Luke 11:1It 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."
Luke 11:2He said to them, "When you pray, say: 'Father, hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come.
Luke 11:3'Give us each day our daily bread.
Luke 11:4'And forgive us our sins, For we ourselves also forgive everyone who is indebted to us [who has offended or wronged us]. And lead us not into temptation [but rescue us from evil].'"
Luke 11:5¶ 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];
Luke 11:6for a friend of mine who is on a journey has just come to visit me, and I have nothing to serve him';
Luke 11:7and 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.'
Luke 11:8"I tell you, even though he will not get up and give him anything just because he is his friend, yet because of his persistence and boldness he will get up and give him whatever he needs.
Luke 11:9¶ "So I say to you, ask 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]
Luke 11:10"For everyone who keeps 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.
Luke 11:11"What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead of a fish?
Luke 11:12"Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion?
Luke 11:13"If 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!"
Luke 11:14¶ And [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]
Luke 11:15But some of them said, "He drives out demons by [the power of] Beelzebul (Satan), the ruler of the demons."
Luke 11:16Others, trying to test Him, were demanding of Him a sign from heaven.
Luke 11:17But 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.
Luke 11:18"If Satan 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] Beelzebul.
Luke 11:19"Now if I drive out the demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your sons [the Jewish exorcists] drive them out? For this reason they will be your judges.
Luke 11:20"But if I drive out the demons by the finger of God, then the kingdom of God has already come upon you.
Luke 11:21"When the strong man, fully armed, guards his own house, his belongings are undisturbed and secure.
Luke 11:22"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.
Luke 11:23"He 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.
Luke 11:24¶ "When 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.'
Luke 11:25"And when it comes, it finds the place swept and put in order.
Luke 11:26"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."
Luke 11:27¶ Now while Jesus was saying these things, one of the women in the crowd raised her voice and said to Him, "Blessed (happy, favored by God) is the womb that gave birth to You and the breasts at which You nursed!"
Luke 11:28But He said, "On the contrary, blessed (happy, favored by God) are those who hear the word of God and continually observe it."
Luke 11:29¶ Now as the crowds were increasing [in number], He began to say, "This [present] generation is a wicked generation; it seeks a sign (attesting miracle), but no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah [the prophet]. [Matt 12:39-42]
Luke 11:30"For just as Jonah 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]
Luke 11:31"The Queen 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]
Luke 11:32"The men of Nineveh will stand up [as witnesses] at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and look, something greater than Jonah is here. [Jon 3:5]
Luke 11:33¶ "No 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]
Luke 11:34"The 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].
Luke 11:35"Be careful, therefore, that the light that is in you is not darkness.
Luke 11:36"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."
Luke 11:37¶ 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].
Luke 11:38The Pharisee noticed this and was surprised that Jesus did not first ceremonially wash before the meal.
Luke 11:39But the Lord said to him, "Now you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and plate [as required by tradition]; but inside you are full of greed and wickedness.
Luke 11:40"You foolish ones [acting without reflection or intelligence]! Did not He who made the outside make the inside also?
Luke 11:41"But give 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 clean for you.
Luke 11:42¶ "But woe (judgment is coming) to you Pharisees, because you [self-righteously] tithe mint and rue 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]
Luke 11:43"Woe to you Pharisees, because you love the best seats in the synagogues and to be respectfully greeted in the market places.
Luke 11:44"Woe to you! For you are like graves which are unmarked, and people walk over them without being aware of it [and are ceremonially unclean]."
Luke 11:45¶ One of the lawyers [an expert in the Mosaic Law] answered Him, "Teacher, by saying this, You insult us too!"
Luke 11:46But He said, "Woe to you lawyers as well, because you 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].
Luke 11:47"Woe to you! For you repair or build tombs for the prophets, and it was your fathers who killed them.
Luke 11:48"So you are witnesses and approve the deeds of your fathers, because they [actually] killed them, and you repair or build their tombs.
Luke 11:49"For this reason also the wisdom of God said [in the Scriptures], 'I will send them prophets and apostles, some of whom they will put to death and some they will persecute,
Luke 11:50so that charges may be brought against this generation [holding them responsible] for the blood of all the prophets shed since the foundation of the world,
Luke 11:51from the blood of Abel to the 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]
Luke 11:52"Woe to you lawyers, because you have taken away the key to knowledge (scriptural truth). You 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]
Luke 11:53¶ When He left there, the scribes and the Pharisees began to be very hostile [toward Him] and to interrogate Him on many subjects,
Luke 11:54plotting against Him to catch Him in something He might say.