It happened that while Jesus was praying in a certain place, after He finished, one of His disciples said to Him, “Lord, teach us to pray just as John also taught his disciples.” 2 He said to them,“^aWhen you pray, ¹say:‘²Father, ³hallowed be Your name.⁴Your kingdom come.

5 Then He said to them, “Suppose one of you has a friend, and goes to him at midnight and says, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread; 6 for a friend of mine who is on a journey has just come to visit me, and I have nothing to serve him’; 7 and from inside he answers, ‘Do not bother me; the door has already been shut and my children and I are in bed; I cannot get up and give you anything.’ 8 I tell you, even though he will not get up and give him anything just because he is his friend, yet ^abecause of his persistence and boldness he will get up and give him whatever he needs.

9 “So I say to you, ^aask and keep on asking, and it will be given to you; seek and keep on seeking, and you will find; knock and keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you. Matt 7:7-11 10 For everyone who ¹keeps on asking persistently, receives; and he who keeps on seeking persistently, finds; and to him who keeps on knocking persistently, the door will be opened. 11 What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead of a fish? 12 Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? 13 ^aIf you, then, being evil that is, sinful by nature, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask and continue to ask Him!”

14 ^aAnd at another time Jesus was casting out a demon, and it was controlling a man so as to make him mute; when the demon had gone out, the mute man spoke. And the crowds were awed. Matt 12:22-24 15 But some of them said, “^aHe drives out demons by the power of ^1bBeelzebul (Satan) , the ruler of the demons.” 16 Others, trying to test Him, were ^ademanding of Him a sign from heaven. 17 ^aBut He, well aware of their thoughts and purpose, said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself is doomed to destruction; and a house divided against itself falls. 18 If ^aSatan also is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand and continue to survive? For you are saying that I drive out demons by the power of ^bBeelzebul. 19 Now if I drive out the demons by ^aBeelzebul, by whom do your sons the Jewish exorcists drive them out? For this reason they will be your judges. 20 But if I drive out the demons by the ^afinger of God, then ^1bthe kingdom of God has already come upon you. 21 When the strong man, fully armed, guards his own house, his belongings are undisturbed and secure. 22 But when someone stronger than he attacks and overpowers him, he robs him of all his armor on which he had relied and divides his goods as spoil. 23 ^aHe who is not with Me believing in Me as Lord and Savior is against Me there is no impartial position; and he who does not gather with Me assisting in My ministry, scatters.

24 “^aWhen the unclean spirit comes out of a person, it roams through waterless places in search of a place of rest; and not finding any, it says, ‘I will go back to my house (person) from which I came.’ 25 And when it comes, it finds the place swept and put in order. 26 Then it goes and brings seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they go in the person and live there; and the last state of that person becomes worse than the first.”

27 Now while Jesus was saying these things, one of the women in the crowd raised her voice and said to Him, “^aBlessed (happy, favored by God) is the womb that gave birth to You and the breasts at which You nursed!” 28 But He said, “On the contrary, blessed (happy, favored by God) are ^athose who hear the word of God and continually observe it.”

29 Now as the crowds were increasing in number, He began to say, “^aThis present generation is a wicked generation; it ^bseeks a sign (attesting miracle) , but no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah the prophet. Matt 12:39-42 30 For just as ^1aJonah became a sign to the people of Nineveh, so will the Son of Man also be a sign to this generation. Jon 3:4-10 31 The ^aQueen of the South (the kingdom of Sheba) will rise up in the judgment with the men of this generation and condemn them, because she came from the ends of the earth to listen to the wisdom of Solomon, and look, something greater than Solomon is here. 1+@Kin 10:1-13; 2+@Chr 9:1-12 32 The men of Nineveh will stand up as witnesses at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because ^athey repented at the preaching of Jonah, and look, something greater than Jonah is here. Jon 3:5

33 “^aNo one lights a lamp and then puts it in a cellar nor under a basket hiding the light, but instead it is put on the lampstand, so that those who come in may see the light. Matt 5:15; Mark 4:21; Luke 8:16 34 ^aThe eye is the lamp of your body. When your eye is clear spiritually perceptive, focused on God, your whole body also is full of light benefiting from God’s precepts. But when it is bad spiritually blind, your body also is full of darkness devoid of God’s word. 35 Be careful, therefore, that the light that is in you is not darkness. 36 So if your whole body is illuminated, with no dark part, it will be entirely bright with light, as when the lamp gives you light with its bright rays.”

37 Now after Jesus had spoken, a Pharisee asked Him to have lunch with him. He went in the Pharisee’s home and reclined at the table without ceremonially washing His hands. 38 The Pharisee noticed this and was surprised that Jesus did not first ^aceremonially wash before the meal. 39 But ^athe Lord said to him, “^bNow you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and plate as required by tradition; but inside you are full of greed and wickedness. 40 ^aYou foolish ones acting without reflection or intelligence! Did not He who made the outside make the inside also? 41 But ^agive that which is within as charity that is, acts of mercy and compassion, not as a public display, but as an expression of your faithfulness to God, and then indeed all things are ^bclean for you.

42 “^aBut woe (judgment is coming) to you Pharisees, because you self-righteously ^1btithe mint and ²rue and every little garden herb tending to all the minutiae, and yet disregard and neglect justice and the love of God; but these are the things you should have done, without neglecting the others. Lev 27:30; Mic 6:8 43 Woe to you Pharisees, because you ^alove the ¹best seats in the synagogues and to be respectfully greeted in the market places. 44 ^aWoe to you! For you are like graves which are unmarked, and people walk over them without being aware of it and are ceremonially unclean.”

45 One of the ^alawyers an expert in the Mosaic Law answered Him, “Teacher, by saying this, You insult us too!” 46 But He said, “Woe to you ^alawyers as well, because ^byou weigh men down with burdens man-made rules, unreasonable requirements which are hard to bear, and you yourselves will not even touch the burdens with one of your fingers to lighten the load. 47 ^aWoe to you! For you repair or build ¹tombs for the prophets, and it was your fathers who killed them. 48 So you are witnesses and approve the deeds of your fathers, because they actually killed them, and you repair or build their tombs. 49 For this reason also ^athe wisdom of God said in the Scriptures, ‘^bI will send them prophets and apostles, some of whom they will put to death and some they will persecute, 50 so that charges may be brought against this generation holding them responsible for the blood of all the prophets shed ^asince the foundation of the world, 51 from ^athe blood of Abel to ^bthe blood of Zechariah the priest, who was murdered between the altar and the house of God. Yes, I tell you, charges will be brought against this generation.’ Gen 4:8; 2+@Chr 24:20, 21; Zech 1:1; Matt 23:35 52 Woe to you ^alawyers, because you have taken away the key to knowledge (scriptural truth) . ^bYou yourselves did not enter, and you held back those who were entering by your flawed interpretation of God’s word and your man-made tradition.” Matt 23:13

53 When He left there, the scribes and the Pharisees began to be very hostile toward Him and to interrogate Him on many subjects, 54 ^aplotting against Him ^bto catch Him in something He might say.