1 And it came to pass in His being in a certain place praying, when He ceased, one of His disciples said to Him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples.” 2 And 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 And forgive us our sins, for also we ourselves forgive everyone indebted to us; and lead us not into temptation.’” 5 And He said to them, “Who among you will have a friend, and will go to him at midnight and say to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves, 6 since a friend of mine is come to me off a journey, and I have nothing that I will set before him.’ 7 And he answering from within will say, ‘Do not cause me trouble; the door already has been shut, and my children are with me in bed; I am not able, having risen up, to give to you.’ 8 I say to you, even though he will not give to him, having risen up because of being his friend; yet because of his persistence, having risen, he will give him as much as he needs. 9 And I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and it will be opened to you. 10 For everyone asking receives; and the one seeking finds; and to the one knocking, it will be opened. 11 And which father among you, if the son will ask for a fish, and instead of a fish, will give to him a serpent? 12 Or also if he will ask for an egg, will he give to him a scorpion? 13 Therefore if you, being evil, know to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the Father who is in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those asking Him!” 14 And He was casting out a demon, and it was mute; and it came to pass, the demon having gone out, the mute man spoke. And the crowds marveled. 15 And some of them said, “By Beelzebul the prince of the demons He casts out the demons.” 16 And others, testing, were seeking from Him a sign from heaven. 17 And He knowing their thoughts, said to them, “Every kingdom having been divided against itself is brought to desolation; and a house against a house falls. 18 And if Satan also is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand? For you say I cast out the demons by Beelzebul. 19 And if I cast out the demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your sons cast them out? On account of this, they will be your judges. 20 But if I cast out the demons by the finger of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. 21 When the strong man being armed might guard his house, his possessions are in peace. 22 But when one stronger than he, having come upon him, shall overcome him, he takes away his complete armor in which he had trusted, and he divides his plunder. 23 The one not being with Me is against Me; and the one not gathering with Me scatters. 24 When the unclean spirit is gone out from the man, it passes through waterless places, seeking rest and not finding any. Then it says, ‘I will return to my house, from where I came out.’ 25 And having come, it finds it swept and put in order. 26 Then it goes and takes seven other spirits more evil than itself, and having entered, they dwell there; and the last of that man becomes worse than the first.” 27 And it came to pass, in His saying these things, a certain woman from the crowd, having lifted up her voice, said to Him, “Blessed is the womb having borne You, and the breasts at which You nursed.” 28 And He said, “No rather, word-definition " data-lexid="279748">blessed are word-definition " data-lexid="279749">those word-definition " data-lexid="279750">hearing the word word-definition symbolism" data-lexid="279752">of God and keeping it.” 29 And of the crowds being pressed around together, He began to say, “This generation is an evil generation; it seeks after a sign, and no sign will be given to it, except the sign of Jonah. 30 For as Jonah was a sign to the Ninevites, thus also the Son of Man will be to this generation. 31 The Queen of the South will rise up in the judgment with the men of this generation and will condemn them. For she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and behold, greater than Solomon is here. 32 The men of Nineveh will stand up in the judgment with this generation and will condemn it. For they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and behold, greater than Jonah is here. 33 But no one having lit a lamp, sets it in secret, nor under the basket, but upon the lampstand, that those entering in may see the light. 34 Your eye is the lamp of your body. When your eye is clear, your whole body is also light; but when it is evil, your body is also dark. 35 Therefore take heed, lest the light that is in you be darkness. 36 If therefore your body is full of light, not having any part dark, it will be all light, as when the lamp shining might light you.” 37 And as He was speaking, a Pharisee asked Him that He would dine with him. And having entered, He reclined. 38 And the Pharisee, having seen, marveled that He did not wash first before the dinner. 39 And the Lord said to him, “Now you Pharisees, you cleanse the outside of the cup and of the dish, but your inside is full of plundering and wickedness. 40 Fools! Did not the One having made the outside make the inside also? 41 But give as alms the things being within, and behold, all things are clean to you. 42 But woe to you Pharisees, for you pay tithes of mint and rue and every herb; and you pass by justice and the love of God. But it behooved you to do these things, and those not to neglect. 43 Woe to you Pharisees, for you love the first seat in the synagogues and the greetings in the marketplaces. 44 Woe to you, for you are like unmarked graves, and the men walking above have not known it.” 45 And one of the lawyers answering, says to Him, “Teacher, saying these things You insult us also.” 46 And He said, “Woe to you lawyers also! For you burden men with burdens heavy to bear, and you yourselves do not touch the burdens with one of your fingers. 47 Woe to you, for you build the tombs of the prophets, yet your fathers killed them. 48 So you are witnesses and consent to the works of your fathers; for indeed they killed them, and you build their tombs. 49 Because of this also, the Wisdom of God said, ‘I will send to them prophets and apostles, and some of them they will kill and persecute,’ 50 so that the blood of all the prophets having been poured out from the foundation of the world might be charged against this generation, 51 from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah, the one having perished between the altar and the house. Yes, I say to you, it will be required of this generation. 52 Woe to you lawyers, for you have taken away the key of knowledge. You yourselves did not enter, and you hindered those who are entering.” 53 Of Him having gone forth from there, the scribes and the Pharisees began urgently to press upon Him and to make Him speak about many things, 54 watching to catch Him in something out of his mouth.