Old/New Testament

The Lord’s Prayer

11 Once Jesus was praying in a particular place. When he had finished, one of his disciples approached him.

“Teach us to pray, Master,” he said, “just like John taught his disciples.”

² “When you pray,” replied Jesus, “this is what to say:

“Father, may your name be honored; may your kingdom come; ³ give us each day our daily bread; ⁴ and forgive us our sins, since we too forgive all our debtors; and don’t put us to the test.

⁵ “Suppose one of you has a friend,” he said, “and you go to him in the middle of the night and say, ‘My dear friend, lend me three loaves of bread! ⁶ A friend of mine is on a journey and has arrived at my house, and I have nothing to put in front of him!’ ⁷ He will answer from inside his house, ‘Don’t make life difficult for me! The door is already shut, and my children and I are all in bed! I can’t get up and give you anything.’ ⁸ Let me tell you, even if he won’t get up and give you anything just because you’re his friend, because of your shameless persistence he will get up and give you whatever you need.

⁹ “So this is my word to you: ask and it will be given you; search and you will find; knock and it will be opened to you. ¹⁰ You see, everyone who asks receives! Everyone who searches finds! Everyone who knocks has the door opened for them! ¹¹ If your son asks you for a fish, is there a father among you who will give him a snake? ¹² Or if he asks for an egg, will you give him a scorpion? ¹³ So if you, evil as you are, know how to give good presents to your children, how much more will your heavenly father give the holy spirit to those who ask him!”

Jesus and Beelzebul

¹⁴ Jesus was casting out a demon that prevented speech. When the demon had gone out, the man who had been silent spoke, and the crowds were amazed. ¹⁵ But some of them said, “He casts out demons by Beelzebul, the prince of demons!” ¹⁶ Others, trying to test him out, asked him to produce a sign from heaven.

¹⁷ Jesus knew what they were thinking.

“Every kingdom split down the middle goes to ruin,” he said. “If a house turns in on itself, it falls. ¹⁸ Well then: if even the satan is split down the middle, how can his kingdom last? This,” he added, “is because you say that I cast out demons by Beelzebul!

¹⁹ “Now look: supposing I do cast out demons by Beelzebul, whose power are your own people using when they cast them out? Think about it: they will be your judges. ²⁰ But if it’s by God’s finger that I cast out demons, then God’s kingdom has come upon you.

²¹ “Imagine a strong man, armed to the teeth, guarding his palace. Everything he owns is safe and sound. ²² But supposing someone stronger comes and overpowers him, and takes away the armor he was trusting in—then he can help himself and start dividing up the plunder! ²³ If you’re not with me, you’re against me. If you’re not gathering with me, you’re scattering.

²⁴ “When the unclean spirit goes out of a person, it roams through desert landscapes looking for a place to rest. When it doesn’t find anywhere, it says to itself, ‘I shall go back to the house I left behind.’ ²⁵ And it finds the place neat and tidy. ²⁶ So it sets off and brings along seven other spirits more evil than itself, and goes back to live there. That person will end up worse off than he began.”

²⁷ While he was saying these things, a woman from the crowd raised her voice. “A blessing on the womb that bore you,” she shouted, “and the breasts that you sucked!”

²⁸ “On the contrary,” replied Jesus. “A blessing on those who hear God’s word and keep it!”