arms himself and guards his home, everything he owns is safe. 22But if a stronger man comes and defeats him, he will carry off the weapons in which the strong man trusted. Then he will divide with others what he has taken. 23If you are not on my side, you are against me. If you don't gather in the crop with me, you scatter it.#Mk 9.40.
Return of an evil spirit
(Matthew 12.43-45)
Jesus continued:
24When an evil spirit leaves a person, it travels through the desert, looking for a place to rest. But when it doesn't find a place, it says, “I will go back to the home I left.” 25When it gets there and finds the place clean and tidy, 26it goes off and finds seven other evil spirits even worse than itself. They all come and make their home there, and that person ends up in a worse state than before.
Being really blessed
27While Jesus was still talking, a woman in the crowd spoke up, “The woman who gave birth to you and nursed you is blessed!”
28Jesus replied, “That's true, but the people who are really blessed are the ones who hear and obey God's message!”#11.28 “That's true, but the people who are really blessed…message!”: Or “ ‘That's not true, the people who are blessed…message.’ ”
A sign from God
(Matthew 12.38-42; Mark 8.12)
29As crowds were gathering around Jesus, he said:#Mt 16.4; Mk 8.12.
You people of today are evil! You keep looking for a sign from God. But what happened to Jonah#11.29 what happened to Jonah: Jonah was in the stomach of a big fish for three days and nights. See Matthew 12.40. is the only sign you will be given. 30Just as Jonah was a sign to the people of Nineveh, the Son of Man will be a sign to the people of today.#Jon 3.4. 31When the judgment comes, the Queen of the South#11.31 Queen of the South: Sheba, probably a country in southern Arabia. will stand there with you and condemn you. She travelled a long way to hear Solomon's wisdom, and yet here is something far greater than Solomon.#1 K 10.1-10; 2 Ch 9.1-12. 32The people of Nineveh will also stand there with you and condemn you. They turned to God when Jonah preached, and yet here is something far greater than Jonah.#Jon 3.5.
Light
(Matthew 5.15; 6.22,23)
Jesus continued:
33No one lights a lamp and then hides it or puts it under a clay pot. A lamp is put on a lampstand, so that everyone who comes into the house can see the light.#Mt 5.15; Mk 4.21; Lk 8.16. 34Your eyes are the lamp for your body. When your eyes are good, you have all the light you need. But when your eyes are bad, everything is dark. 35So be sure that your light isn't darkness. 36If you have light, and nothing is dark, then light will be everywhere, as when a lamp shines brightly on you.
Jesus condemns the Pharisees and teachers of the Law of Moses
(Matthew 23.1-36; Mark 12.38-40; Luke 20.45-47)
37When Jesus finished speaking, a Pharisee invited him home for a meal. Jesus went and sat down to eat.#11.37 sat down to eat: See the note at 7.36. 38The Pharisee was surprised that he did not wash his hands#11.38 did not wash his hands: The Jewish people had strict laws about washing their hands before eating, especially if they had been out in public. before eating. 39So the Lord said to him:
You Pharisees clean the outside of cups and dishes, but on the inside you are greedy and evil. 40You fools! Didn't God make both the outside and the inside?#11.40 Didn't God make both the outside and the inside?: Or “Doesn't the person who washes the outside always wash the inside too?” 41If you would only give what you have to the poor, everything you do would please God.
42You Pharisees are in for trouble! You give God a tenth of the spices from your gardens, such as mint and rue. But you cheat people, and you don't love God. You should be fair and kind to others and still give a tenth to God.#Lv 27.30.
43You Pharisees are in for trouble! You love the front seats in the meeting places, and you like to be greeted with honour in the market. 44But you are in for trouble! You are like unmarked graves#11.44 unmarked graves: Tombs were whitewashed to keep anyone from accidentally touching them. A person who touched a dead body or a tomb was considered unclean and could not worship with other Jewish people. that people walk on without even knowing it.
45A teacher of the Law of Moses spoke up, “Teacher, you said cruel things about us.”
46Jesus replied:
You teachers are also in for trouble! You load people down with heavy burdens, but you won't lift a finger to help them carry the loads. 47Yes, you are really in for trouble. You build monuments to honour the prophets your own people murdered long ago. 48You must think that was the right thing for your people to do, or else you would not have built monuments for the prophets they murdered.
49Because of your evil deeds, the Wisdom of God said, “I will send prophets and apostles to you. But you will murder some and ill-treat others.” 50You people living today will be punished for all the prophets who have been murdered since the beginning of the world. 51This includes every prophet from the time of Abel to the time of Zechariah,#11.51 from the time of Abel…Zechariah: Genesis is the first book in the Jewish Scriptures, and it tells that Abel was the first person to be murdered. The Second Book of Chronicles is the last book in the Jewish Scriptures, and the last murder that it tells about is that of Zechariah. who was murdered between the altar and the temple. You people will certainly be punished for all this.#Gn 4.8; 2 Ch 24.20,21.
