Chapter 11

1One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.”

2Jesus told them, “When you pray, say: ‘Father, may your name be treated as holy. May your kingdom come.

3Give us each day the food we need.

4Forgive us our sins, because we ourselves forgive everyone who owes us. And do not bring us into a time of testing.’”

5Then Jesus said to them, “Suppose one of you has a friend and goes to him at midnight. You say, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread.

6A friend of mine has arrived after a journey, and I have nothing to serve him.’

7The friend inside answers, ‘Stop bothering me! The door is already locked, and my children are in bed with me. I cannot get up and give you anything.’

8I tell you, he may not get up and give the bread because the man is his friend. Yet because the man keeps asking without shame, he will get up and give him whatever he needs.

9So I tell you: Ask, and you will receive. Search, and you will find. Knock, and the door will be opened for you.

10Everyone who asks receives. The person who searches finds. And for the person who knocks, the door will be opened.

11What father among you would give his son a snake instead of a fish when the son asks for a fish?

12Or if he asks for an egg, would his father give him a scorpion?

13You are morally flawed, yet you know how to give good gifts to your children. How much more will the Father in heaven give his Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”

14Jesus was driving out an evil spirit that had made a man unable to speak. When the spirit left, the man began to speak, and the crowds were amazed.

15But some of them said, “He drives out evil spirits by the power of Beelzebul, the ruler of evil spirits.”

16Others wanted to test Jesus, so they demanded that he show them a sign from heaven.

17But Jesus knew what they were thinking and said, “Every kingdom divided against itself is ruined, and a divided household collapses.

18If Satan is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand? Yet you claim that I drive out evil spirits by Beelzebul’s power.

19If I drive them out by Beelzebul’s power, by whose power do your own people drive them out? Therefore, your people will show that your accusation is wrong.

20But if I drive out evil spirits by God’s own power—his very finger—then God’s rule has already reached you.

21When a strong, fully armed man guards his own property, his possessions are safe.

22But when someone stronger attacks and defeats him, the stronger man takes away the armor he trusted and divides up what he has captured.

23Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters.

24When an evil spirit leaves a person, it travels through dry places looking for rest. When it finds none, it says, ‘I will return to the home I left.’

25When it returns, it finds the place swept clean and put in order.

26Then it goes and brings seven other spirits more evil than itself. They enter and live there, and that person’s final condition becomes worse than the first.”

27While Jesus was saying these things, a woman in the crowd called out, “How fortunate is the woman who carried you and nursed you!”

28But Jesus replied, “Rather, truly fortunate are those who hear God’s message and obey it.”

29As the crowds grew larger, Jesus began to say, “The people of this generation are evil. They keep demanding a sign, but no sign will be given to them except the sign of Jonah.

30Jonah became a sign to the people of Nineveh. In the same way, the Son of Man will become a sign to this generation.

31At the final judgment, the queen from the south will rise alongside the people of this generation and condemn them. She came from the farthest parts of the earth to hear Solomon’s wisdom, and now someone greater than Solomon is here.

32At the judgment, the people of Nineveh will rise alongside this generation and condemn it. They changed their ways when Jonah preached, and now someone greater than Jonah is here.

33No one lights a lamp and puts it in a hidden place or under a grain basket. Instead, it is placed on a lampstand so that those who enter can see the light.

34Your eye is the lamp of your body. When your eye is healthy, your whole body is full of light. But when your eye is bad, your body is full of darkness.

35So make sure that the light within you is not actually darkness.

36If your whole body is full of light, with no part left dark, it will be completely bright, as when a lamp shines its light on you.”

37While Jesus was speaking, a Pharisee invited him to share a meal. Jesus went inside and took his place at the table.

38The Pharisee was surprised to see that Jesus did not first perform the customary ceremonial washing before the meal.

39The Lord said to him, “You Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside you are full of greed and evil.

40You foolish people! Didn’t the one who made the outside make the inside too?

41Give what is inside your dishes to the poor, and then everything will be clean for you.

42But how terrible for you Pharisees! You give God a tenth of your mint, rue, and every other herb, but you ignore justice and love for God. You should have practiced justice and love without neglecting the other duties.

43How terrible for you Pharisees! You love the most important seats in the synagogues and the respectful greetings people give you in the marketplaces.

44How terrible for you! You are like unmarked graves. People walk over them without knowing it and unknowingly become ceremonially impure.”

45One of the experts in Jewish law responded, “Teacher, when you say these things, you insult us too.”

46Jesus replied, “How terrible for you experts in the law too! You load people down with burdens that are hard to carry, but you yourselves will not touch those burdens with even one finger.

47How terrible for you! You build monuments for the prophets, but your ancestors killed them.

48So you testify to what your ancestors did and approve it. They killed the prophets, and you build the monuments.

49That is why God’s wisdom declared, ‘I will send them prophets and commissioned messengers. They will kill some and persecute others.’

50As a result, this generation will be held accountable for the blood of all the prophets shed since the foundation of the world—

51from 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 accountable for it all.

52How terrible for you experts in the law! You have taken away the key that opens the way to knowledge. You did not enter yourselves, and you stopped those who were trying to enter.”

53After Jesus left there, the teachers of religious law and the Pharisees began to oppose him fiercely and question him closely about many subjects.

54They were lying in wait, hoping to catch him saying something they could use against him.