Luk 11 | NASB1995 | STEP | It happened that while Jesus was praying in a certain place , after He had finished , one of His disciples said to Him, “ Lord , teach us to pray just as John also taught his disciples .”

1 It happened that while ^{▼▼ Lit He}Jesus was praying in a certain place, after He had finished, one of His disciples said to Him, “Lord, teach us to pray just as John also taught his disciples.” 2 And He said to them, ^b“When you pray, say: ‘ ^{▼▼ Later mss add phrases from Mat.6.9-13 to make the two passages closely similar}Father, hallowed be Your name.
Your kingdom come.
3 ‘Give us ^deach day our ^{▼▼ Or bread for the coming day or needful bread}daily bread.
4 ‘And forgive us our sins,
For we ourselves also forgive everyone who ^fis indebted to us.
And lead us not into temptation.’”

5 Then He said to them, ^{▼▼ Lit Which one of you will have}“Suppose one of you has a friend, and goes to him at midnight and says to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves; 6 for a friend of mine has come to me from a journey, and I have nothing to set before him’; 7 and from inside he answers and says, ‘Do not bother me; the door has already been shut and my children ^{▼▼ Lit with me}and I are in bed; I cannot get up and give you anything.’ 8 “I tell you, even though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet ⁱbecause of his ^{▼▼ Lit shamelessness}persistence he will get up and give him as much as he needs.

9 “So I say to you, ^{▼▼ Or keep asking
,} ^lask, and it will be given to you; ^{▼▼ Or keep seeking}seek, and you will find; ^{▼▼ Or keep knocking}knock, and it will be opened to you. 10 “For everyone who asks, receives; and he who seeks, finds; and to him who knocks, it will be opened. 11 “Now ^{▼▼ Lit which of you, a son, will ask the father}suppose one of you fathers is asked by his son for a ^{▼▼ Two early mss insert loaf, he will not give him a stone, will he, or for a}fish; he will not give him a snake instead of a fish, will he? 12 “Or if he is asked for an egg, he will not give him a scorpion, will he? 13 ^q“If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your ^{▼▼ Lit Father from heaven}heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him?”

Pharisees’ Blasphemy

14 ^sAnd He was casting out a demon, and it was mute; when the demon had gone out, the mute man spoke; and the crowds were amazed. 15 But some of them said, “He casts out demons ^tby ^uBeelzebul, the ruler of the demons.” 16 Others, ^{▼▼ Lit testing}to test Him, ^wwere demanding of Him a ^{▼▼ Or attesting miracle}sign from heaven. 17 ^yBut He knew their thoughts and said to them, ^{▼▼ Lit every}“Any kingdom divided against itself is laid waste; and a house divided against ^{▼▼ Lit a house}itself falls. 18 “If ^abSatan also is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand? For you say that I cast out demons by ^acBeelzebul. 19 “And if I by ^adBeelzebul cast out demons, by whom do your sons cast them out? So they will be your judges. 20 “But if I cast out demons by the ^aefinger of God, then ^afthe kingdom of God has come upon you. 21 “When ^{▼▼ Lit the}a strong man, fully armed, guards his own house, his possessions are ^{▼▼ Lit in peace}undisturbed. 22 “But when someone stronger than he attacks him and overpowers him, he takes away from him all his armor on which he had relied and distributes his plunder. 23 ^ai“He who is not with Me is against Me; and he who does not gather with Me, scatters.

24 ^aj“When the unclean spirit goes out of ^{▼▼ Lit the}a man, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, and not finding any, it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ 25 “And when it comes, it finds it swept and put in order. 26 “Then it goes and takes along seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they go in and live there; and the last state of that man becomes worse than the first.”

27 While ^{▼▼ Lit He}Jesus was saying these things, one of the women in the crowd raised her voice and said to Him, ^am“Blessed is the womb that bore You and the breasts at which You nursed.” 28 But He said, “On the contrary, blessed are ^anthose who hear the word of God and observe it.”

