The Lord’s Prayer

1And 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.” 2And He said to them, “When you pray, say:

‘[†]Father, hallowed be Your name.

Your kingdom come.

3Give us each day our [†]daily bread.

4And forgive us our sins,

For we ourselves also forgive everyone who is indebted to us.

And lead us not into temptation.’”

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

9“So I say to you, [†]ask, and it will be given to you; [†]seek, and you will find; [†]knock, and it will be opened to you. 10For everyone who asks, receives; and he who seeks, finds; and to him who knocks, it will be opened. 11But what father among you, if his son asks for a [†]fish, will give him a snake instead of a fish? 12Or, if his son asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? 13If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your [†]heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him?”

A Kingdom Divided

14And He was casting out a demon, and it was mute. Now it happened that when the demon had gone out, the mute man spoke, and the crowds marveled. 15But some of them said, “He casts out demons by Beelzebul, the ruler of the demons.” 16And others, testing Him, were seeking from Him [†]a sign from heaven. 17But He knew their thoughts and said to them, “[†]Any kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and a house divided against [†]itself falls. 18But if Satan also is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand? For you say that I cast out demons by Beelzebul. 19And if I by Beelzebul cast out demons, by whom do your sons cast them out? For this reason, they will be your judges. 20But if I cast out demons by the finger of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. 21When [†]a strong man, fully armed, guards his own house, his possessions are [†]undisturbed. 22But 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. 23He who is not with Me is against Me and he who does not gather with Me, scatters.

24“When the unclean spirit goes out of [†]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.’ 25And when it comes, it finds it swept and put in order. 26Then 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.”

27Now it happened that while [†]Jesus was saying these things, one of the women in the crowd raised her voice and said to Him, “Blessed is the womb that bore You and the breasts at which You nursed.” 28But He said, “On the contrary, blessed are those who hear the word of God and keep it.”

The Sign of Jonah

29Now as the crowds were increasing, He began to say, “This generation is a wicked generation; it seeks [†]a sign, and yet no [†]sign will be given to it but the [†]sign of Jonah. 30For just as Jonah became [†]a sign to the Ninevites, so will the Son of Man be to this generation. 31The Queen of the South will rise up at the judgment with the men of this generation 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. 32The men of Nineveh will stand up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because they repented at the preaching of Jonah. And behold, something greater than Jonah is here.

33“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. 34The eye is the lamp of your body; when your eye is [†]clear, your whole body also is full of light, but when it is [†]bad, your body also is full of darkness. 35Therefore watch out that the light in you is not darkness. 36If 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 to the Pharisees and Lawyers

37Now when He had spoken, a Pharisee asked Him to have a meal with him. And He went in and reclined at the table. 38But when the Pharisee saw it, he marveled that He had not first [†]ceremonially washed before the [†]meal. 39But the Lord said to him, “Now you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but [†]inside of you, you are full of robbery and wickedness. 40You foolish ones, did not He who made the outside make the inside also? 41But give that which is within as charity, and [†]then all things are clean for you.

42“But woe to you Pharisees! For you pay 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. 43Woe to you Pharisees! For you love the best seat in the synagogues and the respectful greetings in the marketplaces. 44Woe to you! For you are like [†]concealed tombs, and the people who walk over them are unaware of it.”

45Now one of the scholars of the Law answered and said to Him, “Teacher, when You say these things, You insult us too.” 46But He said, “Woe to you scholars of the Law as well! For you weigh men down with burdens hard to bear, and you yourselves will not even touch the burdens with one of your fingers. 47Woe to you! For you build the [†]tombs of the prophets, but your fathers killed them. 48So you are witnesses and approve the deeds of your fathers; because it was they who killed them, and you build their tombs. 49For this reason also the wisdom of God said, ‘I will send to them prophets and apostles, and some of them they will kill and some they will [†]persecute, 50so that the blood of all the prophets, shed since the foundation of the world, may be [†]charged against this generation, 51from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah, who was killed between the altar and the house of God; yes, I tell you, it shall be [†]charged against this generation.’ 52Woe to you, scholars of the Law! For you have taken away the key of knowledge; you yourselves did not enter, and you hindered those who were entering.”

53And when He left there, the scribes and the Pharisees began to be very hostile and to question Him closely on many subjects, 54plotting to catch [†]Him in something He might say.