Luke 11:11-40

¹¹'And of which of you — the father — if the son shall ask a loaf, a stone will he present to him? and if a fish, will he instead of a fish, a serpent present to him?

¹²and if he may ask an egg, will he present to him a scorpion?

¹³If, then, ye, being evil, have known good gifts to be giving to your children, how much more shall the Father who is from heaven give the Holy Spirit to those asking Him!'

¹⁴And he was casting forth a demon, and it was dumb, and it came to pass, the demon having gone forth, the dumb man spake, and the multitudes wondered,

¹⁵and certain of them said, 'By Beelzeboul, ruler of the demons, he doth cast forth the demons;'

¹⁶and others, tempting, a sign out of heaven from him were asking.

¹⁷And he, knowing their thoughts, said to them, 'Every kingdom having been divided against itself is desolated; and house against house doth fall;

¹⁸and if also the Adversary against himself was divided, how shall his kingdom be made to stand? for ye say, by Beelzeboul is my casting forth the demons.

¹⁹'But if I by Beelzeboul cast forth the demons — your sons, by whom do they cast forth? because of this your judges they shall be;

²⁰but if by the finger of God I cast forth the demons, then come unawares upon you did the reign of God.

²¹'When the strong man armed may keep his hall, in peace are his goods;

²²but when the stronger than he, having come upon him, may overcome him, his whole-armour he doth take away in which he had trusted, and his spoils he distributeth;

²³he who is not with me is against me, and he who is not gathering with me doth scatter.

²⁴'When the unclean spirit may go forth from the man it walketh through waterless places seeking rest, and not finding, it saith, I will turn back to my house whence I came forth;

²⁵and having come, it findeth it swept and adorned;

²⁶then doth it go, and take to it seven other spirits more evil than itself, and having entered, they dwell there, and the last of that man becometh worst than the first.'

²⁷And it came to pass, in his saying these things, a certain woman having lifted up the voice out of the multitude, said to him, 'Happy the womb that carried thee, and the paps that thou didst suck!'

²⁸And he said, 'Yea, rather, happy those hearing the word of God, and keeping it!'

²⁹And the multitudes crowding together upon him, he began to say, 'This generation is evil, a sign it doth seek after, and a sign shall not be given to it, except the sign of Jonah the prophet,

³⁰for as Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites, so also shall the Son of Man be to this generation.

³¹'A queen of the south shall rise up in the judgment with the men of this generation, and shall condemn them, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and lo, greater than Solomon here!

³²'Men of Nineveh shall stand up in the judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it, because they reformed at the proclamation of Jonah; and lo, greater than Jonah here!

³³'And no one having lighted a lamp, doth put it in a secret place, nor under the measure, but on the lamp-stand, that those coming in may behold the light.

³⁴'The lamp of the body is the eye, when then thine eye may be simple, thy whole body also is lightened; and when it may be evil, thy body also is darkened;

³⁵take heed, then, lest the light that is in thee be darkness;

³⁶if then thy whole body is lightened, not having any part darkened, the whole shall be lightened, as when the lamp by the brightness may give thee light.'

³⁷And in his speaking, a certain Pharisee was asking him that he might dine with him, and having gone in, he reclined (at meat),

³⁸and the Pharisee having seen, did wonder that he did not first baptize himself before the dinner.

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

⁴⁰unthinking! did not He who made the outside also the inside make?