Jesus’ Teaching on
Prayer
1 One day Jesus was praying
in a
certain
place.
When he
finished,
one of his
disciples
said to
him,
“Lord,
teach us
to pray,
just as
John
taught his
disciples.”
2 He said to them, “When
you pray,
say:
“‘Father,
hallowed
be your
name,
your
kingdom
come.
3 Give
us each
day our
daily
bread.
4 Forgive
us our
sins,
for we
also
forgive
everyone
who sins
against
us.
And
lead us
not into
temptation.’”
5 Then Jesus said to them,
“Suppose
you have a
friend,
and you go
to him at
midnight
and say,
‘Friend,
lend me
three
loaves of
bread;
6 a
friend of
mine on a
journey
has come
to me, and
I have no
food to
offer
him.’
7 And
suppose
the one
inside
answers,
‘Don’t
bother me.
The door
is already
locked,
and my
children
and I are
in bed. I
can’t get
up and
give you
anything.’
8 I tell
you, even
though he
will not
get up and
give you
the bread
because of
friendship,
yet
because of
your
shameless
audacity
he will
surely get
up and
give you
as much as
you need.
9 “So I say to you: Ask
and it
will be
given to
you; seek
and you
will find;
knock and
the door
will be
opened to
you.
10 For
everyone
who asks
receives;
the one
who seeks
finds; and
to the one
who
knocks,
the door
will be
opened.
11 “Which of you fathers,
if your
son asks
for
a fish,
will give
him a
snake
instead?
12 Or if
he asks
for an
egg, will
give him a
scorpion?
13 If you
then,
though you
are evil,
know how
to give
good gifts
to your
children,
how much
more will
your
Father in
heaven
give the
Holy
Spirit to
those who
ask him!”
Jesus and
Beelzebul
14 Jesus was driving out a
demon that
was mute.
When the
demon
left, the
man who
had been
mute
spoke, and
the crowd
was
amazed.
15 But
some of
them said,
“By
Beelzebul,
the prince
of demons,
he is
driving
out
demons.”
16 Others
tested him
by asking
for a sign
from
heaven.
17 Jesus knew their
thoughts
and said
to them:
“Any
kingdom
divided
against
itself
will be
ruined,
and a
house
divided
against
itself
will fall.
18 If
Satan is
divided
against
himself,
how can
his
kingdom
stand? I
say this
because
you claim
that I
drive out
demons by
Beelzebul.
19 Now if
I drive
out demons
by
Beelzebul,
by whom do
your
followers
drive them
out? So
then, they
will be
your
judges.
20 But if
I drive
out demons
by the
finger of
God, then
the
kingdom of
God has
come upon
you.
21 “When a strong man,
fully
armed,
guards his
own house,
his
possessions
are safe.
22 But
when
someone
stronger
attacks
and
overpowers
him, he
takes away
the armor
in which
the man
trusted
and
divides up
his
plunder.
23 “Whoever is not with me
is against
me, and
whoever
does not
gather
with me
scatters.
24 “When an impure spirit
comes out
of a
person, it
goes
through
arid
places
seeking
rest and
does not
find it.
Then it
says, ‘I
will
return to
the house
I left.’
25 When it
arrives,
it finds
the house
swept
clean and
put in
order.
26 Then it
goes and
takes
seven
other
spirits
more
wicked
than
itself,
and they
go in and
live
there. And
the final
condition
of that
person is
worse than
the
first.”
27 As Jesus was saying
these
things, a
woman in
the crowd
called
out,
“Blessed
is the
mother who
gave you
birth and
nursed
you.”
28 He replied, “Blessed
rather are
those who
hear the
word of
God and
obey it.”
The Sign of Jonah
29 As the crowds
increased,
Jesus
said,
“This is a
wicked
generation.
It asks
for a
sign, but
none will
be given
it except
the sign
of Jonah.
30 For as
Jonah was
a sign to
the
Ninevites,
so also
will the
Son of Man
be to this
generation.
31 The
Queen of
the South
will rise
at the
judgment
with the
people of
this
generation
and
condemn
them, for
she came
from the
ends of
the earth
to listen
to
Solomon’s
wisdom;
and now
something
greater
than
Solomon is
here.
32 The
men of
Nineveh
will stand
up at the
judgment
with this
generation
and
condemn
it, for
they
repented
at the
preaching
of Jonah;
and now
something
greater
than Jonah
is here.
The Lamp of the
Body
33 “No one lights a lamp
and puts
it in a
place
where it
will be
hidden, or
under a
bowl.
Instead
they put
it on its
stand, so
that those
who come
in may see
the light.
34 Your
eye is the
lamp of
your body.
When your
eyes are
healthy,
your whole
body also
is full of
light. But
when they
are
unhealthy,
your body
also is
full of
darkness.
35 See to
it, then,
that the
light
within you
is not
darkness.
36 Therefore,
if your
whole body
is full of
light, and
no part of
it dark,
it will be
just as
full of
light as
when a
lamp
shines its
light on
you.”
Woes on the Pharisees and
the
Experts in
the Law
37 When Jesus had finished
speaking,
a Pharisee
invited
him to eat
with him;
so he went
in and
reclined
at the
table.
38 But
the
Pharisee
was
surprised
when he
noticed
that Jesus
did not
first wash
before the
meal.
39 Then the Lord said to
him, “Now
then, you
Pharisees
clean the
outside of
the cup
and dish,
but inside
you are
full of
greed and
wickedness.
40 You
foolish
people!
Did not
the one
who made
the
outside
make the
inside
also?
41 But
now as for
what is
inside
you—be
generous
to the
poor, and
everything
will be
clean for
you.
42 “Woe to you Pharisees,
because
you give
God a
tenth of
your mint,
rue and
all other
kinds of
garden
herbs, but
you
neglect
justice
and the
love of
God. You
should
have
practiced
the latter
without
leaving
the former
undone.
43 “Woe to you Pharisees,
because
you love
the most
important
seats in
the
synagogues
and
respectful
greetings
in the
marketplaces.
44 “Woe to you, because
you are
like
unmarked
graves,
which
people
walk over
without
knowing
it.”
45 One of the experts in
the law
answered
him,
“Teacher,
when you
say these
things,
you insult
us also.”
46 Jesus replied, “And you
experts in
the law,
woe to
you,
because
you load
people
down with
burdens
they can
hardly
carry, and
you
yourselves
will not
lift one
finger to
help them.
47 “Woe to you, because
you build
tombs for
the
prophets,
and it was
your
ancestors
who killed
them.
48 So
you
testify
that you
approve of
what your
ancestors
did; they
killed the
prophets,
and you
build
their
tombs.
49 Because
of this,
God in his
wisdom
said, ‘I
will send
them
prophets
and
apostles,
some of
whom they
will kill
and others
they will
persecute.’
50 Therefore
this
generation
will be
held
responsible
for the
blood of
all the
prophets
that has
been shed
since the
beginning
of the
world,
51 from
the blood
of Abel to
the blood
of
Zechariah,
who was
killed
between
the altar
and the
sanctuary.
Yes, I
tell you,
this
generation
will be
held
responsible
for it
all.
52 “Woe to you experts in
the law,
because
you have
taken away
the key to
knowledge.
You
yourselves
have not
entered,
and you
have
hindered
those who
were
entering.”
53 When Jesus went
outside,
the
Pharisees
and the
teachers
of the law
began to
oppose him
fiercely
and to
besiege
him with
questions,
54 waiting
to catch
him in
something
he might
say.