Luke 11

 

1 And it came to pass, that, as He was praying in a certain place, when He ceased, one of His disciples said to Him, Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples.

 

2 And He said to them, When you pray, say, Our (Abba) Father who is in heaven, Hallowed (set apart and worthy of all reverence and praise) is your name. Your (everlasting) kingdom (will) come. Your (justice to gather all Your beloved to Yourself) shall be done, (so that) as (it is) in heaven, so (shall it be) on earth.

 

3 Give us day by day our daily bread (from heaven, the food of Your indestructible life in Your Son, Christ Jesus the Lord, the bread that never perishes).

 

4 And forgive us (sending away our death and its sting) our sins; as we also forgive (sending away the offenses brought by death from) anyone who has committed sins against us. And (You Abba) do not lead us into temptation (to take up the care of our own lives); but deliver us from (all) evil (and calamity where we can rest from all our labors in the midst of tribulation).

 

5 And He said to them, Which of you shall have a friend, and shall go to him at midnight, and say to him, Friend, lend me three loaves;

 

6 For a friend of mine in his journey has come to me, and I have nothing to set before him?

 

7 And he from inside shall answer and say, Do not trouble me: the door is now shut, and my children are in bed with me; I cannot rise and give it to you.

 

8 I say to you, Though he will not rise and give to him, because he is his friend, yet (he will), because of his (persistence and) shamelessness, he will rise and give him as many as he needs.

 

9 And I say to you (about your Father in heaven), (Simply) ask, and the thing that your heart truly desires shall be given to you; seek, and you shall find; knock, and it shall be opened to you.

 

10 For everyone that asks (for His life) receives; and he that seeks (from Him, His life) finds (it); and to him who knocks (calling on the name of the Lord) it shall be opened (unto him).

 

11 If a son asks for bread (for nourishment) from any of you that are (earthly) fathers, will he give him a stone (in the shape of a loaf)? Or if he asks for a fish, will he instead give him a serpent (which delivers a poisonous bite, not nourishment)?

 

12 Or if he shall ask for an egg, will he offer him a scorpion (that could sting him)?

 

13 If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father (who only gives good and perfect gifts) give (the greatest gift of) the Holy Spirit to them that ask Him?

 

14 And he was casting out a devil, and it was (from a man who was) mute. And it came to pass, when the devil was gone out, the mute (man) spoke; and the people marveled.

 

15 But some of them (who witnessed it) said, He casts out devils through Beelzebub, the chief of the devils.

 

16 And others, tempting Him (to prove He was the Son of God), asked from Him a sign from heaven.

 

17 But He, knowing their thoughts, said to them, Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation (to nothing); and a house divided against a house falls.

 

18 If Satan is also divided against himself, how shall his kingdom stand? For if, as you say, I cast out devils through Beelzebub (the chief of devils, that would make his house divided).

 

19 And if I by Beelzebub cast out devils, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore, shall they be your judges.

 

20 But if I, with the finger of God, cast out devils, no doubt the kingdom of God has come upon you.

 

21 When a strong man (fully) armed keeps his house, his goods are in peace (and safety):

 

22 But when one stronger than himself shall come on him, and overcome him, he takes from him all his armor wherein he trusted and divides his spoils (his booty).

 

23 He that is not with Me is against Me: and he that does not gather (the harvest) with Me scatters.

 

24 When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walks through dry (deserted) places, seeking rest; and finding none, he said, I will return to my house from where I came out.

 

25 And when he comes, he finds it swept and garnished (outwardly but yet empty of God’s indwelling).

 

26 Then goes he and takes with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself; and they enter in, and dwell there: and the last state of that man is worse than the first

 

27 And it came to pass, as He spoke these things, a certain woman of the company lifted up her voice, and said to Him, Blessed is the womb that bore you, and the breasts which have nursed you.

 

28 But He said, indeed, but rather, blessed are those that hear the word of God, and (observe it to) keep it (abiding in their heart).

 

29 And when the people were gathered thick together, He began to say, This is a wicked (and adulterous) generation (always fornicating with other gods): they seek a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of Jonas the prophet (three days in the belly of a whale, and then cast on shore alive).

 

30 For as Jonas was a sign to the Ninevites, so shall also the Son of man be to this generation (rising from the dead after the days in the grave).

 

31 The queen of the south shall rise up in the judgment with the men of this generation and condemn them: for she came from the utmost parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and behold, one greater than Solomon is here.

 

32 The men of Nineveh shall rise up in the judgment with this generation and shall condemn it: for they repented at the preaching of Jonas; and behold, one greater than Jonas is here.

 

33 No man, when he has lighted a candle, puts it in a secret place, neither under a basket, but on a candlestand, that they who come in may see the light (which light is Christ).

 

34 The light of the body is the eye: therefore, when your eye is single (set on the care that God has taken for your life in Christ), your whole body also is full of light; but when your eye is evil (always looking to gather life to yourself and how you might care for your own life), your body also is full of darkness.

 

35 Pay attention, therefore, that the light which is in your eye is not (evil, filled with your own labors in) darkness.

 

36 If your whole body therefore be full of light, having no part dark (but your eye being singly fixed on the life that is in Christ), the whole shall be full of light, as when the bright shining of a candle (in its full strength) does give you light.

 

37 And as He spoke, a certain Pharisee desired Him to dine with Him: and He went in and sat down to dinner.

 

38 And when the Pharisee saw it, he marveled that he did not first wash (His hands) before dinner.

 

39 And the Lord said to him, Now you Pharisees make clean the outside of the cup and the platter; but your inward part (your heart) is full of robbery and wickedness.

 

40 You fools (who are unwise), did not He that made the outside also make the inside?

 

41 But rather you give alms of such things as you have (gathered); and behold, all things are clean to you.

 

42 But woe (calamity shall come) to you, Pharisees! For you tithe mint and rue and all manner of herbs (which hold little importance when compared to the weightier matters of the law) but pass over justice (mercy) and (faith which works) the love of God (in our hearts): these you ought to have observed, and not neglected the others.

 

43 Woe (sorrow it shall bring) to you, Pharisees! For you love (to receive glory from men) the uppermost seats in the synagogues, and greetings in the markets.

 

44 Woe (grief) to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for you are as (unmarked) graves which do not appear, and the men that walk over them are not aware (they are defiling) them.

 

45 Then answered one of the doctors of the law, and said to Him, Master, therefore are you saying you insult us also?

 

46 And He said, Woe to you also, you doctors of the law! For you, load men with burdens too grievous to be carried, and you yourselves do not touch the burdens with one of your fingers.

 

47 Woe to you! for you build the tombs of the prophets, and your fathers (are the one who) killed them.

 

48 Truly, you bear witness that you allow the deeds of your fathers: for they indeed killed them, and you build their tombs.

 

49 Therefore, also said the wisdom of God (the Spirit of Christ), I will send them prophets and apostles, and some of them they shall slay and persecute:

 

50 That the blood of all the prophets, which was shed from the foundation of the world (when death first entered), may be required of this generation;

 

51 From the blood of (righteous) Abel to the blood of Zacharias, which perished between the altar and the temple: truly I say to you, It shall be required of this generation (of vipers).

 

52 Woe to you, doctors of the law! For (with your erroneous interpretation of the law and the prophets) you have taken away the key of knowledge (they all spoke of: Christ): you do not enter into (the Kingdom of God) yourselves, and those that are entering in you hinder.

 

53 And as He said these things to them, the scribes and the Pharisees began to urge Him vehemently, and to provoke Him to speak of many things:

 

54 Setting a trap for Him, and seeking to catch something out of His mouth, that they might accuse Him.