Christ teaches his disciples to pray. He casts out a dumb devil, confutes the Pharisees, and pronounces woes against them for their hypocrisy.

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

² And he said to them: “When you are praying, say: Father, may your name be kept holy. May your kingdom come.

³ Give us this day our daily bread.

⁴ And forgive us our sins, since we also forgive all who are indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation.”

⁵ And he said to them: “Which of you will have a friend and will go to him in the middle of the night, and will say to him: ‘Friend, lend me three loaves,

⁶ because a friend of mine has arrived from a journey to me, and I do not have anything to set before him.’

⁷ And from within, he would answer by saying: ‘Do not disturb me. The door is closed now, and my children and I are in bed. I cannot get up and give it to you.’

⁸ Yet if he will persevere in knocking, I tell you that, even though he would not get up and give it to him because he is a friend, yet due to his continued insistence, he will get up and give him whatever he needs.

⁹ And so I say to you: Ask, and it shall be given to you. Seek, and you shall find. Knock, and it shall be opened to you.

¹⁰ For everyone who asks, receives. And whoever seeks, finds. And whoever knocks, it shall be opened to him.

¹¹ So then, who among you, if he asks his father for bread, he would give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, he would give him a serpent, instead of a fish?

¹² Or if he will ask for an egg, he would offer to him a scorpion?

¹³ Therefore, if you, being evil, know how to give good things to your sons, how much more will your Father give, from heaven, a spirit of goodness to those who ask him?”¹

1. 11:13The wording is not ‘Father from heaven’ because the Father is not ‘from’ anything or anywhere; the Father is First. Also, the wording ‘spiritum bonum’ is not the same as the wording ‘Spiritu Sancto’ referring to the Holy Spirit, so it does not refer specifically to the Holy Spirit. Instead, it refers to a gift of the Holy Spirit, to have a spirit or attitude of doing good.(Conte)

¹⁴ And he was casting out a demon, and the man was mute. But when he had cast out the demon, the mute man spoke, and so the crowds were amazed.

¹⁵ But some of them said, “It is by Beelzebub, the leader of demons, that he casts out demons.”

¹⁶ And others, testing him, required a sign from heaven of him.

¹⁷ But when he perceived their thoughts, he said to them: “Every kingdom divided against itself will become desolate, and house will fall upon house.

¹⁸ So then, if Satan is also divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand? For you say that it is by Beelzebub that I cast out demons.

¹⁹ But if I cast out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your own sons cast them out? Therefore, they shall be your judges.

²⁰ Moreover, if it is by the finger of God that I cast out demons, then certainly the kingdom of God has overtaken you.

²¹ When a strong armed man guards his entrance, the things that he possesses are at peace.

²² But if a stronger one, overwhelming him, has defeated him, he will take away all his weapons, in which he trusted, and he will distribute his spoils.

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

²⁴ When an unclean spirit has departed from a man, he walks through waterless places, seeking rest. And not finding any, he says: ‘I will return to my house, from which I departed.’

²⁵ And when he has arrived, he finds it swept clean and decorated.

²⁶ Then he goes, and he takes in seven other spirits with him, more wicked than himself, and they enter and live there. And so, the end of that man is made worse than the beginning.”

²⁷ And it happened that, when he was saying these things, a certain woman from the crowd, lifting up her voice, said to him, “Blessed is the womb that bore you and the breasts that nursed you.”

²⁸ Then he said, “Yes, but moreover: blessed are those who hear the word of God and keep it.”

²⁹ Then, as the crowds were quickly gathering, he began to say: “This generation is a wicked generation: it seeks a sign. But no sign will be given to it, except the sign of the prophet Jonah.

³⁰ For just as Jonah was a sign to the Ninevites, so also will the Son of man be to this generation.

³¹ The queen of the South will rise up, at the judgment, with the men of this generation, and she will condemn them. For she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon. And behold, more than Solomon is here.

³² The men of Nineveh will rise up, at the judgment, with this generation, and they will condemn it. For at the preaching of Jonah, they repented. And behold, more than Jonah is here.

³³ No one lights a candle and places it in hiding, nor under a bushel basket, but upon a lampstand, so that those who enter may see the light.

³⁴ Your eye is the light of your body. If your eye is wholesome, your entire body will be filled with light. But if it is wicked, then even your body will be darkened.

³⁵ Therefore, take care, lest the light that is within you become darkness.

³⁶ So then, if your entire body becomes filled with light, not having any part in darkness, then it will be entirely light, and, like a shining lamp, it will illuminate you.”

³⁷ And as he was speaking, a certain Pharisee asked him to eat with him. And going inside, he sat down to eat.

³⁸ But the Pharisee began to say, thinking within himself: “Why might it be that he has not washed before eating?”

³⁹ And the Lord said to him: “You Pharisees today clean what is outside the cup and the plate, but what is inside of you is full of plunder and iniquity.

⁴⁰ Fools! Did not he who made what is outside, indeed also make what is inside?

⁴¹ Yet truly, give what is above as alms, and behold, all things are clean for you.¹

1. 11:41The word ‘superest’ literally means ‘is over’ or ‘is above.’ It is sometimes used to refer to human persons who are still alive, i.e. if you have survived, you are still above ground, not having been buried in a grave. In this context, it refers to the things of this world, to the things of this life, to temporal things.(Conte)

⁴² But woe to you, Pharisees! For you tithe mint and rue and every herb, but you ignore judgment and the charity of God. But these things you ought to have done, without omitting the others.

⁴³ Woe to you, Pharisees! For you love the first seats in the synagogues, and greetings in the marketplace.

⁴⁴ Woe to you! For you are like graves that are not noticeable, so that men walk over them without realizing it.”

⁴⁵ Then one of the experts in the law, in response, said to him, “Teacher, in saying these things, you bring an insult against us as well.”

⁴⁶ So he said: “And woe to you experts in the law! For you weigh men down with burdens which they are not able to bear, but you yourselves do not touch the weight with even one of your fingers.¹²

1. 11:46These experts in Jewish law were not so much like the secular lawyers of today (as bad as some from that group can be), but were more like the experts in theology and religion today.(Conte)
2. 11:46Woe to you lawyers: He speaks of the doctors of the law of Moses, commonly called the scribes.(Challoner)

⁴⁷ Woe to you, who build the tombs of the prophets, while it is your fathers who killed them!¹

1. 11:47Woe to you who build, etc: Not that the building of the monuments of the prophets was in itself blameworthy, but only the intention of these unhappy men, who made use of this outward show of religion and piety, as a means to carry on their wicked designs against the prince of prophets.(Challoner)

⁴⁸ Clearly, you are testifying that you consent to the actions of your fathers, because even though they killed them, you build their sepulchers.

⁴⁹ Because of this also, the wisdom of God said: I will send to them Prophets and Apostles, and some of these they will kill or persecute,

⁵⁰ so that the blood of all the Prophets, which has been shed since the foundation of the world, may be charged against this generation:

⁵¹ from the blood of Abel, even to the blood of Zachariah, who perished between the altar and the sanctuary. So I say to you: it will be required of this generation!¹

1. 11:51The word ‘aedem’ is used more to refer to smaller shrines or temples, and so it evidently does not refer to the Temple of Jerusalem.(Conte)

⁵² Woe to you, experts in the law! For you have taken away the key of knowledge. You yourselves do not enter, and those who were entering, you would have prohibited.”

⁵³ Then, while he was saying these things to them, the Pharisees and the experts in the law began to insist strongly that he restrain his mouth about many things.