1 And it came about that while He was praying in a certain place, after He had finished, one of His disciples said to Him, "Lord, teach us to pray just as John also taught his disciples. "2 And He said to them, 5 And He said to them, "Suppose one of you shall have a friend, and shall go to him at midnight, and say to him, 'Friend, lend me three loaves;6 for a friend of mine has come to me from a journey, and I have nothing to set before him';7 and from inside he shall answer and say, 'Do not bother me; the door has already been shut and my children and I are in bed; I cannot 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 his persistence he will get up and give him as much as he needs.9 "And I say to you, ask, and it shall be given to you; seek, and you shall find; knock, and it shall be opened to you.10 "For everyone who asks, receives; and he who seeks, finds; and to him who knocks, it shall be opened.11 "Now suppose one of you fathers is asked by his son for a fish; he will not give him a snake instead of a fish, will he?
  12 "Or [if] he is asked for an egg, he will not give him a scorpion, will he?13 "If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more shall [your] heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him?"
  14 And He was casting out a demon, and it was dumb; and it came about that when the demon had gone out, the dumb man spoke; and the multitudes marveled.
  15 But some of them said, "He casts out demons by Beelzebul, the ruler of the demons. "16 And others, to test [Him,] were demanding of Him a sign from heaven.17 But He knew their thoughts, and said to them, "Any kingdom divided against itself is laid waste; and a house [divided] against itself falls.18 "And if Satan also is divided against himself, how shall his kingdom stand? For you say that I cast out demons by Beelzebul.19 "And if I by Beelzebul cast out demons, by whom do your sons cast them out? Consequently they shall be your judges.20 "But if I cast out demons by the finger of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.
  21 "When a strong [man,] fully armed, guards his own homestead, his possessions are undisturbed;22 but when someone stronger than he attacks him and overpowers him, he takes away from him all his armor on which he had relied, and distributes his plunder.23 "He who is not with Me is against Me; and he who does not gather with Me, scatters.
  24 "When the unclean spirit goes out of a man, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, and not finding any, it says, 'I will return to my house from which I came.'25 "And when it comes, it finds it swept and put in order.26 "Then it goes and takes [along] seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they go in and live there; and the last state of that man becomes worse than the first."
  27 And it came about while He said these things, one of the women in the crowd raised her voice, and said to Him, "Blessed is the womb that bore You, and the breasts at which You nursed. "28 But He said, "On the contrary, blessed are those who hear the word of God, and observe it."
  29 And as the crowds were increasing, He began to say, "This generation is a wicked generation; it seeks for a sign, and [yet] no sign shall be given to it but the sign of Jonah.30 "For just as Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites, so shall the Son of Man be to this generation.31 "The Queen of the South shall rise up with the men of this generation at the judgment and condemn them, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and behold, something greater than Solomon is here.32 "The men of Nineveh shall stand up with this generation at the judgment and condemn it, because they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and behold, something greater than Jonah is here.
  33 "No one, after lighting a lamp, puts it away in a cellar, nor under a peck-measure, but on the lampstand, in order that those who enter may see the light.34 "The lamp of your body is your eye; when your eye is clear, your whole body also is full of light; but when it is bad, your body also is full of darkness.35 "Then watch out that the light in you may not be darkness.36 "If therefore your whole body is full of light, with no dark part in it, it shall be wholly illumined, as when the lamp illumines you with its rays."
  37 Now when He had spoken, a Pharisee asked Him to have lunch with him; and He went in, and reclined [at the table.]38 And when the Pharisee saw it, he was surprised that He had not first ceremonially washed before the meal.39 But the Lord said to him, "Now you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and of the platter; but inside of you, you are full of robbery and wickedness.40 "You foolish ones, did not He who made the outside make the inside also?41 "But give that which is within as charity, and then all things are clean for you.42 "But woe to you Pharisees! For you pay tithe of mint and rue and every [kind of] garden herb, and [yet] disregard justice and the love of God; but these are the things you should have done without neglecting the others.43 "Woe to you Pharisees! For you love the front seats in the synagogues, and the respectful greetings in the market places.44 "Woe to you! For you are like concealed tombs, and the people who walk over [them] are unaware [of it.]"
  45 And one of the lawyers said to Him in reply, "Teacher, when You say this, You insult us too. "46 But He said, "Woe to you lawyers as well! For you weigh men down with burdens hard to bear, while you yourselves will not even touch the burdens with one of your fingers.47 "Woe to you! For you build the tombs of the prophets, and [it was] your fathers [who] killed them.48 "Consequently, you are witnesses and approve the deeds of your fathers; because it was they who killed them, and you build [their tombs.]49 "For this reason also the wisdom of God said, 'I will send to them prophets and apostles, and [some] of them they will kill and [some] they will persecute,50 in order that the blood of all the prophets, shed since the foundation of the world, may be charged against this generation,51 from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah, who perished between the altar and the house [of God;] yes, I tell you, it shall be charged against this generation.'52 "Woe to you lawyers! For you have taken away the key of knowledge; you did not enter in yourselves, and those who were entering in you hindered."53 And when He left there, the scribes and the Pharisees began to be very hostile and to question Him closely on many subjects,54 plotting against Him, to catch [Him] in something He might say.