 1 Now it came to pass that as Jesus was praying in a certain place, when He stopped+, one of His disciples said to Him: Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples. 2 Jesus said to them: When you pray, say: Our Father in Heaven, Holy+ is your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done, on Earth as it is in Heaven. 3 Give us each+ day our daily bread. 4 And forgive us for our sins~, for we also forgive everyone who is indebted to us. And lead us so that we not yield to temptation, but deliver us from evil. 5 Then He said to them: Who among+ you shall have a friend and shall go to him at midnight and say to him: Friend, lend me three loaves. 6 For a friend of mine in his journey has come to me and I have nothing to set before him. 7 And from inside+ your friend shall answer and say: Do not trouble me now, for the door is shut and both I and my children are in bed and I cannot arise now and give you anything. 8 I say to you: Though he will not arise and give anything to him because he is his friend, yet because of his persistence+ he will rise and give him all+ he needs. 9 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 everyone who asks receives, and those who seek will find, and to those who knock it will be opened. 11 If a son asks for bread from+ any of you who are fathers, will you give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will you give him a serpent? 12 Or if he asks for an egg, will you offer him a scorpion? 13 If you then, being wicked+, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him? 14 Later on, Jesus was casting out a demon+ that had caused a man to be speechless+. And it came to pass, when the demon+ was gone out, the speechless+ man spoke. And the people marveled+. 15 But some of them said: He casts out demons+ through Beelzebub the chief of the demons+. 16 Others, testing+ Him, sought from+ Him a sign from heaven. 17 But knowing their thoughts, He said to them: Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation. A house divided against a house falls. 18 If Satan also is divided against himself, how shall his kingdom stand? Because you say that I cast out demons+ through Beelzebub, 19 well if I cast out demons+ by Beelzebub, then by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore shall they be your judges. 20 But if I cast out demons+ with the finger of God, then no doubt the kingdom of God has come upon you. 21 When an armed strong man keeps his palace guarded, his possessions+ are in peace~. 22 But when one stronger than he comes upon him and overcomes him, the overcomer takes from the strong man all his armor in which he trusted, and divides his spoils. 23 Those who are not with me are against me. Those who do not gather with me scatter. 24 When the unclean spirit is gone out of a person+, that unclean spirit walks through dry places seeking rest. Finding none, he says: I will return to my house from which I came. 25 When he comes, he finds it swept and put in order+. 26 Then he goes and takes seven other spirits more wicked than himself and they enter in and dwell there. And the last state of that person+ is worse than the first. 27 Now it came to pass, as Jesus spoke these things: A certain woman in the crowd+ lifted up her voice and said to Him: Blessed is the womb that bore you and the breasts+ that nursed+ you. 28 But He said: Yes rather, blessed are those who hear the Word of God and keep it. Proverbs 8:32 29 When the people were gathered close+ together, He began to say: This is an evil generation. They seek a sign, but there shall not be any sign given to it except+ the sign of Jonah the prophet. Matthew 12:39 30 For as Jonah was a sign to the Ninevites, so also will the Son of man be to this generation. Matthew 12:40 31 The queen of the south will rise up in the judgment with the people+ of this generation and condemn them. For she came from the ends+ of the Earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon. And behold one greater than Solomon is here. Matthew 12:42 32 The men of Nineveh shall rise up in the judgment with this generation and shall condemn it, for they repented at the proclaiming+ of Jonah. And behold, one greater than Jonah is here. 33 No one, having lit a candle, puts it in a secret~ place or under a bushel, but on a candlestick so that those who come in may see the light. 34 The light of the body is the eye. Therefore when your eye is single~ then your whole body is also full of light. But when your eye is evil, then your body also is full of darkness. 35 Therefore, take heed that the light that is in you is not darkness. 36 If your whole body therefore is filled with light, having no part dark, then the whole truly will be light as when a brightly shining light+ illuminates+ you. 37 As He spoke, a certain Pharisee asked+ Jesus to dine with him. So, He went in and sat down to eat. 38 When the Pharisee saw that Jesus did not wash first, before dinner, he wondered+ at that. 39 The Lord said to him: Now you Pharisees make the outside of the cup and platter clean, but your inward part is full of greed+ and wickedness. 40 You fools. Did not He who made what is outside+ also make what is inside+? 41 But rather give alms~ of lasting+ value and behold, all things are clean to you. 42 But woe to you Pharisees. For you tithe of mint and rue and all kinds+ of herbs, but you bypass+ justice+ and the love of God. These you ought to do, but not to leave the other undone. 43 Woe to you Pharisees. For you love the uppermost seats in the synagogues and greetings in the market places. 44 Woe to you scribes and Pharisees. Hypocrites. For you are like+ unmarked+ graves and those+ who walk over them are not aware of them. 45 Then one of the lawyers answered and said to Him: Master, saying these things, you insult+ us, also. 46 He said: Woe to you lawyers, also. For you saddle+ people+ with grievous burdens and you yourselves do not touch the burdens with one of your fingers. 47 Woe to you. For you build the tombs+ of the prophets, and your fathers killed them. 48 Truly you bear witness that you consent+ to the deeds of your fathers. For they indeed killed them, and you build their tombs+. 49 Therefore the wisdom of God has also said: I will send prophets and apostles to them, and they will persecute and slay some of them, 50 so that the blood of all the prophets that was shed from the foundation of the world, may be required of this generation, 51 from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zacharias, who perished between the altar and the temple. Truly+ I say to you: It shall be required of this generation. 52 Woe to you lawyers. For you have taken away the key of knowledge. You did not enter in yourselves and you hindered those who were entering. 53 As He said these things to them, the scribes and the Pharisees began to forcefully+ press and provoke Him to speak of many things, 54 laying in wait for Him, seeking to catch some statement out of His mouth so that they might accuse Him.
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