11:1 THEN HE was praying in a certain place; and when He stopped, one of His disciples said to Him, Lord, teach us to pray, [just] as John taught his disciples. |
11:2 And He said to them, When you pray, say: {Our} Father {Who is in heaven,} hallowed be Your name, Your kingdom come. {Your will be done [held holy and revered] on earth as it is in heaven.} |
11:3 Give us daily our bread [food for the morrow]. |
11:4 And forgive us our sins, for we ourselves also forgive everyone who is indebted to us [who has offended us or done us wrong]. And bring us not into temptation {but rescue us from evil.} |
11:5 And He said to them, Which of you who has a friend will go to him at midnight and will say to him, Friend, lend me three loaves [of bread], |
11:6 For a friend of mine who is on a journey has just come, and I have nothing to put before him; |
11:7 And he from within will answer, Do not disturb me; the door is now closed, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot get up and supply you [with anything]? |
11:8 I tell you, although he will not get up and supply him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his shameless persistence {and} insistence he will get up and give him as much as he needs. |
11:9 So I say to you, Ask {and} keep on asking and it shall be given you; seek {and} keep on seeking and you shall find; knock {and} keep on knocking and the door shall be opened to you. |
11:10 For everyone who asks {and} keeps on asking receives; and he who seeks {and} keeps on seeking finds; and to him who knocks {and} keeps on knocking, the door shall be opened. |
11:11 What father among you, if his son asks for {a loaf of bread, will give him a stone; or if he asks for} a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent? |
11:12 Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? |
11:13 If you then, evil as you are, know how to give good gifts [gifts that are to their advantage] to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask {and} continue to ask Him! |
11:14 Now Jesus was driving out a demon that was dumb; and it occurred that when the demon had gone out, the dumb man spoke. And the crowds marveled. |
11:15 But some of them said, He drives out demons [because He is in league with and] by Beelzebub, the prince of demons, |
11:16 While others, to try {and} test {and} tempt Him, demanded a sign of Him from heaven. |
11:17 But He, [well] aware of their intent {and} purpose, said to them, Every kingdom split up against itself is doomed {and} brought to desolation, and so house falls upon house. [The disunited household will collapse.] |
11:18 And if Satan also is divided against himself, how will his kingdom last? For you say that I expel demons with the help of {and} by Beelzebub. |
11:19 Now if I expel demons with the help of {and} by Beelzebub, with whose help {and} by whom do your sons drive them out? Therefore they shall be your judges. |
11:20 But if I drive out the demons by the finger of God, then the kingdom of God has [already] come upon you. |
11:21 When the strong man, fully armed, [from his courtyard] guards his own dwelling, his belongings are undisturbed [his property is at peace and is secure]. |
11:22 But when one stronger than he attacks him and conquers him, he robs him of his whole armor on which he had relied and divides up {and} distributes all his goods as plunder (spoil). |
11:23 He who is not with Me [siding and believing with Me] is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me [engage in My interest], scatters. |
11:24 When the unclean spirit has gone out of a person, it roams through waterless places in search [of a place] of rest (release, refreshment, ease); and finding none it says, I will go back to my house from which I came. |
11:25 And when it arrives, it finds [the place] swept {and} put in order and furnished {and} decorated. |
11:26 And it goes and brings other spirits, seven [of them], more evil than itself, and they enter in, settle down, {and} dwell there; and the last state of that person is worse than the first. |
11:27 Now it occurred that as He was saying these things, a certain woman in the crowd raised her voice and said to Him, Blessed (happy and to be envied) is the womb that bore You and the breasts that You sucked! |
11:28 But He said, Blessed (happy and to be envied) rather are those who hear the Word of God and obey {and} practice it! |
11:29 Now as the crowds were [increasingly] thronging Him, He began to say, This present generation is a wicked one; it seeks {and} demands a sign (miracle), but no sign shall be given to it except the sign of Jonah [the prophet]. |
11:30 For [just] as Jonah became a sign to the people of Nineveh, so will also the Son of Man be [a sign] to this age {and} generation. |
11:31 The queen of the South will arise in the judgment with the people of this age {and} generation and condemn them; for she came from the ends of the [inhabited] earth to listen to the wisdom of Solomon, and notice, here is more than Solomon. [I Kings 10:1-13; II Chron. 9:1-12.] |
11:32 The men of Nineveh will appear as witnesses at the judgment with this generation and will condemn it; for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and behold, here is more than Jonah. |
11:33 No one after lighting a lamp puts it in a cellar {or} crypt or under a bushel measure, but on a lampstand, that those who are coming in may see the light. |
11:34 Your eye is the lamp of your body; when your eye (your conscience) is sound {and} fulfilling its office, your whole body is full of light; but when it is not sound {and} is not fulfilling its office, your body is full of darkness. |
11:35 Be careful, therefore, that the light that is in you is not darkness. |
11:36 If then your entire body is illuminated, having no part dark, it will be wholly bright [with light], as when a lamp with its bright rays gives you light. |
11:37 Now while Jesus was speaking, a Pharisee invited Him to take dinner with him, so He entered and reclined at table. |
11:38 The Pharisee noticed and was astonished [to see] that Jesus did not first wash before dinner. |
11:39 But the Lord said to him, Now you Pharisees cleanse the outside of the cup and of the plate, but inside you yourselves are full of greed {and} robbery {and} extortion and malice {and} wickedness. |
11:40 You senseless (foolish, stupid) ones [acting without reflection or intelligence]! Did not He Who made the outside make the inside also? |
11:41 But [dedicate your inner self and] give as donations to the poor of those things which are within [of inward righteousness] and behold, everything is purified {and} clean for you. |
11:42 But woe to you, Pharisees! For you tithe mint and rue and every [little] herb, but disregard {and} neglect justice and the love of God. These you ought to have done without leaving the others undone. |
11:43 Woe to you, Pharisees! For you love the best seats in the synagogues and [you love] to be greeted {and} bowed down to in the [public] marketplaces. |
11:44 Woe to you! For you are like graves which are not marked {or} seen, and men walk over them without being aware of it [and are ceremonially defiled]. |
11:45 One of the experts in the [Mosaic] Law answered Him, Teacher, in saying this, You reproach {and} outrage {and} affront even us! |
11:46 But He said, Woe to you, the lawyers, also! For you load men with oppressive burdens hard to bear, and you do not personally [even gently] touch the burdens with one of your fingers. |
11:47 Woe to you! For you are rebuilding {and} repairing the tombs of the prophets, whom your fathers killed (destroyed). |
11:48 So you bear witness and give your full approval {and} consent to the deeds of your fathers; for they actually killed them, and you rebuild {and} repair monuments to them. |
11:49 For this reason also the wisdom of God said, I will send them prophets and apostles, [some] of whom they will put to death and persecute, |
11:50 So that the blood of all the prophets shed from the foundation of the world may be charged against {and} required of this age {and} generation, |
11:51 From the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah, who was slain between the altar and the sanctuary. Yes, I tell you, it shall be charged against {and} required of this age {and} generation. |
11:52 Woe to you, lawyers (experts in the Mosaic Law)! For you have taken away the key to knowledge; you did not go in yourselves, and you hindered {and} prevented those who were entering. |
11:53 As He left there, the scribes and the Pharisees [followed Him closely, and they] began to be enraged with {and} set themselves violently against Him and to draw Him out {and} provoke Him to speak of many things, |
11:54 Secretly watching {and} plotting {and} lying in wait for Him, to seize upon something He might say [that they might accuse Him]. |