52You teachers of the Law of Moses are really in for trouble! You carry the keys to the door of knowledge about God. But you never go in, and you keep others from going in.
53Jesus was about to leave, but the teachers and the Pharisees wanted to get even with him. They tried to make him say what he thought about other things, 54so that they could catch him saying something wrong.
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© British and Foreign Bible Society 2012
Luke 11
11
The Lord’s Prayer
1Now Jesus#11:1 Greek he was praying in a certain place, and when he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, #See ch. 5:33as John taught his disciples.” 2And he said to them, #For ver. 2-4, [Matt. 6:9-13] “When you pray, say:
#
John 20:17; 1 Pet. 1:17 “Father, #
Isa. 29:23; [ch. 1:49; 1 Pet. 3:15] hallowed be #
John 17:6 your name.
# [Matt. 3:2; 4:17] Your kingdom come.
3 #
Prov. 30:8 Give us # [Matt. 6:34] each day our daily bread, # 11:3 Or our bread for tomorrow
4 and # See ch. 7:48 forgive us our sins,
for we ourselves forgive everyone who is indebted to us.
And # ch. 22:40, 46; Matt. 26:41; Mark 14:38; [1 Cor. 10:13] lead us not into temptation.”
5And he said to them, “Which of you who has a friend will go to him at midnight and say to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves, 6for a friend of mine has arrived on a journey, and I have nothing to set before him’; 7and he will answer from within, ‘Do not bother me; the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed. I cannot get up and give you anything’? 8I tell you, though he will not get up and give him anything #[ch. 18:1-6]because he is his friend, yet because of his impudence#11:8 Or persistence he will rise and give him whatever he needs. 9And I tell you, #For ver. 9-13, see Matt. 7:7-11 ask, and #Matt. 18:19; 21:22; Mark 11:24; John 14:13; 15:7, 16; 16:23, 24; James 1:5, 6, 17; 1 John 3:22; 5:14, 15 it will be given to you; #1 Chr. 28:9; 2 Chr. 15:2; Prov. 8:17; Jer. 29:13; [Isa. 55:6] seek, and you will find; #[Rev. 3:20]knock, and it will be opened to you. 10For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. 11What father among you, if his son asks for#11:11 Some manuscripts insert bread, will give him a stone; or if he asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent; 12or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? 13If you then, #Gen. 6:5; 8:21; Matt. 12:34 who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father #[John 4:10; Acts 2:38]give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”
Jesus and Beelzebul
14 # For ver. 14, 15, see Matt. 12:22-24; [Matt. 9:32-34] Now he was casting out a demon that was mute. When the demon had gone out, the mute man spoke, and the people marveled. 15But some of them said, “He casts out demons #See Matt. 10:25by Beelzebul, the prince of demons,” 16while others, #See John 8:6to test him, kept seeking from him a sign from heaven. 17#For ver. 17-22, see Matt. 12:25-29; Mark 3:23-27 But he, #See Matt. 9:4knowing their thoughts, said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and a divided household falls. 18And if Satan also is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand? For you say that I cast out demons by Beelzebul. 19And if I cast out demons by Beelzebul, #[Acts 19:13] by whom do #[2 Kgs. 2:7]your sons cast them out? Therefore they will be your judges. 20But if it is by #Ex. 8:19; 31:18; Deut. 9:10; Ps. 8:3 the finger of God that I cast out demons, then #ch. 17:21; Matt. 19:24; 21:31, 43the kingdom of God has come upon you. 21When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own palace, his goods are safe; 22#Isa. 49:24-26 but when one stronger than he attacks him and #[John 16:33] overcomes him, he takes away his #Eph. 6:11 armor in which he trusted and #[Isa. 53:12]divides his spoil. 23#Matt. 12:30; [ch. 9:50; Mark 9:40]Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters.
Return of an Unclean Spirit
24 # For ver. 24-26, see Matt. 12:43-45 “When the unclean spirit has gone out of a person, it passes through # [Ps. 63:1; Jer. 2:6] waterless places seeking rest, and finding none it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ 25And when it comes, 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 dwell there. And #2 Pet. 2:20-22; [John 5:14]the last state of that person is worse than the first.”
True Blessedness
27As he said these things, #ch. 12:13 a woman in the crowd raised her voice and said to him, #[2 Chr. 9:7]; See ch. 1:48“Blessed is the womb that bore you, and the breasts at which you nursed!” 28But he said, #[Rev. 1:3; 22:7] “Blessed rather are those #ch. 8:21; See James 1:22 who hear the word of God and #Lev. 22:31keep it!”
