﻿Luke.
Chapter 11.
Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples.” 
He said to them, “When you pray, say, ‘Father, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come. 
Give us each day our daily bread. 
Forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone who owes us. And do not lead us into temptation.’” 
He said to them, “Which of you, having a friend, would go to him at midnight and say, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves, 
because a friend of mine has arrived from a journey, and I have nothing to set before him,’ 
and have him answer from within, ‘Do not trouble me. The door is already shut, and my children are with me in bed. I cannot get up and give you anything’? 
I tell you, even if he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his shameless persistence he will rise and give him as much as he needs. 
So I tell you: Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 
For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. 
Which father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead of a fish? 
Or if he asks for an egg, will he give him a scorpion? 
If you, then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” 
Jesus was driving out a demon that was mute. When the demon had gone out, the mute man spoke, and the crowds marveled. 
But some of them said, “He drives out demons by Beelzebul, the ruler of the demons.” 
Others tested him by seeking a sign from heaven. 
But he knew their thoughts and said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and house falls upon house. 
If Satan too is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand? For you say that I drive out demons by Beelzebul. 
If I drive out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your sons drive them out? Therefore they will be your judges. 
But if I drive out demons by the finger of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. 
When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own residence, his possessions are safe. 
But when someone stronger attacks and defeats him, he takes away the armor in which he trusted and distributes his plunder. 
Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters. 
When an unclean spirit comes out of a person, it passes through waterless places seeking rest. Finding none, it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ 
When it comes, it finds the house swept and put in order. 
Then it goes and takes seven other spirits more evil than itself. They enter and live there, and that person’s last state becomes worse than the first.” 
As he was saying these things, a woman in the crowd raised her voice and said to him, “Blessed is the womb that bore you and the breasts at which you nursed!” 
But he said, “Rather, blessed are those who hear the word of God and keep it.” 
As the crowds grew, he began to say, “This generation is an evil generation. It seeks a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah. 
For as Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites, so the Son of Man will be to this generation. 
The queen of the South will rise at the judgment with the men of this generation and condemn them, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear Solomon’s wisdom. And look, something greater than Solomon is here. 
The men of Nineveh will rise at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because they repented at Jonah’s preaching. And look, something greater than Jonah is here. 
No one lights a lamp and puts it in a hidden place or under a basket, but on a lampstand, so that those who enter may see its light. 
Your eye is the lamp of your body. When your eye is sound, your whole body is full of light. But when it is bad, your body is also dark. 
So take care that the light within you is not darkness. 
If, then, your whole body is full of light, with no dark part, it will be wholly bright, as when a lamp shines on you with its radiance.” 
When he had spoken, a Pharisee invited him to eat with him. He went in and reclined at the table. 
The Pharisee was surprised to see that he had not first washed before the meal. 
The Lord said to him, “Now you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside you are full of greed and wickedness. 
Fools! Did not the one who made the outside also make the inside? 
But give what is inside as alms, and look, everything is clean for you. 
But woe to you Pharisees! You give a tenth of mint and rue and every garden plant, but pass over justice and the love of God. You should have practiced these without neglecting the others. 
Woe to you Pharisees! You love the seats of honor in the synagogues and greetings in the marketplaces. 
Woe to you! You are like unmarked graves, and people walk over them without knowing it.” 
One of the experts in the law answered him, “Teacher, when you say these things, you insult us too.” 
He said, “Woe to you experts in the law as well! You load people with burdens hard to bear, but you yourselves do not touch those burdens with even one of your fingers. 
Woe to you! You build the tombs of the prophets, but your fathers killed them. 
So you are witnesses and approve of your fathers’ deeds, for they killed them, and you build. 
That is why the wisdom of God also said, ‘I will send them prophets and apostles, and some of them they will kill and persecute,’ 
so that this generation may be held accountable for the blood of all the prophets shed since the foundation of the world, 
from 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 accountable. 
Woe to you experts in the law! You have taken away the key of knowledge. You did not enter yourselves, and you hindered those who were entering.” 
When he went out from there, the scribes and Pharisees began to oppose him fiercely and question him about many things, 
lying in wait to catch something he said. 
