Luke

Prayer: The Lord’s Prayer

One day, Jesus was praying in a certain place; and when he had finished, one of his disciples asked him: 

“Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples.” 

And Jesus said to them: 

“When you pray, say this:

Father, hallowed be your name.

Your kingdom come.

Give us each day our daily bread.

And forgive us our sins,

for we also forgive all 

who are in debt to us;

and do not bring us 

to the time of trial.”

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,

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

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.’ 

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

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. 

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

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

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

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

One day, Jesus was casting out a demon that was mute. When the demon was expelled, the mute person could speak, and the crowd was amazed.

But some of them said: 

“He drives out demons by the power of Beelzebul, the ruler of the demons.” 

Others wanted to test him by asking for a sign from heaven.

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

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

If I drive them out by Beelzebul, then by whom do your sons drive out demons? They will be your judges, then.

But if I drive out demons by the finger of God, does this not mean that the kingdom of God has come upon you? 

As long as a man, strong and well-armed, guards his house, his possessions are safe. 

But when a stronger man attacks and overpowers him, the challenger takes away all the weapons he relied on and confiscates his possessions. 

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

When the evil spirit leaves a person, it wanders through dry lands looking for a place to rest; and when it finds none, it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ 

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

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

As Jesus was speaking, a woman in the crowd called out to him and said: 

“Blessed is the one who gave you birth and nursed you!” 

Jesus replied: 

“Truly blessed are those who hear the word of God, and keep it as well.”

As the crowd grew larger, Jesus spoke these words: 

“People of today are troubled. They ask for a sign, but no sign will be given to them except the sign of Jonah. 

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

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

The people of Nineveh will also rise up on Judgment Day with these times to accuse them, for Jonah’s preaching caused them to turn from their sins, and here there is greater than Jonah.

You don’t light a lamp to hide it; instead, you place it on a lampstand so that those entering may see the light.

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

So be careful, lest the light inside you turn into darkness. 

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

As Jesus was speaking, a Pharisee asked him to join him for a meal. So he went and sat at the table.

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

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.

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

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

Woe to you, Pharisees! You give a tenth of all, including mint, rue, and other herbs, to the temple, but you neglect justice and the love of God. These should be done without ignoring the other obligations. 

Woe to you, Pharisees, because you love the best seats in the synagogues and to be greeted in the marketplace. 

Woe to you, for you are like tombstones of the dead, which are hard to see; people don’t notice them and make themselves unclean by stepping on them.

Then a teacher of the law spoke up and said: 

“Master, when you speak like this, you insult us too.” 

And Jesus answered: 

“Woe to you also, teachers of the law. You prepare unbearable burdens and load them on the people, while you yourselves do not lift a finger to help them. 

Woe to you, for you build monuments to the prophets your ancestors killed. 

So you approve and agree with what your ancestors did. Is it not so? They got rid of the prophets, and you build monuments to them!

For that reason, the wisdom of God also said: I will send prophets and apostles, and these people will kill and persecute some of them.

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,

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.

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

As Jesus left that place, the teachers of the law and the Pharisees began to harass him,

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