Luke 11 - 12 — Legacy Standard Bible

The Lord’s Prayer

11And it happened that while ¹Jesus 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.” ²And He said to them, “^aWhen you pray, say: ‘¹Father, hallowed be Your name.Your kingdom come.

³‘Give us ^aeach day our ¹daily bread.⁴‘And forgive us our sins,For we ourselves also forgive everyone who ^ais indebted to us.And lead us not into temptation.’”

⁵Then He said to them, “Which of you has a friend and will go to him at midnight and say to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves, ⁶for a friend of mine has come to me from a journey, and I have nothing to set before him’; ⁷and from inside he answers and says, ‘Do not bother me; the door has already been shut and my children ¹and I are in bed; I cannot rise up and give you anything.’ ⁸“I tell you, even though he will not arise and give him anything because he is his friend, yet ^abecause of his ¹persistence he will get up and give him as much as he needs.

⁹“So I say to you, ¹^,^aask, and it will be given to you; ²seek, and you will find; ³knock, and it will be opened to you. ¹⁰“For everyone who asks, receives; and he who seeks, finds; and to him who knocks, it will be opened. ¹¹“But what father among you, if his son asks for a ¹fish, will give him a snake instead of a fish? ¹²“Or, if his son asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? ¹³“^aIf you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your ¹heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him?”

A Kingdom Divided

¹⁴^aAnd He was casting out a demon, and it was mute. Now it happened that when the demon had gone out, the mute man spoke, and the crowds marveled. ¹⁵But some of them said, “He casts out demons ^aby ^bBeelzebul, the ruler of the demons.” ¹⁶And others, testing Him, ^awere seeking from Him ¹a sign from heaven. ¹⁷^aBut He knew their thoughts and said to them, “¹Any kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and a house divided against ²itself falls. ¹⁸“But if ^aSatan also is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand? For you say that I cast out demons by ^bBeelzebul. ¹⁹“And if I by ^aBeelzebul cast out demons, by whom do your sons cast them out? For this reason, they will be your judges. ²⁰“But if I cast out demons by the ^afinger of God, then ^bthe kingdom of God has come upon you. ²¹“When ¹a strong man, fully armed, guards his own house, his possessions are ²undisturbed. 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“^aHe who is not with Me is against Me and he who does not gather with Me, scatters.

²⁴“^aWhen the unclean spirit goes out of ¹a 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.”

²⁷Now it happened that while ¹Jesus was saying these things, one of the women in the crowd raised her voice and said to Him, “^aBlessed is the womb that bore You and the breasts at which You nursed.” ²⁸But He said, “On the contrary, blessed are ^athose who hear the word of God and keep it.”

The Sign of Jonah

²⁹Now as the crowds were increasing, He began to say, “^aThis generation is a wicked generation; it ^bseeks ¹a sign, and yet no ²sign will be given to it but the ³sign of Jonah. ³⁰“For just as ^aJonah became ¹a sign to the Ninevites, so will the Son of Man be to this generation. ³¹“The ^aQueen of the South will rise up at the judgment with the men of this generation 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 will stand up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because ^athey repented at the preaching of Jonah. And behold, something greater than Jonah is here.

³³“^aNo one, after lighting a lamp, puts it away in a cellar nor under a basket, but on the lampstand, so that those who enter may see the light. ³⁴“^aThe eye is the lamp of your body; when your eye is ¹clear, your whole body also is full of light, but when it is ²bad, your body also is full of darkness. ³⁵“Therefore watch out that the light in you is not darkness. ³⁶“If therefore your whole body is full of light, with no dark part in it, it will be wholly illumined, as when the lamp illumines you with its rays.”

Woes to the Pharisees and Lawyers

³⁷Now when He had spoken, a Pharisee *asked Him to have a meal with him. And He went in and reclined at the table. ³⁸But when the Pharisee saw it, he marveled that He had not first ¹^,^aceremonially washed before the ²meal. ³⁹But ^athe Lord said to him, “Now ^byou Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but ¹inside of you, you are full of robbery and wickedness. ⁴⁰“^aYou foolish ones, did not He who made the outside make the inside also? ⁴¹“But ^agive that which is within as charity, and ¹then all things are ^bclean for you.

