Montgomery - Luke - 11

11:1  It happened he was praying in a certain place, and when he stopped, one of his disciples said to him, "Master, teach us how to pray, just as Johntaught his disciples."

11:2  So he said to them. "When you pray, say, "Father, hallowed be thy name; May thy kingdom come,

11:3  "Give us day by day our bread for the coming day;

11:4  "Forgive us our sins; for we also forgive everyone who has offended us; "And bring us not into temptation."

11:5  He also said to them. "Suppose you have a friend and you go to him, ‘My friend, lend me three loaves of bread,

11:6  "for a friend of mine is come to me from a journey, and I have nothing to set before him.’

11:7  "and he from indoors shall answer. ‘Do not pester me. The door is now closed, and my children are with me in bed. I cannot rise and give to you.’

11:8  "I tell you that, though he will not rise and give to him because he is his friend, yet because of his importunate persistence he will rise and give him whatever he needs.

11:9  "So I say to you. "Ask, and it shall be given to you; seek, and ye shall find; knock and it shall be opened to you.

11:10  "For he that asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks the door shall be opened.

11:11  "What father is there among you who, if his son asks for a loaf, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish will give him instead a serpent?

11:12  "Or if he asks for an egg, will offer him a scorpion?

11:13  "If you give good gifts to your children, how much more shall the Father who is in heaven give the Holy spirit to those that ask him!"

11:14  Once he was casting out a dumb demon, and when the demon was gone out, the dumb man spoke, and the people wondered.

11:15  But some of them said, "It is by Beelzebub, the prince of demons, that he cast out demons."

11:16  Others, tempting him, kept seeking from him a sign from heaven.

11:17  He knew their intentions and said to them. "Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste and house falls upon house.

11:18  "And if Satan also is divided against himself, how shall his kingdom stand?

11:19  "Do you say that I am casting out demons by the power of Beelzebub? If I then am casting out demons by Beelzebub, by whom are your sons casting them out? They therefore shall be your judges.

11:20  "But if it is by the finger of God that I am casting out demons, then the kingdom of God is come upon you.

11:21  "When the strong man fully aroused keeps guard over his homestead, his property is undisturbed;

11:22  "but when the stronger man attacks him, he takes away from the strong armor in which he was trusting and divides up the spoil.

11:23  "He who is not for me is against me, and he who is not gathering with me is scattering.

11:24  "Whenever a foul spirit is gone out of a man, it roams through waterless places, in search of rest; but when it can find none, it says, ‘I will go back to the house which I have left.’

11:25  When it comes and finds the house completely swept and garnished.

11:26  "Then it goes off and fetches seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there. And the last state of that man is worse than the first."

11:27  It happened while he was saying this, that a certain woman out of the crowd shouted to him, saying, "Blessed is the womb that bore you, and the breast that you have sucked."

11:28  "No, rather," he answered, "blessed are those who listen to the word of God, and keep it."

11:29  When the crowd were beginning to throng about him he proceeded to say. "This is an evil generation! It seeks a sign, and there shall be no sign be given to it except the sign of Jonah;

11:30  "for as Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites, so shall the Son of man be to this generation.

11:31  "The queen of the South shall rise up in Judgement with the men of this generation, and shall condemn them; because she came from the ends of the earth to listen to the wisdom of Solomon, and lo, one greater than Solomon is here!

11:32  "The men of the Nineveh shall stand up in the judgment with his generation and shall condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and lo! one greater than Jonah is here!

11:33  "When one lights a lamp he does not put it in a cellar nor under the bushel, but on a lamp-stand that those who enter may see the light.

11:34  "The lamp of the body is your eye; when your eye is single then your whole body is full of light; but when it is evil your whole body is full of darkness.

11:35  "Look carefully! Perhaps that very light of yours is darkness.

11:36  "If, however, your whole body is full of light, without having any part dark, it will be wholly radiant with light, as when the lamp illumines you with its bright rays."

11:37  When he had finished speaking a Pharisee asked him to dine with him; so he went in with him and reclined.

11:38  And the Pharisee noticed, to his amazement, that he did not wash his hands before eating,

11:39  but the Lord said to him. "You Pharisee do cleanse the outside of your cup or plate, but your secret heart is full of extortion and wickedness.

11:40  "Foolish men! Did not He who made the outside make the inside also?

11:41  "Better cleanse what is within, and nothing will be unclean for you.

11:42  "But woe unto you Pharisee! for you tithe mint and rue and every herb, and disregard justice and the love of God; but these you ought to have done, and not leave the other undone.

11:43  "Woe unto you Pharisee! for you delight in the best seats in the synagogue, and in the salutation in the market-places.

11:44  "Woe unto you! for you are like the tombs which are hidden, and men walk over them unsuspecting."

11:45  Hereupon one of the lawyers exclaimed, "But teacher, in saying such things you are also reproaching us also."

11:46  "Woe unto you lawyers also!" said Jesus, "for you load men with irksome burdens, and you yourselves will not touch the burdens with one of your fingers.

11:47  "Woe to you! for you are building the tombs of the prophets whom you ancestors killed.

11:48  "So you are witnesses, and you consent to the actions of your ancestors. for they killed them, and you build their tombs.

11:49  "For this reason also said the Wisdom of God. ‘I will send them prophets and apostles; some of them they will kill and some they will persecute;

11:50  "so that the blood of all the prophets which was shed from the foundation of the world may be required from this generation,

11:51  "from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zachariah, who perished between the alter and the sanctuary; yes; I tell you, it shall be required of this generation!

11:52  "Woe to you lawyers, for you have taken away the key of knowledge!’ You yourselves have not entered, and you have hindered those who are trying to enter."

11:53  After he had gone away, the Scribes and the Pharisee began to set themselves vehemently against him, and to cross-question him upon many points,

11:54  laying in wait for him, in order to catch a word from his lips.