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¹ AND it came to pass, while he was praying in a certain place, when he finished, one of his disciples said to him, Our Lord, teach us to pray, just as John also taught his disciples.² Jesus said to them, When you pray, say like this, Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Let thy will be done, as in heaven, so on earth.³ Give us bread for our needs every day.⁴ And forgive us our sins; for we have also forgiven all who are indebted to us. And do not let us enter into temptation; but deliver us from error.⁵ And he said to them, Who is among you who has a friend, and he should go to him at midnight, and say to him, My friend, loan me three loaves,⁶ For a friend has come to me from a journey, and I have nothing to set before him.⁷ Would his friend from inside answer and say to him, Do not trouble me; the door is already locked, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot get up and give you.⁸ I say to you, that if because of friendship he will not give him, yet because of his persistence, he will rise and give him as much as he wants.⁹ I say to you also, 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 he who knocks, it is opened to him.¹¹ For who is among you, a father, if his son should ask him bread, why, would he hand him a stone? and if he should ask him a fish, why, would he hand him a snake instead of a fish?¹² And if he should ask him for an egg, why, would he hand him a scorpion?¹³ So if you, who err, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father give the Holy Spirit from heaven to those who ask him?

¹⁴ And while he was casting out a demon from a dumb man, it came to pass when the demon went out, the dumb man spoke; and the people were amazed.¹⁵ But some of the men among them said, This man casts out devils by Beelzebub, the prince of devils.¹⁶ And others, tempting him, asked him for a sign from heaven.¹⁷ But Jesus knew their thoughts, and said to them, Every kingdom which is divided against itself, shall be destroyed; and a house which is divided against itself shall fall.¹⁸ And if Satan is divided against himself, how can his kingdom survive? And yet you say I am casting out devils through Beelzebub.¹⁹ If I cast out devils through Beelzebub, by what do your sons cast them out? Therefore they will be your judges.²⁰ But if I cast out devils by the finger of God, then the kingdom of God is come near you.²¹ When a strong man is armed and keeps watch over his courtyard, * his property is safe;²² But if there should come one who is stronger than he, he will conquer him, and take away his armor in which he trusted, and divide his spoil.²³ He who is not with me is against me; and he who does not gather with me will scatter.²⁴ When an unclean spirit is gone out of a man, it goes away and travels in places where there is no water, to seek rest; and when it finds it not, it says, I will return to my own house from whence I came out.²⁵ And if it should come and find it warm and well furnished,²⁶ Then it goes away and brings seven other spirits worse than itself; and they enter and dwell there; and the end of that man will become worse than the beginning.

²⁷ While he was saying these things, a woman out of the multitude lifted up her voice and said to him, Blessed is the womb which bore you, and the breasts which gave you suck.²⁸ He said to her, Blessed are they who hear the word of God and keep it.

²⁹ And when the people were gathering, he began to say, This evil generation wants a sign; and no sign will be given to it, except the sign of the prophet Jonah.³⁰ For as Jonah was a sign to the Ninevites, so also will the Son of man be to this generation.³¹ The queen of the south will rise up in judgment with the men of this generation, and condemn them; for she came from the far ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and behold, a greater than Solomon is here.³² The men of Nineveh will rise up in judgment against this generation and condemn it; for they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and behold, a greater than Jonah is here.³³ No man lights a lamp and puts it in a hidden place, or under a basket, but on a lamp holder, so that those who enter may see its light.³⁴ The lamp of your body is your eye; when therefore your eye is clear, your whole body will also be lighted; but if it is diseased, your whole body will also be dark.³⁵ Take heed, therefore, lest the light which is in you be darkness.³⁶ If your whole body is lighted, and there is no part in it dark, the whole of it will give light, just as a lamp gives you light with its shining.

³⁷ While he spoke, a Pharisee asked him to dine with him; and he entered and reclined.³⁸ When the Pharisee saw him, he was amazed because he did not first wash before dinner.³⁹ And Jesus said to him, Now you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and the dish; but within you are full of extortion and iniquity.⁴⁰ O you shortsighted, did not he who made the outside also make the inside?⁴¹ But give alms of what you have; and, behold, everything will be clean to you.⁴² But woe to you Pharisees! who take tithes of mint and dill and every kind of vegetable, but overlook justice and the love of God. These were necessary for you to have done, and the same by no means to have left undone.⁴³ Woe to you Pharisees! for you love chief seats in the synagogues, and salutations in the streets.⁴⁴ Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for you are like graves that cannot be recognized, and men walk over them and know it not.⁴⁵ One of the scribes answered and said to him, Teacher, when you say these things, you reproach us also.⁴⁶ But he said, Woe also to you, scribes! for you lay heavy burdens on men, and you yourselves do not touch these burdens even with one of your fingers.⁴⁷ Woe to you! for you build the tombs of prophets, whom your fathers killed.⁴⁸ Therefore you are witnesses, and you approve the works of your fathers; for they killed them, and yet you build their tombs.⁴⁹ For this reason, the wisdom of God also said, Behold, I will send them prophets and apostles, some of them they will persecute and kill;⁵⁰ That the blood of all the prophets, which was shed since the creation of the world, may be avenged on this generation;⁵¹ From the blood of Abel to the blood of Zacharias, who was killed between the temple and the altar; yes, I say to you, it will be avenged on this generation.⁵² Woe to you, scribes! for you have taken away the keys of knowledge; you did not enter, and those who were entering you hindered.⁵³ When he had said these things to them, the scribes and the Pharisees were displeased, and they were enraged and criticized his words.⁵⁴ And they plotted against him in many ways, seeking to catch something from his mouth, so that they might be able to accuse him.