Verse 1
And it came about that he was in prayer in a certain place, and when he came to an end, one of his disciples said to him, Lord, will you give us teaching about prayer, as John did to his disciples?
Verse 2
And he said to them, When you say your prayers, say, Father, may your name be kept holy and your kingdom come.
Verse 3
Give us every day bread for our needs.
Verse 4
May we have forgiveness for our sins, as we make free all those who are in debt to us. And let us not be put to the test.
Verse 5
And he said to them, Which of you, having a friend, would go to him in the middle of the night and say to him, Friend, let me have three cakes of bread;
Verse 6
Because a friend of mine has come to me on a journey, and I have nothing to put before him;
Verse 7
And he, from inside the house, would say in answer, Do not be a trouble to me; the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed; it is not possible for me to get up and give to you?
Verse 8
I say to you, Though he will not get up and give to him, because he is his friend, still, if he keeps on making his request, he will get up and give him as much as he has need of.
Verse 9
And I say to you, Make requests, and they will be answered; what you are searching for, you will get; when you give the sign, the door will be open to you.
Verse 10
For to everyone who makes a request, it will be given; and he who is searching will get his desire; and to him who gives the sign, the door will be open.
Verse 11
And which of you, being a father, will give a stone to his son, who makes request for bread? or for a fish, will give him a snake?
Verse 12
Or for an egg, will give him a scorpion?
Verse 13
If, then, you who are evil are able to give good things to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who make request to him?
Verse 14
And he was sending an evil spirit out of a man who was without the power of talking. And it came about that when the spirit had gone the man had the power of talking; and the people were full of wonder.
Verse 15
But some of them said, He sends out evil spirits by Beelzebul, the ruler of evil spirits.
Verse 16
And others, testing him, were looking for a sign from heaven from him.
Verse 17
But he, having knowledge of their thoughts, said to them, Every kingdom in which there is division is made waste; and a house in which there is division comes to destruction.
Verse 18
If, then, Satan is at war with himself, how will he keep his kingdom? because you say that I send evil spirits out of men by the help of Beelzebul.
Verse 19
And if I, by Beelzebul, send out evil spirits, by whose help do your sons send them out? so let them be your judges.
Verse 20
But if I, by the finger of God, send out evil spirits, then the kingdom of God has overtaken you.
Verse 21
When the strong man armed keeps watch over his house, then his goods are safe:
Verse 22
But when one who is stronger makes an attack on him and overcomes him, he takes away his instruments of war, in which he had put his faith, and makes division of his goods.
Verse 23
He who is not with me is against me, and he who will not give me help in getting people together is driving them away.
Verse 24
The unclean spirit, when he has gone out of a man, goes through dry places, looking for rest; and when he does not get it, he says, I will go back to my house from which I came.
Verse 25
And when he comes, he sees that it has been made fair and clean.
Verse 26
Then he goes and gets seven other spirits more evil than himself, and they go in, and take their places there: and the last condition of that man is worse than the first.
Verse 27
And it came about that when he said these things, a certain woman among the people said in a loud voice, Happy is the body which gave you birth, and the breasts from which you took milk.
Verse 28
But he said, More happy are they who give hearing to the word of God and keep it.
Verse 29
And when a great number of people came together to him, he said, This generation is an evil generation: it is looking for a sign and no sign will be given to it but the sign of Jonah.
Verse 30
For even as Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites, so will the Son of man be to this generation.
Verse 31
The queen of the South will come up on the day of judging and give her decision against the men of this generation: for she came from the ends of the earth to give ear to the wisdom of Solomon; and now something greater than Solomon is here.
Verse 32
The men of Nineveh will come up in the day of judging and give their decision against this generation: for they were turned away from their sins at the preaching of Jonah; but now something greater than Jonah is here.
Verse 33
No man, when the light has been lighted, puts it in a secret place, or under a vessel, but on its table, so that those who come in may see the light.
Verse 34
The light of the body is the eye: when your eye is true, all your body is full of light; but when it is evil, your body is dark.
Verse 35
So take care that the light which is in you is not dark.
Verse 36
If, then, all your body is light, with no part of it dark, it will be completely full of light, as when a flame with its bright shining gives you light.
Verse 37
Now, while he was talking, a Pharisee made a request that he would come to a meal with him; and he went in and took his seat at the meal.
Verse 38
And when the Pharisee saw it, he was surprised because he came to the meal without first washing himself.
Verse 39
And the Lord said to him, You Pharisees make the outside of the cup and the plate clean; but inside you are thieves and full of evil.
Verse 40
O you foolish ones! did not he who made the outside in the same way make the inside?
Verse 41
But if you give to the poor such things as you are able, then all things are clean to you.
Verse 42
But a curse is on you, Pharisees! for you make men give a tenth of every sort of plant, and give no thought to right and the love of God; but it is right for you to do these things, and not let the others be undone.
Verse 43
A curse is on you, Pharisees! for your desires are for the most important seats in the Synagogues and for words of respect said to you in the market-place.
Verse 44
A curse is on you! for you are like the resting-places of dead men, which are not seen, and men go walking over them without knowledge of it.
Verse 45
And one of the teachers of the law, answering, said to him, Master, in saying this, you give a bad name to us as to them.
Verse 46
And he said, A curse is on you, teachers of the law! for while other men are crushed under the weight of the rules you make for them, you yourselves do not put so much as one finger to them.
Verse 47
A curse is on you! for you make resting-places for the bodies of the prophets, but your fathers put them to death.
Verse 48
So you are witnesses and give approval to the work of your fathers; for they put them to death and you make their last resting-places.
Verse 49
For this reason the wisdom of God has said, I will send them prophets and teachers, and to some of them they will give death and cruel pains;
Verse 50
So that punishment may come on this generation for the blood of all the prophets which was given from the earliest days;
Verse 51
From the blood of Abel to the blood of Zachariah, who was put to death between the altar and the Temple. Yes, I say to you, It will come on this generation.
Verse 52
A curse is on you, teachers of the law! for you have taken away the key of knowledge: you did not go in yourselves, and you got in the way of those who were going in.
Verse 53
And when he had come out of that place, the scribes and the Pharisees came round him angrily, questioning him about more things;
Verse 54
And watching him, for a chance to get something from his words which might be used against him.