Luke, 11

1. And it came to pass, that, as he was praying in a certain place, when he ceased, one of his disciples said unto him, Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples.

1. One day Jesus 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."

2. And he said unto them, When ye pray, say, Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, as in heaven, so in earth.

2. And Jesus said to them, "When you pray, say this: Father, hallowed be your name, may your kingdom come,

3. Give us day by day our daily bread.

3. give us each day the kind of bread we need,

4. And forgive us our sins; for we also forgive every one that is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil.

4. and forgive us our sins, for we also forgive all who do us wrong, and do not bring us to the test."

5. And he said unto them, Which of you shall have a friend, and shall go unto him at midnight, and say unto him, Friend, lend me three loaves;

5. Jesus said to them, "Suppose one of you has a friend and goes to his house in the middle of the night and says: 'Friend, lend me three loaves,

6. For a friend of mine in his journey is come to me, and I have nothing to set before him?

6. for a friend of mine who is traveling has just arrived and I have nothing to offer him.'

7. And he from within shall answer and say, Trouble me not: the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot rise and give thee.

7. Maybe your friend will answer from inside: 'Don't bother me now; the door is locked and my children and I are in bed, so I can't get up and give you anything.'

8. I say unto you, Though he will not rise and give him, because he is his friend, yet because of his importunity he will rise and give him as many as he needeth.

8. But I tell you, even though he will not get up and attend to you because you are a friend, yet he will get up because you are a bother to him, and he will give you all you need.

9. And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.

9. And so I say to you, 'Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and it will be opened to you.

10. For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.

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

11. If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, will he give him a stone? or if [he ask] a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent?

11. If your child asks for a fish, will you give a snake instead?

12. Or if he shall ask an egg, will he offer him a scorpion?

12. And if your child asks for an egg, will you give a scorpion?

13. If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall [your] heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?

13. Even you evil people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more then will the Father in heaven give holy spirit to those who ask him!"

14. And he was casting out a devil, and it was dumb. And it came to pass, when the devil was gone out, the dumb spake; and the people wondered.

14. One day Jesus was driving out a dumb demon. When the demon had been driven out, the mute person could speak, and the people were amazed.

15. But some of them said, He casteth out devils through Beelzebub the chief of the devils.

15. Yet some of them said, "He drives out demons by the power of Beelzebul, the chief of the demons."

16. And others, tempting [him], sought of him a sign from heaven.

16. So others wanted to put him to the test by asking him for a heavenly sign.

17. But he, knowing their thoughts, said unto them, Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and a house [divided] against a house falleth.

17. But Jesus knew their thoughts and said to them, "Every nation divided by civil war is on the road to ruin, and will fall.

18. If Satan also be divided against himself, how shall his kingdom stand? because ye say that I cast out devils through Beelzebub.

18. If Satan also is divided, his empire is coming to an end. How can you say that I drive out demons by calling upon Beelzebul?

19. And if I by Beelzebub cast out devils, by whom do your sons cast [them] out? therefore shall they be your judges.

19. If I drive them out by Beelzebul, by whom do your fellow members drive out demons? They themselves will give you the answer.

20. But if I with the finger of God cast out devils, no doubt the kingdom of God is come upon you.

20. But suppose I drive out demons by the finger of God; would not this mean that the kingdom of God has come upon you?

21. When a strong man armed keepeth his palace, his goods are in peace:

21. As long as the strong and armed man guards his house, his goods are safe.

22. But when a stronger than he shall come upon him, and overcome him, he taketh from him all his armour wherein he trusted, and divideth his spoils.

22. But when a stronger one attacks and overcomes him, the challenger takes away all the weapons he relied on and disposes of his spoils.

23. He that is not with me is against me: and he that gathereth not with me scattereth.

23. Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me, scatters.

24. When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places, seeking rest; and finding none, he saith, I will return unto my house whence I came out.

24. When the evil spirit goes out of a person, it wanders through dry lands looking for a resting place. And finding none, it says, 'I will return to my house from which I came.'

25. And when he cometh, he findeth [it] swept and garnished.

25. When it comes, it finds the house swept and everything in order.

26. Then goeth he, and taketh [to him] seven other spirits more wicked than himself; and they enter in, and dwell there: and the last [state] of that man is worse than the first.

26. Then it goes to fetch seven other spirits even worse than itself. They move in and settle there, so that the last state of that person is worse than the first."

27. And it came to pass, as he spake these things, a certain woman of the company lifted up her voice, and said unto him, Blessed [is] the womb that bare thee, and the paps which thou hast sucked.

27. As Jesus was speaking, a woman spoke from the crowd and said to him, "Blessed is the one who bore you and nursed you!"

28. But he said, Yea rather, blessed [are] they that hear the word of God, and keep it.

28. Jesus replied, "Surely blessed are those who hear the word of God and keep it as well."

29. And when the people were gathered thick together, he began to say, This is an evil generation: they seek a sign; and there shall no sign be given it, but the sign of Jonas the prophet.

29. As the crowd increased, Jesus began to speak in this way, "People of the present time are evil people. They ask for a sign, but no sign will be given to them except the sign of Jonah.

