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Luke 11
New American Bible (Revised Edition)

Chapter 11

The Lord’s Prayer.(A) 1 [a]He was praying in a certain place, and when he had finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray just as John taught his disciples.”[b] 2 [c]He said to them, “When you pray, say:

Father, hallowed be your name,
    your kingdom come.
3     Give us each day our daily bread[d]
4     and forgive us our sins
    for we ourselves forgive everyone in debt to us,
    and do not subject us to the final test.”

Further Teachings on Prayer.(B) 5 And he said to them, “Suppose one of you has a friend to whom he goes at midnight and says, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread, 6 for a friend of mine has arrived at my house from a journey and I have nothing to offer him,’ 7 and he says in reply from within, ‘Do not bother me; the door has already been locked and my children and I are already in bed. I cannot get up to give you anything.’ 8 I tell you, if he does not get up to give him the loaves because of their friendship, he will get up to give him whatever he needs because of his persistence.

The Answer to Prayer.(C) 9 “And I tell you, ask and you will receive; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.(D) 10 For everyone who asks, receives; and the one who seeks, finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. 11 What father among you would hand his son a snake when he asks for a fish? 12 Or hand him a scorpion when he asks for an egg? 13 If you then, who are wicked, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the Father in heaven give the holy Spirit[e] to those who ask him?”

Jesus and Beelzebul.(E) 14 He was driving out a demon [that was] mute, and when the demon had gone out, the mute person spoke and the crowds were amazed. 15 Some of them said, “By the power of Beelzebul, the prince of demons, he drives out demons.”(F) 16 Others, to test him, asked him for a sign from heaven.(G) 17 But he knew their thoughts and said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself will be laid waste and house will fall against house. 18 And if Satan is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand? For you say that it is by Beelzebul that I drive out demons. 19 If I, then, drive out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your own people[f] drive them out? Therefore they will be your judges. 20 But if it is by the finger of God that [I] drive out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.(H) 21 When a strong man fully armed guards his palace, his possessions are safe. 22 But when one stronger[g] than he attacks and overcomes him, he takes away the armor on which he relied and distributes the spoils. 23 Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters.(I)

The Return of the Unclean Spirit.(J) 24 “When an unclean spirit goes out of someone, it roams through arid regions searching for rest but, finding none, it says, ‘I shall return to my home from which I came.’ 25 But upon returning, it finds it swept clean and put in order. 26 Then it goes and brings back seven other spirits more wicked than itself who move in and dwell there, and the last condition of that person is worse than the first.”(K)

True Blessedness.[h] 27 While he was speaking, a woman from the crowd called out and said to him, “Blessed is the womb that carried you and the breasts at which you nursed.”(L) 28 He replied, “Rather, blessed are those who hear the word of God and observe it.”

The Demand for a Sign.[i] 29 While still more people gathered in the crowd, he said to them,(M) “This generation is an evil generation; it seeks a sign, but no sign will be given it, except the sign of Jonah.(N) 30 Just as Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites, so will the Son of Man be to this generation. 31 At the judgment the queen of the south will rise with the men of this generation and she will condemn them, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and there is something greater than Solomon here.(O) 32 At the judgment the men of Nineveh will arise with this generation and condemn it, because at the preaching of Jonah they repented, and there is something greater than Jonah here.(P)

The Simile of Light. 33 “No one who lights a lamp hides it away or places it [under a bushel basket], but on a lampstand so that those who enter might see the light.(Q) 34 The lamp of the body is your eye.(R) When your eye is sound, then your whole body is filled with light, but when it is bad, then your body is in darkness. 35 Take care, then, that the light in you not become darkness. 36 If your whole body is full of light, and no part of it is in darkness, then it will be as full of light as a lamp illuminating you with its brightness.”

Denunciation of the Pharisees and Scholars of the Law.[j] 37 (S)After he had spoken, a Pharisee invited him to dine at his home. He entered and reclined at table to eat.(T) 38 The Pharisee was amazed to see that he did not observe the prescribed washing before the meal.(U) 39 The Lord said to him, “Oh you Pharisees!(V) Although you cleanse the outside of the cup and the dish, inside you are filled with plunder and evil. 40 You fools! Did not the maker of the outside also make the inside? 41 But as to what is within, give alms, and behold, everything will be clean for you. 42 Woe to you Pharisees! You pay tithes of mint and of rue and of every garden herb, but you pay no attention to judgment and to love for God. These you should have done, without overlooking the others.(W) 43 Woe to you Pharisees! You love the seat of honor in synagogues and greetings in marketplaces.(X) 44 Woe to you! You are like unseen graves[k] over which people unknowingly walk.”(Y)

