Luke 11
Ask, and Keep Knocking at Midnight
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Lord, Teach Us to Pray
11:1And it happened that He was praying in a certain place. When He stopped, one of His disciples said to Him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John also taught his disciples.”
11:2He said to them, “When you pray, say: ‘Father, let Your name be hallowed. Let Your kingdom come.
11:3Give us each day our bread for the day.
11:4And forgive us our sins, for we ourselves also forgive everyone who owes us. And do not bring us into testing.’”
Which of You Will Have a Friend
11:5And He said to them, “Which of you will have a friend and go to him at midnight and say to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves,
11:6since a friend of mine has arrived at my home from a journey, and I have nothing to set before him,’
11:7and that man will answer from inside, ‘Do not trouble me. The door is already shut, and my children are in bed with me. I cannot get up and give you anything’?
11:8I tell you, even if he will not get up and give to him because he is his friend, yet because of his shameless insistence he will rise and give him as much as he needs.
Ask, and It Will Be Given to You
11:9And I tell you: ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.
11:10For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.
11:11What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead of a fish?
11:12Or again, if he asks for an egg, will he give him a scorpion?
11:13So if you, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the Father from heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!”
He Was Driving Out a Mute Demon
11:14And He was driving out a mute demon. When the demon came out, the mute man spoke, and the crowds marveled.
11:15But some of them said, “He drives out the demons by Beelzebul, the ruler of the demons.”
11:16Others, testing Him, were seeking from Him a sign from heaven.
11:17But He, knowing their thoughts, said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and house falls upon house.
11:18And if Satan also is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand? For you say that I drive out the demons by Beelzebul.
11:19But if I drive out the demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your sons drive them out? Therefore they will be your judges.
11:20But if I drive out the demons by the finger of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.
11:21When the strong man, fully armed, guards his own courtyard, his possessions are at peace.
11:22But when someone stronger than he attacks and defeats him, he takes away the full armor in which he trusted and distributes his spoils.
11:23Whoever is not with Me is against Me, and whoever does not gather with Me scatters.
The Return of the Unclean Spirit
11:24When the 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.’
11:25And when it comes, it finds it swept and put in order.
11:26Then it goes and takes seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they enter and dwell there. And the last state of that person becomes worse than the first.”
Blessed Are Those Who Keep the Word
11:27While 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 breasts at which You nursed!”
11:28But He said, “Rather, blessed are those who hear the word of God and keep it!”
The Sign of Jonah
11:29As the crowds were gathering in greater numbers, He began to say, “This generation is an evil generation. It seeks a sign, and no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah.
11:30For just as Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites, so the Son of Man will also be to this generation.
11:31The queen of the south will be raised at the judgment with the men of this generation and will condemn them, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and behold, something greater than Solomon is here.
11:32The men of Nineveh will rise at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because they repented at the proclamation of Jonah, and behold, something greater than Jonah is here.
No One Who Lights a Lamp Puts It in a Cellar
11:33No one who lights a lamp puts it in a hidden place or under the modius basket, but on the lampstand, so that those who enter may see its light.
11:34Your eye is the lamp of the body. When your eye is single, your whole body is also full of light; but when it is evil, your body is also dark.
11:35Watch, therefore, that the light within you is not darkness.
11:36So if your whole body is full of light, with no part of it dark, it will be wholly full of light, as when a lamp illumines you with its radiance.”
Woes upon the Pharisees
11:37As He was speaking, a Pharisee invited Him to dine with him. He went in and reclined at the table.
11:38But the Pharisee, seeing this, marveled that He had not first washed before the meal.
11:39And the Lord said to him, “Now you Pharisees cleanse the outside of the cup and the dish, but your inside is full of plunder and wickedness.
11:40Fools! Did not the One who made the outside also make the inside?
11:41But give what is within as alms, and behold, everything is clean for you.
Woe to You Pharisees
11:42But woe to you Pharisees, because you tithe mint and rue and every garden herb, and pass by justice and the love of God! You ought to have done these things without leaving those undone.
11:43Woe to you Pharisees, because you love the foremost seat in the synagogues and greetings in the marketplaces!
11:44Woe to you, because you are like unmarked tombs, and the people who walk over them do not know it!”
Woes upon the Experts in the Law
11:45One of the experts in the Law answered Him, “Teacher, by saying these things You insult us also.”
11:46But He said, “Woe also to you experts in the Law, because you load people with burdens hard to carry, and you yourselves do not touch the burdens with one of your fingers!
11:47Woe to you, because you build the tombs of the prophets, but your fathers killed them!
11:48So you are witnesses and approve the deeds of your fathers: they killed them, and you build.
11:49For this reason the wisdom of God also said, ‘I will send them prophets and apostles, and some of these they will kill and persecute,’
11:50so that the blood of all the prophets poured out since the foundation of the world may be required of this generation,
11:51from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah, who perished between the altar and the house. Yes, I tell you, it will be required of this generation.
11:52Woe to you experts in the Law, because you have taken away the key of knowledge! You did not enter yourselves, and you hindered those who were entering.”
The Scribes and Pharisees Lie in Wait
11:53When He went out from there, the scribes and Pharisees began to press Him fiercely and question Him closely about many things,
11:54lying in wait for Him to catch something from His mouth.
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Saints Translation · Liturgical reading edition · V1 · working draft awaiting specialist review.