Jesus Teaches About Prayer
11 One time Jesus was praying in a place. When he finished, one of his followers said to him, “John taught his followers how to pray. Lord, please teach us how to pray, too.”
2 Jesus said to them, “When you pray, say:
‘Father, we pray that your name will always be kept holy.
We pray that your kingdom will come.
3 Give us the food we need for each day.
4 Forgive us the sins we have done,
because we forgive every person who has done wrong to us.
And do not cause us to be tested.’”
Continue to Ask
5-6 Then Jesus said to them, “Suppose one of you went to your friend’s house at midnight and said to him, ‘A friend of mine has come into town to visit me. But I have nothing for him to eat. Please loan me three loaves of bread.’ 7 Your friend inside the house answers, ‘Don’t bother me! The door is already locked. My children and I are in bed. I cannot get up and give you the bread now.’ 8 I tell you, maybe friendship is not enough to make him get up to give you the bread. But he will surely get up to give you what you need if you continue to ask. 9 So I tell you, continue to ask, and God will give to you. Continue to search, and you will find. Continue to knock, and the door will open for you. 10 Yes, if a person continues asking, he will receive. If he continues searching, he will find. And if he continues knocking, the door will open for him. 11 What would you fathers do if your son asks you for a fish? Would any of you give him a snake? 12 Or, if your son asks for an egg, would you give him a scorpion? 13 Even though you are bad, you know how to give good things to your children. So surely your heavenly Father knows how to give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him.”
Jesus’ Power Is from God
14 One time Jesus was sending a demon out of a man who could not talk. When the demon came out, the man was able to speak. The people were amazed. 15 But some of them said, “Jesus uses the power of Beelzebul to force demons out of people. Beelzebul is the ruler of demons.”
16 Other people wanted to test Jesus. They asked him to give them a sign from heaven. 17 But Jesus knew what they were thinking. So he said to them, “Every kingdom that is divided and fights against itself will be destroyed. And a family that fights against itself will break apart. 18 So if Satan is fighting against himself, then how will his kingdom last? You say that I use the power of Beelzebul to force out demons. 19 But if I use the power of Beelzebul to force out demons, then by what power do your people force out demons? So your own people prove that you are wrong. 20 But if I use the power of God to force out demons, the kingdom of God has come to you!
21 “When a strong man with many weapons guards his own house, then the things in his house are safe. 22 But suppose a stronger man comes and defeats him. The stronger man will take away the weapons that the first man trusted to keep his house safe. Then the stronger man will do what he wants with the first man’s things.
23 “If anyone is not with me, he is against me. He who does not work with me is working against me.
The Empty Man
24 “When an evil spirit comes out of a person, it travels through dry places, looking for a place to rest. But that spirit finds no place to rest. So it says, ‘I will go back to the home I left.’ 25 When the spirit comes back to that person, it finds that home swept clean and made neat. 26 Then the evil spirit goes out and brings seven other spirits more evil than itself. Then all the evil spirits go into that person and live there. And he has even more trouble than he had before.”
People Who Are Truly Blessed
27 When Jesus was saying these things, a woman in the crowd spoke out. She said to Jesus, “Your mother is blessed because she gave birth to you and nursed you.”
28 But Jesus said, “Those who hear the teaching of God and obey it—they are the ones who are truly blessed.”
Give Us Proof!
29 The crowd grew larger. Jesus said, “The people who live today are evil. They ask for a miracle as a sign from God. But they will have no sign—only the sign of Jonah. 30 Jonah was a sign for those people who lived in Nineveh. In the same way the Son of Man will be a sign for the people of this time. 31 On the Judgment Day the Queen of the South will stand up with the men who live now. She will show that they are guilty because she came from far away to listen to Solomon’s wise teaching. And I tell you that someone greater than Solomon is here! 32 On the Judgment Day the men of Nineveh will stand up with the people who live now. And they will show that you are guilty, because when Jonah preached to those people, they changed their hearts and lives. And I tell you that someone greater than Jonah is here!
Be a Light to the World
33 “No one takes a light and puts it under a bowl or hides it. Instead, he puts the light on a lampstand so that the people who come in can see. 34 Your eye is a light for the body. If your eyes are good, then your whole body will be full of light. But if your eyes are evil, then your whole body will be full of darkness. 35 So be careful! Don’t let the light in you become darkness. 36 If your whole body is full of light, and none of it is dark, then you will shine bright, as when a lamp shines on you.”
Jesus Accuses the Pharisees
37 After Jesus had finished speaking, a Pharisee asked Jesus to eat with him. So Jesus went in and sat at the table. 38 But the Pharisee was surprised when he saw that Jesus did not wash his hands before the meal. 39 The Lord said to him, “You Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and the dish. But inside you are full of greed and evil. 40 You are foolish. The same One who made what is outside also made what is inside. 41 So give what is in your cups and dishes to the poor. Then you will be fully clean. 42 But how terrible for you Pharisees! You give God one-tenth of even your mint, your rue, and every other plant in your garden. But you forget to be fair to other people and to love God. These are the things you should do. And you should also continue to do those other things—like giving one-tenth. 43 How terrible for you Pharisees, because you love to get the most important seats in the synagogues. And you love people to show respect to you in the marketplaces. 44 How terrible for you, because you are like hidden graves. People walk on them without knowing it.”
Jesus Talks to Teachers of the Law
45 One of the teachers of the law said to Jesus, “Teacher, when you say these things, you are insulting us, too.”
46 Jesus answered, “How terrible for you, you teachers of the law! You make strict rules that are very hard for people to obey. But you yourselves don’t even try to follow those rules. 47 How terrible for you, because you build tombs for the prophets. But these are the prophets that your fathers killed! 48 And now you show that you approve of what your fathers did. They killed the prophets, and you build tombs for the prophets! 49 This is why in his wisdom God said, ‘I will send prophets and apostles to them. Some of my prophets and apostles will be killed, and others will be treated cruelly.’ 50 So you who live now will be punished for the deaths of all the prophets who were killed since the beginning of the world. 51 You will be punished for the killing of Abel and for the killing of Zechariah. Zechariah was killed between the altar and the Temple. Yes, I tell you that you people who live now will be punished for them all.
52 “How terrible for you, you teachers of the law. You have hidden the key to learning about God. You yourselves would not learn, and you stopped others from learning, too.”
53 When Jesus was leaving, the teachers of the law and the Pharisees began to give him trouble, asking him questions about many things. 54 They were trying to catch Jesus saying something wrong.
Footnotes
- 11:2-4
- 11:11
- 11:29
- 11:31
- 11:38
- 11:51
