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¹He was praying in a certain place, and when he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John also taught his disciples.”

²He said to them, “Whenever you pray, say, Father, your name be honored as holy. Your kingdom come.

³Give us each day our daily bread.

⁴And forgive us our sins, for we ourselves also forgive everyone in debt to us. And do not bring us into temptation.”

⁵He also said to them: “Suppose one of you has a friend and goes to him at midnight and says to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread,

⁶because a friend of mine on a journey has come to me, and I don’t have anything to offer him.’

⁷Then he will answer from inside and say, ‘Don’t bother me! The door is already locked, and my children and I have gone to bed. I can’t get up to give you anything.’

⁸I tell you, even though he won’t get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his friend’s shameless boldness, he will get up and give him as much as he needs.

⁹“So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you. Seek, and you will find. Knock, and the door will be opened to you.

¹⁰For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.

¹¹What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead of a fish?

¹²Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion?

¹³If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him?”

¹⁴Now he was driving out a demon that was mute. When the demon came out, the man who had been mute spoke, and the crowds were amazed.

¹⁵But some of them said, “He drives out demons by Beelzebul, the ruler of the demons.”

¹⁶And others, as a test, were demanding of him a sign from heaven.

¹⁷Knowing their thoughts, he told them, “Every kingdom divided against itself is headed for destruction, and a house divided against itself falls.

¹⁸If Satan also is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand? For you say I drive out demons by Beelzebul.

¹⁹And if I drive out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your sons drive them out? For this reason they will be your judges.

²⁰If I drive out demons by the finger of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.

²¹When a strong man, fully armed, guards his estate, his possessions are secure.

²²But when one stronger than he attacks and overpowers him, he takes from him all his weapons he trusted in, and divides up his plunder.

²³Anyone who is not with me is against me, and anyone who does not gather with me scatters.

²⁴“When an unclean spirit comes out of a person, it roams through waterless places looking for rest, and not finding rest, it then says, ‘I’ll go back to my house that I came from.’

²⁵Returning, it finds the house swept and put in order.

²⁶Then it goes and brings seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they enter and settle down there. As a result, that person’s last condition is worse than the first.”

²⁷As he was saying these things, a woman from the crowd raised her voice and said to him, “Blessed is the womb that bore you and the one who nursed you!”

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

²⁹As the crowds were increasing, he began saying: “This generation is an evil generation. It demands a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah.

³⁰For just as Jonah became a sign to the people of Nineveh, so also the Son of Man will be to this generation.

³¹The queen 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 look — something greater than Solomon is here.

³²The men of Nineveh will stand up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because they repented at Jonah’s preaching, and look — something greater than Jonah is here.

³³“No one lights a lamp and puts it in the cellar or under a basket, but on a lampstand, so that those who come in may see its light.

³⁴Your eye is the lamp of the body. When your eye is healthy, your whole body is also full of light. But when it is bad, your body is also full of darkness.

³⁵Take care, then, that the light in you is not darkness.

³⁶If, therefore, your whole body is full of light, with no part of it in darkness, it will be entirely illuminated, as when a lamp shines its light on you.”

³⁷As he was speaking, a Pharisee asked him to dine with him. So he went in and reclined at the table.

³⁸When the Pharisee saw this, he was amazed that he did not first perform the ritual washing before dinner.

³⁹But the Lord said to him, “Now you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside you are full of greed and evil.

⁴⁰Fools! Didn’t he who made the outside make the inside too?

⁴¹But give from what is within to the poor, and then everything is clean for you.

⁴²“But woe to you Pharisees! You give a tenth of mint, rue, and every kind of herb, and you bypass justice and love for God. These things you should have done without neglecting the others.

⁴³“Woe to you Pharisees! You love the front seat in the synagogues and greetings in the marketplaces.

⁴⁴“Woe to you! You are like unmarked graves; the people who walk over them don’t know it.”

⁴⁵One of the experts in the law answered him, “Teacher, when you say these things you insult us too.”

⁴⁶Then he said: “Woe also to you experts in the law! You load people with burdens that are hard to carry, and yet you yourselves don’t touch these burdens with one of your fingers.

⁴⁷“Woe to you! You build tombs for the prophets, and your fathers killed them.

⁴⁸Therefore, you are witnesses that you approve the deeds of your fathers, for they killed them, and you build their monuments.

⁴⁹Because of this, the wisdom of God said, ‘I will send them prophets and apostles, and some of them they will kill and persecute,’

⁵⁰so that this generation may be held responsible for the blood of all the prophets shed since the foundation of the world — 

⁵¹from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah, who perished between the altar and the sanctuary. “Yes, I tell you, this generation will be held responsible.

⁵²“Woe to you experts in the law! You have taken away the key to knowledge. You didn’t go in yourselves, and you hindered those who were trying to go in.”

⁵³When he left there, the scribes and the Pharisees began to oppose him fiercely and to cross-examine him about many things;

⁵⁴they were lying in wait for him to trap him in something he said.

¹Meanwhile, a crowd of many thousands came together, so that they were trampling on one another. He began to say to his disciples first, “Be on your guard against the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.

²There is nothing covered that won’t be uncovered, nothing hidden that won’t be made known.