The Sign of Jonah
29 # ch. 12:1 When the crowds were increasing, he began to say, #For ver. 29-32, see Matt. 12:39-42; [Mark 8:11, 12] “This generation is an evil generation. #ver. 16; See Matt. 12:38It seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah. 30For as #Jonah 1:17Jonah became a sign to the people of Nineveh, so will the Son of Man be to this generation. 31#1 Kgs. 10:1; 2 Chr. 9:1 The queen of the South will rise up at the judgment with the men of this generation and #Heb. 11:7; [Jer. 3:11; Ezek. 16:51, 52; Rom. 2:27] condemn them, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and behold, #[Matt. 12:6]something greater than Solomon is here. 32#Jonah 1:2 The men of Nineveh will rise up at the judgment with this generation and #[See ver. 31 above] condemn it, for #Jonah 3:5 they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and behold, #[See ver. 31 above]something greater than Jonah is here.
The Light in You
33 # ch. 8:16; Matt. 5:15; Mark 4:21 “No one after lighting a lamp puts it in a cellar or under a basket, but on a stand, so that those who enter may see the light. 34Your eye is #Matt. 6:22, 23 the lamp of your body. When your eye is healthy, your whole body is full of light, but when it is #Deut. 15:9bad, your body is full of darkness. 35#[See ver. 34 above]Therefore be careful lest the light in you be darkness. 36If then your whole body is full of light, having no part dark, it will be wholly bright, #[Matt. 5:16]as when a lamp with its rays gives you light.”
Woes to the Pharisees and Lawyers
37While Jesus#11:37 Greek he was speaking, #ch. 7:36; 14:1a Pharisee asked him to dine with him, so he went in and reclined at table. 38The Pharisee was astonished to see #Matt. 15:2; Mark 7:3, 4that he did not first wash before dinner. 39And the Lord said to him, #Matt. 23:25, 26; [ch. 20:47] “Now you Pharisees cleanse the outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside you are full of #[ch. 16:14]greed and wickedness. 40#ch. 12:20 You fools! #[See ver. 39 above]Did not he who made the outside make the inside also? 41But #ch. 12:33; [ch. 16:9; Dan. 4:27] give as alms those things that are within, and behold, #[Titus 1:15]everything is clean for you.
42 #
Matt. 23:23 “But woe to you Pharisees! For # ch. 18:12; Deut. 14:22 you tithe mint and rue and every herb, and neglect #
Ps. 33:5; Jer. 5:1; Mic. 6:8; Zech. 7:9 justice and # [1 John 3:17] the love of God. # [1 Sam. 15:22] These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others. 43Woe to you Pharisees! For #ch. 20:46; Matt. 23:6, 7; Mark 12:38, 39; [ch. 14:7]you love the best seat in the synagogues and greetings in the marketplaces. 44Woe to you! #Matt. 23:27For you are like unmarked graves, and people walk over them without knowing it.”
45One of #ver. 46, 52; See ch. 7:30the lawyers answered him, “Teacher, in saying these things you insult us also.” 46And he said, “Woe to you #ver. 45, 52 lawyers also! For #Matt. 23:4; [Matt. 11:28-30; Acts 15:10]you load people with burdens hard to bear, and you yourselves do not touch the burdens with one of your fingers. 47#Matt. 23:29, 30Woe to you! For you build the tombs of the prophets whom your fathers killed. 48#Matt. 23:31 So you are witnesses and you #See Rom. 1:32 consent to the deeds of #Acts 7:51, 52your fathers, for they killed them, and you build their tombs. 49Therefore also #[ch. 7:35; Prov. 8:12, 22, 23, 30; Matt. 11:19; 1 Cor. 1:24, 30; Col. 2:3] the Wisdom of God said, #For ver. 49-51, [Matt. 23:34-36] ‘I will send them #See Acts 13:1; 1 Cor. 12:28 prophets and apostles, #See Matt. 21:35 some of whom they will #1 Thess. 2:15 (Gk.)kill and persecute,’ 50so that #Rev. 18:24 the blood of all the prophets, shed #See Matt. 13:35 from the foundation of the world, may be #Gen. 42:22; 2 Chr. 24:22; Ezek. 3:18charged against this generation, 51from the blood of #Gen. 4:4, 8; Heb. 11:4; 1 John 3:12 Abel to the blood of #2 Chr. 24:20, 21 Zechariah, who perished between #Ex. 40:6; 2 Kgs. 16:14; Ezek. 40:47 the altar and the sanctuary. Yes, I tell you, it will be #[See ver. 50 above]required of this generation. 52Woe to you #ver. 45, 46 lawyers! #Matt. 23:13; [Mal. 2:7, 8] For you have taken away the key of #Rom. 2:20 knowledge. You #[ch. 7:30; Matt. 5:20; 21:31]did not enter yourselves, and you hindered those who were entering.”
53As he went away from there, the scribes and the Pharisees began to press him hard and to provoke him to speak about many things, 54#ch. 20:20; Mark 3:2; John 8:6; [Isa. 29:21] lying in wait for him, #Matt. 22:15; Mark 12:13to catch him in something he might say.
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