The Sign of Jonah

29 As the crowds were increasing, He began to say, ^ao“This generation is a wicked generation; it ^apseeks for a ^{▼▼ Or attesting miracle}sign, and yet no ^{▼▼ Or attesting miracle}sign will be given to it but the ^{▼▼ Or attesting miracle}sign of Jonah. 30 “For just as ^atJonah became a ^{▼▼ Or attesting miracle}sign to the Ninevites, so will the Son of Man be to this generation. 31 “The ^avQueen of the South will rise up with the men of this generation at the judgment and 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. 32 “The men of Nineveh will stand up with this generation at the judgment and condemn it, because ^awthey repented at the preaching of Jonah; and behold, something greater than Jonah is here.

33 ^ax“No one, after lighting a lamp, puts it away in a cellar nor under a basket, but on the lampstand, so that those who enter may see the light. 34 ^ay“The eye is the lamp of your body; when your eye is ^{▼▼ Or healthy}clear, your whole body also is full of light; but when it is ^{▼▼ Or evil}bad, your body also is full of darkness. 35 “Then watch out that the light in you is not darkness. 36 “If therefore your whole body is full of light, with no dark part in it, it will be wholly illumined, as when the lamp illumines you with its rays.”

Woes upon the Pharisees

37 Now when He had spoken, a Pharisee asked Him to have lunch with him; and He went in, and reclined at the table. 38 When the Pharisee saw it, he was surprised that He had not first ^{▼▼ Lit baptized
,} ^bcceremonially washed before the ^{▼▼ Or lunch}meal. 39 But ^bethe Lord said to him, “Now ^bfyou Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and of the platter; but ^{▼▼ Lit your inside is full}inside of you, you are full of robbery and wickedness. 40 ^bh“You foolish ones, did not He who made the outside make the inside also? 41 “But ^bigive that which is within as charity, and ^{▼▼ Lit behold}then all things are ^bkclean for you.

42 ^bl“But woe to you Pharisees! For you ^bmpay tithe of mint and rue and every kind of garden herb, and yet disregard justice and the love of God; but these are the things you should have done without neglecting the others. 43 “Woe to you Pharisees! For you ^bnlove the chief seats in the synagogues and the respectful greetings in the market places. 44 ^bo“Woe to you! For you are like ^{▼▼ Or indistinct, unseen}concealed tombs, and the people who walk over them are unaware of it.”

45 One of the ^{▼▼ I.e. experts in the Mosaic Law
,} ^brlawyers said to Him in reply, “Teacher, when You say this, You insult us too.” 46 But He said, “Woe to you ^bslawyers as well! For ^btyou weigh men down with burdens hard to bear, ^{▼▼ Lit and}while you yourselves will not even touch the burdens with one of your fingers. 47 ^bv“Woe to you! For you build the ^{▼▼ Or monuments to}tombs of the prophets, and it was your fathers who killed them. 48 “So you are witnesses and approve the deeds of your fathers; because it was they who killed them, and you build their tombs. 49 “For this reason also ^bxthe wisdom of God said, ‘ ^byI will send to them prophets and apostles, and some of them they will kill and some they will ^{▼▼ Or drive out}persecute, 50 so that the blood of all the prophets, shed ^casince the foundation of the world, may be ^{▼▼ Or required of}charged against this generation, 51 from ^ccthe blood of Abel to ^cdthe blood of Zechariah, who was killed between the altar and the house of God; yes, I tell you, it shall be ^{▼▼ Or required of}charged against this generation.’ 52 “Woe to you ^{▼▼ I.e. experts in the Mosaic Law
,} ^cglawyers! For you have taken away the key of knowledge; ^chyou yourselves did not enter, and you hindered those who were entering.”

53 When He left there, the scribes and the Pharisees began to be very hostile and to question Him closely on many subjects, 54 ^ciplotting against Him ^cjto catch ^{▼▼ Lit something out of His mouth} Him in something He might say.