45 Then one of the scholars of the law[l] said to him in reply, “Teacher, by saying this you are insulting us too.”(Z) 46 And he said, “Woe also to you scholars of the law! You impose on people burdens hard to carry, but you yourselves do not lift one finger to touch them. 47 (AA)Woe to you! You build the memorials of the prophets whom your ancestors killed. 48 Consequently, you bear witness and give consent to the deeds of your ancestors, for they killed them and you do the building. 49 (AB)Therefore, the wisdom of God said, ‘I will send to them prophets and apostles;[m] some of them they will kill and persecute’ 50 in order that this generation might be charged with the blood of all the prophets shed since the foundation of the world, 51 from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah[n] who died between the altar and the temple building. Yes, I tell you, this generation will be charged with their blood!(AC) 52 Woe to you, scholars of the law! You have taken away the key of knowledge. You yourselves did not enter and you stopped those trying to enter.”(AD) 53 When he left, the scribes and Pharisees began to act with hostility toward him and to interrogate him about many things,(AE) 54 for they were plotting to catch him at something he might say.(AF)

Footnotes

  1. 11:1–13 Luke presents three episodes concerned with prayer. The first (Lk 11:1–4) recounts Jesus teaching his disciples the Christian communal prayer, the “Our Father”; the second (Lk 11:5–8), the importance of persistence in prayer; the third (Lk 11:9–13), the effectiveness of prayer.
  2. 11:1–4 The Matthean form of the “Our Father” occurs in the “Sermon on the Mount” (Mt 6:9–15); the shorter Lucan version is presented while Jesus is at prayer (see note on Lk 3:21) and his disciples ask him to teach them to pray just as John taught his disciples to pray. In answer to their question, Jesus presents them with an example of a Christian communal prayer that stresses the fatherhood of God and acknowledges him as the one to whom the Christian disciple owes daily sustenance (Lk 11:3), forgiveness (Lk 11:4), and deliverance from the final trial (Lk 11:4). See also notes on Mt 6:9–13.
  3. 11:2 Your kingdom come: in place of this petition, some early church Fathers record: “May your holy Spirit come upon us and cleanse us,” a petition that may reflect the use of the “Our Father” in a baptismal liturgy.
  4. 11:3–4 Daily bread: see note on Mt 6:11. The final test: see note on Mt 6:13.
  5. 11:13 The holy Spirit: this is a Lucan editorial alteration of a traditional saying of Jesus (see Mt 7:11). Luke presents the gift of the holy Spirit as the response of the Father to the prayer of the Christian disciple.
  6. 11:19 Your own people: the Greek reads “your sons.” Other Jewish exorcists (see Acts 19:13–20), who recognize that the power of God is active in the exorcism, would themselves convict the accusers of Jesus. See also note on Mt 12:27.
  7. 11:22 One stronger: i.e., Jesus. Cf. Lk 3:16 where John the Baptist identifies Jesus as “mightier than I.”
  8. 11:27–28 The beatitude in Lk 11:28 should not be interpreted as a rebuke of the mother of Jesus; see note on Lk 8:21. Rather, it emphasizes (like Lk 2:35) that attentiveness to God’s word is more important than biological relationship to Jesus.
  9. 11:29–32 The “sign of Jonah” in Luke is the preaching of the need for repentance by a prophet who comes from afar. Cf. Mt 12:38–42 (and see notes there) where the “sign of Jonah” is interpreted by Jesus as his death and resurrection.
  10. 11:37–54 This denunciation of the Pharisees (Lk 11:39–44) and the scholars of the law (Lk 11:45–52) is set by Luke in the context of Jesus’ dining at the home of a Pharisee. Controversies with or reprimands of Pharisees are regularly set by Luke within the context of Jesus’ eating with Pharisees (see Lk 5:29–39; 7:36–50; 14:1–24). A different compilation of similar sayings is found in Mt 23 (see also notes there).
  11. 11:44 Unseen graves: contact with the dead or with human bones or graves (see Nm 19:16) brought ritual impurity. Jesus presents the Pharisees as those who insidiously lead others astray through their seeming attention to the law.
  12. 11:45 Scholars of the law: see note on Lk 10:25.
  13. 11:49 I will send to them prophets and apostles: Jesus connects the mission of the church (apostles) with the mission of the Old Testament prophets who often suffered the rebuke of their contemporaries.
  14. 11:51 From the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah: the murder of Abel is the first murder recounted in the Old Testament (Gn 4:8). The Zechariah mentioned here may be the Zechariah whose murder is recounted in 2 Chr 24:20–22, the last murder presented in the Hebrew canon of the Old Testament.
Close TLV

Luke 11
Tree of Life Version

Praying Along the Way

11 Now Yeshua was praying in a certain place. When He finished, one of His disciples said to Him, “Master, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.”

2 Then Yeshua said to them, “When you pray, say,

‘Father, sanctified be Your Name,
Your kingdom come.[a]
3 Give us each day our daily bread.
4 And forgive us our sins,
    for we also forgive everyone indebted to us.
And lead us not into temptation.”

5 Then Yeshua said to them, “Which of you has a friend and will go to him in the middle of the night and say to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread, 6 because a friend of mine has come to me on his journey and I have nothing to set before him.’ 7 Then from within he may answer, saying, ‘Don’t bother me. The door is already locked, and my children and I are in bed. I can’t get up to give you anything.’ 8 I tell you, even if the friend will not get up and give him anything out of friendship, yet because of the man’s persistence he will get up and give him as much as he needs.

