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was praying in a certain place one day. 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 wrongs us.
And do not bring us not into temptation.”
5 Then He said to them, “Suppose one of you has a friend, and you go to him at midnight and say to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread, 6 for a friend of mine on a journey has arrived, and I have nothing to set before him’.
7 “Then he answers from inside, ‘Don’t bother me. The door is already locked, and my children are with me in bed. I can’t get up and give you anything’. 8 I tell you, even though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of the man’s persistence he will get up and give him as much as he needs.
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, and he who seeks finds, and to him 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 of a fish? 12 Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? 13 If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!”
14 Now Jesus was casting out a demon that was mute. When the demon had gone out, the man who had been mute spoke, and the crowds were amazed. 15 But some of them said, “He casts out demons by Beelzebub, the prince of demons.” 16 Others, to test Him, demanded of Him a sign from heaven.
17 Jesus knew their thoughts and said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself is headed for destruction, and a house divided against itself will fall. 18 If Satan also is divided against himself, how can his kingdom stand? For you say that I cast out demons by Beelzebub. 19 Now if I cast out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your own people cast them out? So they will be your judges. 20 But if I cast out demons by the finger of God, then the Kingdom of God has come to you.
21 “When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own house, his possessions are safe. 22 But when someone stronger than he is attacks him and overpowers him, he takes from him the armour in which the man trusted, and divides up the spoils.
23 “He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters.
24 “When an unclean spirit comes out of a man, it wanders through waterless places seeking rest, but does not find it. Then it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came’. 25 When it arrives, it finds the house swept clean and put in order. 26 Then it goes and brings seven other spirits more evil than the itself, and they go in and live there. Then the final condition of that man is worse than the first.”
27 While Jesus was saying these things, a woman in the crowd called out to Him, “Blessed is the womb that bore you, and the breasts that nursed you!”
28 But He said, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it!”
29 As the number of people in the crowds were increasing, Jesus said, “This generation is an evil generation. It asks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah. 30 For just as Jonah became a sign to the people of Nineveh, so also the Son of Man will be to this generation. 31 The Queen of the South will rise up at the judgment with the men of this generation and condemn them, for she came from the ends of the earth to listen to Solomon’s wisdom, and indeed something greater than Solomon is here! 32 The men of Nineveh will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and indeed something greater than Jonah is here.
33 “No one lights a lamp puts it in a cellar or under a bowl, but on a lampstand, so that those who come in may see the light. 34 Your eye is the lamp of your body. When your eye is good, your whole body is full of light. But when your eye is bad, your body also is full of darkness. 35 So be careful then that the light in you is not darkness. 36 If then your whole body is full of light, with no part of it dark, the whole body will be full of light, as when the light of a lamp shines on you.”
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 amazed to see that Jesus did not first wash before the meal.
39 Then the Lord said to him, “Now you Pharisees cleanse the outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside you are full of greed and wickedness. 40 You fools! Did not He who made the outside make the inside also? 41 But rather give what is inside the dish to the needy, and then everything will be clean for you.
42 “But woe to you Pharisees, because you tithe mint, and rue, and every other kind of garden herb, yet you neglect justice and the love of God. These you ought to have practiced, without neglecting the others.
43 “Woe to you Pharisees, because you love to have the most important seats in the synagogues, and to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces.
44 “Woe to you, because you are like unmarked graves, which men walk over without knowing it.”
45 One of the experts in the law said to Him, “Teacher, when you say these things, you insult us also.”
46 Jesus replied, “Woe to you experts in the law also, because you load men with burdens hard to bear, and you yourselves will not lift one finger to help them.
47 “Woe to you, because you build the tombs of the prophets whom your forefathers killed. 48 So you are witnesses that you approve of the deeds of your forefathers; for they killed the prophets, and you build their tombs. 49 Because of this, the wisdom of God said, ‘I will send them prophets and apostles, some of whom they will kill and persecute’, 50 so that this generation may be held responsible for all the blood of the prophets 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 all of it.
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 left there, the scribes and the Pharisees began to oppose Him fiercely and to question Him about many things, 54 waiting to trap Him in something He might say.