1 T hen He was praying in a certain place; and when He stopped, one of His disciples said to Him, Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples.

2 A nd He said to them, When you pray, say: Our Father Who is in heaven, hallowed be Your name, Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

3 G ive us daily our bread '> food for the morrow].

4 A nd forgive us our sins, for we ourselves also forgive everyone who is indebted to us. And bring us not into temptation but rescue us from evil.

5 A nd He said to them, Which of you who has a friend will go to him at midnight and will say to him, Friend, lend me three loaves,

6 F or a friend of mine who is on a journey has just come, and I have nothing to put before him;

7 A nd he from within will answer, Do not disturb me; the door is now closed, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot get up and supply you ?

8 I tell you, although he will not get up and supply him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his shameless persistence and insistence he will get up and give him as much as he needs.

9 S o I say to you, Ask and keep on asking and it shall be given you; seek and keep on seeking and you shall find; knock and keep on knocking and the door shall be opened to you.

10 F or everyone who asks and keeps on asking receives; and he who seeks and keeps on seeking finds; and to him who knocks and keeps on knocking, the door shall be opened.

11 W hat father among you, if his son asks for a loaf of bread, will give him a stone; or if he asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent?

12 O r if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion?

13 I f you then, evil as you are, know how to give good gifts '> that are to their advantage] to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask and continue to ask Him!

14 N ow Jesus was driving out a demon that was dumb; and it occurred that when the demon had gone out, the dumb man spoke. And the crowds marveled.

15 B ut some of them said, He drives out demons by Beelzebub, the prince of demons,

16 W hile others, to try and test and tempt Him, demanded a sign of Him from heaven.

17 B ut He, aware of their intent and purpose, said to them, Every kingdom split up against itself is doomed and brought to desolation, and so house falls upon house.

18 A nd if Satan also is divided against himself, how will his kingdom last? For you say that I expel demons with the help of and by Beelzebub.

19 N ow if I expel demons with the help of and by Beelzebub, with whose help and by whom do your sons drive them out? Therefore they shall be your judges.

20 B ut if I drive out the demons by the finger of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.

21 W hen the strong man, fully armed, '> from his courtyard] guards his own dwelling, his belongings are undisturbed.

22 B ut when one stronger than he attacks him and conquers him, he robs him of his whole armor on which he had relied and divides up and distributes all his goods as plunder (spoil).

23 H e who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me, scatters.

24 W hen the unclean spirit has gone out of a person, it roams through waterless places in search of rest (release, refreshment, ease); and finding none it says, I will go back to my house from which I came.

25 A nd when it arrives, it finds swept and put in order and furnished and decorated.

26 A nd it goes and brings other spirits, seven, more evil than itself, and they enter in, settle down, and dwell there; and the last state of that person is worse than the first.

27 N ow it occurred that as He was saying these things, a certain woman in the crowd raised her voice and said to Him, Blessed (happy and to be envied) is the womb that bore You and the breasts that You sucked!

28 B ut He said, Blessed (happy and to be envied) rather are those who hear the Word of God and obey and practice it!

29 N ow as the crowds were thronging Him, He began to say, This present generation is a wicked one; it seeks and demands a sign (miracle), but no sign shall be given to it except the sign of Jonah.

30 F or as Jonah became a sign to the people of Nineveh, so will also the Son of Man be to this age and generation.

31 T he queen of the South will arise in the judgment with the people of this age and generation and condemn them; for she came from the ends of the earth to listen to the wisdom of Solomon, and notice, here is more than Solomon.

32 T he men of Nineveh will appear as witnesses at the judgment with this generation and will condemn it; for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and behold, here is more than Jonah.

33 N o one after lighting a lamp puts it in a cellar or crypt or under a bushel measure, but on a lampstand, that those who are coming in may see the light.

34 Y our eye is the lamp of your body; when your eye ( your conscience) is sound and fulfilling its office, your whole body is full of light; but when it is not sound and is not fulfilling its office, your body is full of darkness.

35 B e careful, therefore, that the light that is in you is not darkness.

36 I f then your entire body is illuminated, having no part dark, it will be wholly bright, as when a lamp with its bright rays gives you light.

37 N ow while Jesus was speaking, a Pharisee invited Him to take dinner with him, so He entered and reclined at table.

38 T he Pharisee noticed and was astonished that Jesus did not first wash before dinner.

39 B ut the Lord said to him, Now you Pharisees cleanse the outside of the cup and of the plate, but inside you yourselves are full of greed and robbery and extortion and malice and wickedness.

40 Y ou senseless (foolish, stupid) ones! Did not He Who made the outside make the inside also?

41 B ut give as donations to the poor of those things which are within and behold, everything is purified and clean for you.

42 B ut woe to you, Pharisees! For you tithe mint and rue and every herb, but disregard and neglect justice and the love of God. These you ought to have done without leaving the others undone.

43 W oe to you, Pharisees! For you love the best seats in the synagogues and to be greeted and bowed down to in the marketplaces.

44 W oe to you! For you are like graves which are not marked or seen, and men walk over them without being aware of it.

45 O ne of the experts in the Law answered Him, Teacher, in saying this, You reproach and outrage and affront even us!

46 B ut He said, Woe to you, the lawyers, also! For you load men with oppressive burdens hard to bear, and you do not personally '> gently] touch the burdens with one of your fingers.

47 W oe to you! For you are rebuilding and repairing the tombs of the prophets, whom your fathers killed (destroyed).

48 S o you bear witness and give your full approval and consent to the deeds of your fathers; for they actually killed them, and you rebuild and repair monuments to them.

49 F or this reason also the wisdom of God said, I will send them prophets and apostles, of whom they will put to death and persecute,

50 S o that the blood of all the prophets shed from the foundation of the world may be charged against and required of this age and generation,

51 F rom the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah, who was slain between the altar and the sanctuary. Yes, I tell you, it shall be charged against and required of this age and generation.

52 W oe to you, lawyers (experts in the Mosaic Law)! For you have taken away the key to knowledge; you did not go in yourselves, and you hindered and prevented those who were entering.

53 A s He left there, the scribes and the Pharisees began to be enraged with and set themselves violently against Him and to draw Him out and provoke Him to speak of many things,

54 S ecretly watching and plotting and lying in wait for Him, to seize upon something He might say.