9 “So 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 the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.’ 11 What father, if his son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? 12 And if he asks for an egg, will he give him a scorpion? 13 If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Ruach ha-Kodesh[b] to those who ask Him!”

Crowds Demand a Sign from Heaven

14 Now Yeshua was driving out a demon, and it was mute. When the demon had gone out, the mute one spoke and the crowds were amazed. 15 But some among them said, “By beelzebul, the ruler of demons, He drives out demons.” 16 Others, testing Him, were demanding from Him a sign from heaven.

17 But Yeshua, knowing their thoughts, said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself is destroyed, and a house against a house falls. 18 Now if satan is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand? For you say by beelzebul I drive out the demons. 19 But if by beelzebul I drive out demons, by whom do your sons drive them out? For this reason, they will be your judges. 20 But if by the finger of God[c] I drive out demons, then the kingdom of God has come to you.

21 “When a strong one, fully-armed, protects his own estate, his possessions are safe. 22 But as soon as someone stronger than he attacks and overpowers him, then he takes away the armor that he had trusted in and divides up his plunder. 23 He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters.

24 “When an unclean spirit goes out of a man, it passes through waterless places looking for rest. Not finding any, it says, ‘I will return to my house where I came from.’ 25 And when it comes, it finds the house swept and put in order. 26 Then it goes and takes along seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they go in and settle there. And that man’s last condition becomes worse than the first.”

27 Then as Yeshua was saying these things, a certain woman in the crowd, raising her voice, said to Him, “Blessed is the womb that carried You and the breasts that nursed You!”

28 But He said, “Rather, blessed are those who hear the word of God and obey it.”

29 With the crowds increasing, Yeshua began to say, “This generation is a wicked generation. It demands a sign, yet no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah. 30 For just as Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites,[d] so also the Son of Man will be to this generation. 31 The Queen of the South will rise up at the Judgment with the men of this generation and condemn them, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon.[e] And behold, something greater than Solomon is here. 32 The men of Nineveh will rise at the judgment with this generation and will condemn it, because they repented at Jonah’s proclamation. And indeed, one greater than Jonah is here.

33 “No one lighting a lamp puts it in a cellar or under a basket, but on the lampstand so that those entering may see the light. 34 Your eye is the lamp of your body. When your eye is healthy, your whole body is full of light. But when it is sick, your body is full of darkness. 35 Therefore, watch out that the light in you is not darkness. 36 If then your body is full of light, with no part of it dark, it will be as full of light as when a lamp gives you light with its gleam.”

Dinner with a Pharisee

37 As He spoke, a Pharisee asked Yeshua to eat with him, so He entered and sat down. 38 But the Pharisee was surprised when he saw that Yeshua did not do the ritual handwashing before the meal. 39 But the Lord said to him, “You Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and plate, but inside you are full of greed and wickedness. 40 Fools! Didn’t He who created the outside also create the inside? 41 But give as tzedakah those things that are within, and indeed everything is pure to you.

42 “But woe to you Pharisees, for you tithe mint, rue, and every garden herb,[f] yet bypass justice and the love of God. It is necessary to do these things without neglecting the others. 43 Woe to you Pharisees, for you love the best seats in the synagogues and the greetings in the marketplaces. 44 Woe to you, for you are like unmarked tombs, and people walk over them without knowing.”

45 But answering, one of the Torah lawyers says to Him, “Teacher, when You say these things, You insult us too.”

46 Then Yeshua said, “Woe to you Torah lawyers as well, for you weigh the people down with burdens hard to carry, yet you yourselves will not touch the burdens with even a finger.

47 “Woe to you, for you build the tombs of the prophets whom your own fathers killed! 48 So you are witnesses and approve the deeds of your fathers, for indeed they killed them and you are building their tombs.

49 “For this reason also the wisdom of God said, ‘I will send them prophets and emissaries, and some of them they will kill and persecute, 50 so that the blood of the prophets shed since the foundation of the world might be required from this generation— 51 from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah, the one who perished between the altar and the house of God.[g] Yes, I tell you, it will be required from this generation.’

52 “Woe to you, Torah lawyers, for you have taken away the key of knowledge. You yourselves did not enter, and you stood in the way of those entering.”

53 When Yeshua left there, the Torah scholars and the Pharisees began to be very hostile and to interrogate Him on many issues, 54 plotting against Him to catch Him in His words.

Footnotes

  1. Luke 11:2 cf. Matt. 6:9-13.
  2. Luke 11:13 cf. Joel 3:1-5(2:28-32); Zech. 12:10.
  3. Luke 11:20 cf. Exod. 8:15(19).
  4. Luke 11:30 cf. Jon. 3:4-5.
  5. Luke 11:31 cf. 1 Kings 10:1-10.
  6. Luke 11:42 cf. Lev. 27:30.
  7. Luke 11:51 cf. Gen. 4:8; 2 Chr. 24:20-21.
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Scripture texts, prefaces, introductions, footnotes and cross references used in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC All Rights Reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

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Tree of Life (TLV) Translation of the Bible. Copyright © 2015 by The Messianic Jewish Family Bible Society.