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UST LUKE Chapter 11

11 One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us how to pray. John the Baptist did that for his own disciples, and we would like you to do that for us.” 2 He said to them, “When you pray, say things like this: ‘Father, may all people honor your name as holy. May you soon rule all people everywhere. 3 Please give us the food we need each day. 4 Please forgive us for the wrong things that we have done. We ourselves will forgive people for the wrong things they have done to us. Help us to not sin when something tempts us.’ ”

5 Then he said to them, “Suppose that one of you goes to the house of a friend at midnight. You stand outside and call to him, ‘My friend, please lend me three loaves of bread! 6 Another friend of mine who is traveling has just arrived at my house. But I do not have any food ready to serve him!’ 7 And suppose that he responds from inside the house, ‘Do not bother me! I have already locked the door, and my whole family is in bed. It would be too hard for me to get up and give you something!’ 8 I tell you, he may not want to get up and give his friend any food just because he is his friend. But if he keeps on asking, the man inside will certainly get up and give him everything he needs. 9 So I tell you: Keep asking God for the things you need, and he will give them to you. Keep seeking those things from God, and you will receive them. Ask God to make things possible for you, and he will act on your behalf. 10 You should do this because anyone who keeps asking God for the things he needs will receive them. Anyone who seeks those things from God will receive them. If anyone asks God to make things possible for him, God will act on his behalf. 11 Suppose one of you fathers had a son who asked you for a fish to eat. You certainly would not give him a poisonous snake instead! 12 Suppose he asked you for an egg. You certainly would not give him a scorpion instead! 13 Even though you people are sinful, you still know how to give good gifts to your children. So it is even more certain that your Father in heaven will give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him.”

14 One day Jesus was forcing out a demon who was keeping a man from speaking. After Jesus forced the demon out, the man began to talk. This amazed the crowd of people that was there. 15 But some of them said, “It is Beelzebul, the ruler of the demons, who enables this man to force out demons!” 16 Other people there questioned his authority. They demanded that he perform a miracle to prove that God had sent him. 17 But he knew what they were thinking. So he said to them, “If the people in one nation fight against each other, they will destroy their nation. If the people in one household oppose each other, they will destroy their family. 18 Similarly, if Satan and his demons were fighting against each other, his rule over them would certainly not last! I say this because you are saying that I force out demons by the power of the ruler of demons! 19 If it is true that Beelzebul is enabling me to force out demons, it must also be true that he is enabling your disciples to force out demons. But you know that is not true. So your own disciples prove that you are wrong. 20 I must actually be forcing out demons by the power of God. This means that God has begun to rule over you.”

21 Jesus continued, “When a strong man who has many weapons guards his own house, no one can steal the things inside. 22 But when someone else who is stronger attacks that man and subdues him, he takes away the weapons that the man was depending on. Then he can steal anything he wants from that man’s house. 23 Anyone who is not supporting me is opposing me. Anyone who is not bringing people to me is sending them away from me.”

24 Then Jesus said, “An evil spirit might leave someone and wander around in desolate areas looking for someone else to live in. If it does not find anyone there, it may say, ‘I am going to go back to the person I used to live in!’ 25 So it goes back and finds that the person is like a house that someone has swept clean and put in order, but which has no one living in it. 26 Then this evil spirit goes and gets seven other spirits that are even more evil than it is. They all enter that person and begin living in him. That person’s condition was bad before, and it becomes even worse.”

27 When Jesus said that, a woman in the crowd who was listening called out to him loudly, “God is pleased with the woman who gave birth to you and who nursed you!” 28 Then he replied, “God is even more pleased with those who hear his message and obey it!”

29 More and more people were coming to join the crowd around Jesus. He said, “The people living at this time are evil people. They want me to do a miracle to prove that I have come from God. But the only proof they will see is a miracle like the one that happened to Jonah. 30 Long ago God did a miracle for Jonah to show the people living in the city of Nineveh that he had sent him. In the same way, God will do a similar miracle for me, the Son of Man, to show the people living now that he has sent me. 31 Long ago the Queen of Sheba traveled a great distance to hear the wise things that Solomon said. Now someone greater than Solomon is right here with you. But you have not really listened to what I am saying. Therefore, at the time when God judges all people, she will stand up and condemn the people who are living now. 32 The people who lived in the ancient city of Nineveh turned from their sinful ways when Jonah preached to them. And now I, who am greater than Jonah, have come and preached to you. But you have not turned from your sinful ways. Therefore, at the time when God judges all people, the people who lived in Nineveh will stand up and condemn the people who are living now.

33 People who light a lamp do not hide it or put it under a basket. Instead, they put it on a lampstand so that those who enter the room can see the light. 34 Your eye lets light into your body. If your eye is working right, then your whole body will be full of light. But if your eye is not working right, then your body will not get any light. 35 Therefore, be careful not to think that your eye is working right and letting in light if it is actually not working right and not letting in any light. 36 So if light is getting into every part of your body, so that no part of it is in the dark, then all of your body will be full of light. Bright light will shine all over you inside, just as the bright light of a lamp shines all over you outside.”

37 After Jesus finished saying those things, a Pharisee invited him to eat a meal with him. So Jesus went into the Pharisee’s house and reclined at the table to eat. 38 The Pharisee was surprised when he saw that Jesus did not ritually wash his hands first before eating. 39 Jesus said to him, “You Pharisees wash the outside of cups and dishes before you eat, but within yourselves you are very greedy and wicked. 40 You foolish people! Surely you know that God not only made the outside, but also made the inside! 41 Instead of worrying about dishes being ritually clean, be merciful and give whatever is inside the dishes to people in need. Then both the inside and outside of you will be acceptable to God.

42 But how terrible it will be for you Pharisees! You carefully give to God a tenth of all you have, including even the herbs that you grow in your gardens. But then you do not show God’s love or fairness toward others. You should make sure that you do that, in addition to giving to God. 43 How terrible it will be for you Pharisees, because you like to sit in the most important seats in the synagogues, and you like people to greet you with special honor in the marketplaces. 44 How terrible it will be for you, because you are like unmarked graves that people walk over without realizing it and so become ceremonially unclean.”

45 One of the teachers of the Jewish laws who were there complained to Jesus, “Teacher, when you say things like that, you are criticizing us too!” 46 But Jesus responded, “How terrible it will also be for you who are teachers of the Jewish laws! I say this because you tell people to follow so many rules, yet you will not do even the smallest thing to help them. 47 How terrible it will be for you, because you construct buildings to mark the graves of the prophets, but your ancestors are the ones who killed them! 48 So when you build these buildings, you are declaring that you approve of what your ancestors did when they killed the prophets. 49 So God, who is very wise, also said, ‘I will send prophets and messengers to guide my people. But they will cause them to suffer greatly. They will even kill some of them.’ 50 As a result, the people living at this time will be punished for the murder of all the prophets whom people have killed since the world was created. 51 They will be punished for every murder from that of Adam’s son Abel, whose brother Cain killed him, right through to the murder of the prophet Zechariah, whom the king’s agents killed in the temple between the altar and the holy place. 52 How terrible it will be for you teachers of the Jewish laws. You are keeping people from knowing about God! You do not know God yourselves, and you make things difficult for other people who want to know God better.”

53 After Jesus finished saying those things, he left the Pharisee’s house. Then the teachers of the Jewish laws and the Pharisees began to act in a very hostile way toward him. They questioned him intensely about many things. 54 They kept listening for him to say something wrong so that they could accuse him of false teaching.

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