⁴²“^aBut woe to you Pharisees! For you ^bpay 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 ^alove the best seat in the synagogues and the respectful greetings in the marketplaces. ⁴⁴“^aWoe to you! For you are like ¹concealed tombs, and the people who walk over them are unaware of it.”

⁴⁵Now one of the ^ascholars of the Law answered and said to Him, “Teacher, when You say these things, You insult us too.” ⁴⁶But He said, “Woe to you ^ascholars of the Law as well! For ^byou weigh men down with burdens hard to bear, and you yourselves will not even touch the burdens with one of your fingers. ⁴⁷“^aWoe to you! For you build the ¹tombs of the prophets, but your fathers killed them. ⁴⁸“So 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 ^athe wisdom of God said, ‘^bI will send to them prophets and apostles, and some of them they will kill and some they will ¹persecute, ⁵⁰so that the blood of all the prophets, shed ^asince the foundation of the world, may be ¹charged against this generation, ⁵¹from ^athe blood of Abel to ^bthe blood of Zechariah, who was killed between the altar and the house of God; yes, I tell you, it shall be ¹charged against this generation.’ ⁵²“Woe to you, ^ascholars of the Law! For you have taken away the key of knowledge; ^byou yourselves did not enter, and you hindered those who were entering.”

⁵³And when He left there, the scribes and the Pharisees began to be very hostile and to question Him closely on many subjects, ⁵⁴^aplotting ^bto catch ¹Him in something He might say.

Fear Only God

12At this time, after ¹so many thousands of the crowd had gathered together that they were trampling on one another, He began saying to His disciples first, “^aBe on your guard for the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. ²“^aBut there is nothing covered up that will not be revealed, and hidden that will not be known. ³“Accordingly, whatever you have said in the dark will be heard in the light, and what you have ¹whispered in the inner rooms will be proclaimed upon ^athe housetops.

⁴“But I say to you, ^aMy friends, do not fear those who kill the body and after that have no more that they can do. ⁵“But I will show you whom to fear: ^afear the One who, after He has killed, has authority to cast into ¹^,^bhell; yes, I tell you, fear Him! ⁶“Are not ^afive sparrows sold for two ¹assaria? Yet not one of them is forgotten before God. ⁷“^aIndeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not fear; you are more valuable than many sparrows.

Blasphemy Against the Holy Spirit

⁸“And I say to you, everyone who ^aconfesses Me before men, the Son of Man will confess him also before the angels of God, ⁹but ^ahe who denies Me before men will be denied ^bbefore the angels of God. ¹⁰“^aAnd everyone who ¹speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him, but he who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him. ¹¹“Now when they bring you before ^athe synagogues and the rulers and the authorities, do not ^bworry about how or what you are to speak in your defense, or what you are to say, ¹²for ^athe Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say.”

Parable of the Rich Fool

¹³And someone from the crowd said to Him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the family inheritance with me.” ¹⁴But He said to him, “^aMan, who appointed Me a judge or arbitrator over you?” ¹⁵Then He said to them, “^aWatch out and be on your guard against every form of greed, for not even when one has an abundance does his life consist of his possessions.” ¹⁶And He told them a parable, saying, “The land of a rich man was very productive. ¹⁷“And he began reasoning to himself, saying, ‘What shall I do, since I have no place to store my crops?’ ¹⁸“Then he said, ‘This is what I will do: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. ¹⁹‘And I will say to my soul, “Soul, ^ayou have many goods laid up for many years to come; take your ease, eat, drink and be merry.”’ ²⁰“But God said to him, ‘^aYou fool! This very night ¹^,^byour soul is required of you; and ^cnow who will own what you prepared?’ ²¹“So is the one who ^astores up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.”