³Therefore, whatever you have said in the dark will be heard in the light, and what you have whispered in an ear in private rooms will be proclaimed on the housetops.

⁴“I say to you, my friends, don’t fear those who kill the body, and after that can do nothing more.

⁵But I will show you the one to fear: Fear him who has authority to throw people into hell after death. Yes, I say to you, this is the one to fear!

⁶Aren’t five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten in God’s sight.

⁷Indeed, the hairs of your head are all counted. Don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.

⁸“And I say to you, anyone who acknowledges me before others, the Son of Man will also acknowledge him before the angels of God,

⁹but whoever denies me before others will be denied before the angels of God.

¹⁰Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but the one who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven.

¹¹Whenever they bring you before synagogues and rulers and authorities, don’t worry about how you should defend yourselves or what you should say.

¹²For the Holy Spirit will teach you at that very hour what must be said.”

¹³Someone from the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.”

¹⁴“Friend,” he said to him, “who appointed me a judge or arbitrator over you?”

¹⁵He then told them, “Watch out and be on guard against all greed, because one’s life is not in the abundance of his possessions.”

¹⁶Then he told them a parable: “A rich man’s land was very productive.

¹⁷He thought to himself, ‘What should I do, since I don’t have anywhere to store my crops?

¹⁸I will do this,’ he said. ‘I’ll tear down my barns and build bigger ones and store all my grain and my goods there.

¹⁹Then I’ll say to myself, “You have many goods stored up for many years. Take it easy; eat, drink, and enjoy yourself.”’

²⁰“But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life is demanded of you. And the things you have prepared — whose will they be?’

²¹“That’s how it is with the one who stores up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.”

²²Then he said to his disciples: “Therefore I tell you, don’t worry about your life, what you will eat; or about the body, what you will wear.

²³For life is more than food and the body more than clothing.

²⁴Consider the ravens: They don’t sow or reap; they don’t have a storeroom or a barn; yet God feeds them. Aren’t you worth much more than the birds?

²⁵Can any of you add one moment to his life-span by worrying?

²⁶If then you’re not able to do even a little thing, why worry about the rest?

²⁷“Consider how the wildflowers grow: They don’t labor or spin thread. Yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his splendor was adorned like one of these.

²⁸If that’s how God clothes the grass, which is in the field today and is thrown into the furnace tomorrow, how much more will he do for you — you of little faith?

²⁹Don’t strive for what you should eat and what you should drink, and don’t be anxious.

³⁰For the Gentile world eagerly seeks all these things, and your Father knows that you need them.

³¹“But seek his kingdom, and these things will be provided for you.

³²Don’t be afraid, little flock, because your Father delights to give you the kingdom.

³³Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Make money-bags for yourselves that won’t grow old, an inexhaustible treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys.

³⁴For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

³⁵“Be ready for service and have your lamps lit.

³⁶You are to be like people waiting for their master to return from the wedding banquet so that when he comes and knocks, they can open the door for him at once.

³⁷Blessed will be those servants the master finds alert when he comes. Truly I tell you, he will get ready, have them recline at the table, then come and serve them.

³⁸If he comes in the middle of the night, or even near dawn, and finds them alert, blessed are those servants.

³⁹But know this: If the homeowner had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into.

⁴⁰You also be ready, because the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.”

⁴¹“Lord,” Peter asked, “are you telling this parable to us or to everyone?”

⁴²The Lord said: “Who then is the faithful and sensible manager his master will put in charge of his household servants to give them their allotted food at the proper time?

⁴³Blessed is that servant whom the master finds doing his job when he comes.

⁴⁴Truly I tell you, he will put him in charge of all his possessions.

⁴⁵But if that servant says in his heart, ‘My master is delaying his coming,’ and starts to beat the male and female servants, and to eat and drink and get drunk,

⁴⁶that servant’s master will come on a day he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know. He will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the unfaithful.

⁴⁷And that servant who knew his master’s will and didn’t prepare himself or do it will be severely beaten.

⁴⁸But the one who did not know and did what deserved punishment will receive a light beating. From everyone who has been given much, much will be required; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, even more will be expected.

⁴⁹“I came to bring fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already set ablaze!

⁵⁰But I have a baptism to undergo, and how it consumes me until it is finished!

⁵¹Do you think that I came here to bring peace on the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division.

⁵²From now on, five in one household will be divided: three against two, and two against three.

⁵³ They will be divided, father against son, son against father, mother against daughter, daughter against mother, mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law, and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.”

⁵⁴He also said to the crowds: “When you see a cloud rising in the west, right away you say, ‘A storm is coming,’ and so it does.

⁵⁵And when the south wind is blowing, you say, ‘It’s going to be hot,’ and it is.

⁵⁶Hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of the earth and the sky, but why don’t you know how to interpret this present time?

⁵⁷“Why don’t you judge for yourselves what is right?

⁵⁸As you are going with your adversary to the ruler, make an effort to settle with him on the way. Then he won’t drag you before the judge, the judge hand you over to the bailiff, and the bailiff throw you into prison.

⁵⁹I tell you, you will never get out of there until you have paid the last cent.”