30. For as Jonas was a sign unto the Ninevites, so shall also the Son of man be to this generation.

30. As Jonah became a sign for the people of Nineveh, so will the Son of Man be a sign for this generation.

31. The queen of the south shall rise up in the judgment with the men of this generation, and condemn them: for she came from the utmost parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and, behold, a greater than Solomon [is] here.

31. The Queen of the South will rise up on Judgment Day with the people of these times and accuse them, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and here there is greater than Solomon.

32. The men of Nineve shall rise up in the judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: for they repented at the preaching of Jonas; and, behold, a greater than Jonas [is] here.

32. The people of Nineveh will rise up on Judgment Day with the people of these times and accuse them, for Jonah's preaching made them turn from their sins, and here there is greater than Jonah.

33. No man, when he hath lighted a candle, putteth [it] in a secret place, neither under a bushel, but on a candlestick, that they which come in may see the light.

33. You do not light a lamp to hide it; rather you put it on a lampstand so that people coming in may see the light.

34. The light of the body is the eye: therefore when thine eye is single, thy whole body also is full of light; but when [thine eye] is evil, thy body also [is] full of darkness.

34. Your eye is the lamp of your body. If your eye sees clearly, your whole person benefits from the light; but if your eyesight is poor, your whole person is without light.

35. Take heed therefore that the light which is in thee be not darkness.

35. So be careful lest the light inside you become darkness.

36. If thy whole body therefore [be] full of light, having no part dark, the whole shall be full of light, as when the bright shining of a candle doth give thee light.

36. If your whole person receives the light, having no part that is dark, you will become light, as when a lamp shines on you."

37. And as he spake, a certain Pharisee besought him to dine with him: and he went in, and sat down to meat.

37. As Jesus was speaking, a Pharisee asked him to have a meal with him. So he went and sat at table.

38. And when the Pharisee saw [it], he marvelled that he had not first washed before dinner.

38. The Pharisee then wondered why Jesus did not first wash his hands before dinner.

39. And the Lord said unto him, Now do ye Pharisees make clean the outside of the cup and the platter; but your inward part is full of ravening and wickedness.

39. But the Lord said to him, "So then, you Pharisees, you clean the outside of the cup and the dish, but inside yourselves you are full of greed and evil.

40. [Ye] fools, did not he that made that which is without make that which is within also?

40. Fools! He who made the outside, also made the inside.

41. But rather give alms of such things as ye have; and, behold, all things are clean unto you.

41. But according to you, by the mere giving of alms everything is made clean.

42. But woe unto you, Pharisees! for ye tithe mint and rue and all manner of herbs, and pass over judgment and the love of God: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone.

42. A curse is on you, Pharisees; for the Temple you give a tenth of all, including mint and rue and the other herbs, but you neglect justice and the love of God. This ought to be practiced, without neglecting the other.

43. Woe unto you, Pharisees! for ye love the uppermost seats in the synagogues, and greetings in the markets.

43. A curse is on you, Pharisees, for you love the best seats in the synagogues and to be greeted in the marketplace.

44. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are as graves which appear not, and the men that walk over [them] are not aware [of them].

44. A curse is on you for you are like tombstones of the dead which can hardly be seen; people don't notice them and make themselves unclean by stepping on them."

45. Then answered one of the lawyers, and said unto him, Master, thus saying thou reproachest us also.

45. Then a teacher of the Law spoke up and said, "Master, when you speak like this, you insult us, too."

46. And he said, Woe unto you also, [ye] lawyers! for ye lade men with burdens grievous to be borne, and ye yourselves touch not the burdens with one of your fingers.

46. And Jesus answered, "A curse is on you also, teachers of the Law. For you prepare unbearable burdens and load them on the people, while you yourselves don't move a finger to help them.

47. Woe unto you! for ye build the sepulchres of the prophets, and your fathers killed them.

47. A curse is on you, for you build memorials to the prophets your ancestors killed.

48. Truly ye bear witness that ye allow the deeds of your fathers: for they indeed killed them, and ye build their sepulchres.

48. So you approve and agree with what your ancestors did. Is it not so? They got rid of the prophets, and now you can build!"

49. Therefore also said the wisdom of God, I will send them prophets and apostles, and [some] of them they shall slay and persecute:

49. (The Wisdom of God also said,) "I will send prophets and apostles and this people will kill and persecute some of them.

50. That the blood of all the prophets, which was shed from the foundation of the world, may be required of this generation;

50. But the present generation will have to answer for the blood of all the prophets that has been shed since the foundation of the world,

51. From the blood of Abel unto the blood of Zacharias, which perished between the altar and the temple: verily I say unto you, It shall be required of this generation.

51. from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah, who was murdered between the altar and the sanctuary. Yes, I tell you, the people of this time will have to answer for them all.

52. Woe unto you, lawyers! for ye have taken away the key of knowledge: ye entered not in yourselves, and them that were entering in ye hindered.

52. A curse is on you, teachers of the Law, for you have taken the key of knowledge. You yourselves have not entered, and you prevented others from entering."

53. And as he said these things unto them, the scribes and the Pharisees began to urge [him] vehemently, and to provoke him to speak of many things:

53. As Jesus left that place, the teachers of the Law and the Pharisees began to harass him,

54. Laying wait for him, and seeking to catch something out of his mouth, that they might accuse him.

54. asking him endless questions, setting traps to catch him in something he might say.