Do Not Worry

²²And He said to His disciples, “^aFor this reason I say to you, ¹do not worry about your ²life, as to what you will eat; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. ²³“For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing. ²⁴“Consider the ^aravens, for they neither sow nor reap; they have no storeroom nor ^bbarn, and yet God feeds them; how much more valuable you are than the birds! ²⁵“And which of you by worrying can add a single ¹^,^acubit to his ²life span? ²⁶“Therefore, if you cannot do even a very little thing, why do you worry about other matters? ²⁷“Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, but I tell you, not even ^aSolomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these. ²⁸“But if God so clothes the grass in the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, how much more will He clothe you? ^aYou of little faith! ²⁹“And do not seek what you will eat and what you will drink, and do not ^akeep worrying. ³⁰“For ¹all these things the nations of the world eagerly seek, but your Father knows that you need these things. ³¹“But seek His kingdom, and ^athese things will be added to you. ³²“^aDo not fear, ^blittle flock, for ^cyour Father is well pleased to give you the kingdom.

³³“^aSell your possessions and give it as charity; make yourselves money belts which do not wear out, ^ban unfailing treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near nor moth destroys. ³⁴“For ^awhere your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Be Ready for His Coming

³⁵“^aGird up ^byour loins, and keep your lamps lit. ³⁶“And be like men who are waiting for their master when he returns from the wedding feast, so that they may immediately open the door to him when he comes and knocks. ³⁷“Blessed are those slaves whom the master will find ^aawake when he comes; truly I say to you, that ^bhe will gird himself to serve, and have them recline at the table, and will come up and wait on them. ³⁸“^aWhether he comes in the ¹second watch, or even in the ²third, and finds them so, blessed are those slaves.

³⁹“^aBut ¹be sure of this, that if the head of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have allowed his house to be ²^,^bbroken into. ⁴⁰“^aYou too, be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour that you do not ¹expect.”

⁴¹Now Peter said, “Lord, are You addressing this parable to us, or ^ato everyone else as well?” ⁴²And ^athe Lord said, “^bWho then is the faithful and prudent ^csteward, whom his master will put in charge of his ¹servants, to give them their rations at the proper time? ⁴³“Blessed is that ^aslave whom his ¹master finds so doing when he comes. ⁴⁴“Truly I say to you that he will put him in charge of all his possessions. ⁴⁵“But if that slave says in his heart, ‘My master ¹will be a long time in coming,’ and begins to beat the male and female servants, and to eat and drink and get drunk, ⁴⁶the master of that slave will come on a day when he does not expect and at an hour he does not know, and will cut him in pieces, and assign him a place with the unbelievers. ⁴⁷“And that slave who knew his master’s will and did not get ready or act in accord with his will, will ^areceive many beatings, ⁴⁸but the one who did not ^aknow it, and committed deeds worthy of a beating, will receive but a few. ^bFrom everyone who has been given much, much will be required, and to whom they entrusted much, of him they will ask all the more.

Not Peace, but Division

⁴⁹“I ¹have come to cast fire upon the earth, and ²how I wish it were already kindled! ⁵⁰“But I have a ^abaptism to ¹undergo, and how distressed I am until it is finished! ⁵¹“^aDo you think that I came to grant peace on earth? I tell you, no, but rather division; ⁵²for from now on five members in one household will be divided, three against two and two against three. ⁵³“They will be divided, ^afather against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.”

⁵⁴And He was also saying to the crowds, “^aWhen you see a cloud rising in the west, immediately you say, ‘A shower is coming,’ and so it happens. ⁵⁵“And when you see a south wind blowing, you say, ‘It will be a ^ahot day,’ and it happens. ⁵⁶“You hypocrites! ^aYou know how to examine the appearance of the earth and the sky, but ¹why do you not examine this present time?

⁵⁷“And ^awhy do you not even judge for yourselves what is right? ⁵⁸“For ^awhile you are going with your opponent to appear before the magistrate, on your way there make an effort to ¹settle with him, so that he may not drag you before the judge, and the judge turn you over to the officer, and the officer throw you into prison. ⁵⁹“I say to you, you will not get out of there until you have paid the last ¹^,^alepton.”