¹ AND it came to pass, as he was in a certain place praying, when he had done, one of his disciples said to him, Lord, teach us to pray, even as John also 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 upon earth.

³ Give us our necessary food, day by day:

⁴ and forgive us our sins, for we also forgive every one who is indebted to us. And bring us not into temptation; but deliver us from the wicked one.

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

⁶ for a friend of mine is come to me off a journey, and I have nothing to set before him.

⁷ And he from within answering, shall say, Give me no farther trouble: my door is already locked, and my children are with me in bed; I am unable to rise and give thee.

⁸ I tell you, though even he would not rise and give him because he is his friend; yet because of his importunity, roused up, he will give him as many as he needeth.

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.

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

¹¹ For what father of you, if his son ask a loaf, will he give him a stone? or if a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent?

¹² or if he ask also an egg, will he give him a scorpion?

¹³ If ye then, evil as ye are, know how to give good gifts to your children; how much more shall your Father, who is in heaven, give his 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 person spake, and the people marvelled.

¹⁵ But some of them said, He casteth out devils by Beelzebub the prince of the devils.

¹⁶ But others, tempting him, sought of him a sign from heaven.

¹⁷ But he, knowing their thoughts, said to them, Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste; and a house against a house, falleth.

¹⁸ And if Satan also be divided against himself, how shall his kingdom be established? because ye say, that I cast out devils by Beelzebub.

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

²⁰ But if with the finger of God I cast out devils, then, verily the kingdom of God is come unto you.

²¹ When a strong man, in complete armour, guards his palace, his goods are in peace.

²² But when a stronger person than he coming, vanquisheth him, he takes away his suit of armour in which he confided, and distributes the spoils.

²³ He that is not with me is against me; and he that gathereth not with me, scattereth abroad.

²⁴ When the unclean spirit goeth out of a man, he passes through places destitute of water, seeking repose; and not finding it, saith, I will go back to my habitation from whence I came out:

²⁵ and coming, he findeth it swept and furnished.

²⁶ Then goeth he, and taketh seven other spirits, more wicked than himself; and they entering in, take up their abode there: and the last state of that man is worse than the first.

²⁷ And it came to pass as he was speaking these words, a certain woman from among the multitude lift up her voice, and said unto him, Blessed is the womb that bare thee, and the breasts which thou hast sucked.

²⁸ But he said, Yea rather, blessed are they who hear the word of God and observe it.

²⁹ Then the multitudes thronging around him, he began to say, This is a wicked generation: it seeketh a sign, and no sign shall be given it, but the sign of Jonah the prophet.

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

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

³² The men of Nineveh shall rise up in judgment against this generation, and shall condemn it, for they repented on the preaching of Jonah, and, behold, a greater than Jonah is here.

³³ But no man lighting a lamp putteth it in a concealed place, or under a bushel, but on a stand, that they who are coming in, may see the light.

³⁴ The lamp of the body is the eye: when therefore thine eye is clear, thy whole body will be luminous, but if it be vitiated, thy whole body will be darkened.

³⁵ Let it be thy aim then, that the light which is in thee do not become darkness.

³⁶ If then thy whole body be illuminated, not having any dark part, it will be wholly luminous, as a lamp by its brightness diffuseth light.

³⁷ Now as he was speaking, a certain Pharisee invited him to dine with him; and going in with him, he sat down.

³⁸ But the Pharisee seeing it, marvelled, that he had not washed before dinner.

³⁹ Then said the Lord unto him, Now ye Pharisees make the outside of the cup and of the dish clean, but your inward parts are full of extortion and wickedness.

⁴⁰ Ye senseless men! did not he who made that which is without, make also that which is within?

⁴¹ But give what is within them for alms; and, lo! all will be pure unto you.

⁴² But wo to you, Pharisees, because ye tithe mint, and rue, and every herb, and pass by judgment and the love of God. These ought ye to have done, and not to have omitted the other.

⁴³ Wo unto you, Pharisees, for ye love the first seats in the synagogues, and salutations in the places of public concourse.

⁴⁴ Wo unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are as graves concealed, which men, while walking over them, see not.

⁴⁵ Then one of the doctors of the law addressing him, said, Master, thus speaking, thou reproachest us also.

⁴⁶ And he said, Wo also to you, teachers of the law! for ye load men with burdens hardly bearable, and ye yourselves touch not the burdens with one of your fingers.

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

⁴⁸ Ye do indeed bear witness to, and with pleasure concur in your fathers’ deeds; for they truly killed them, and ye build their sepulchres.

⁴⁹ Therefore also the wisdom of God hath said, I will send them prophets and apostles, and some of them they shall kill, and shall persecute:

⁵⁰ that the blood of all the prophets, which hath been shed since the foundation of the world, may be required of this generation:

⁵¹ from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zachariah, who was slain between the altar and the temple: verily I tell you, It shall be required of this generation.

⁵² Wo unto you, teachers of the law! for ye have taken away the key of knowledge; ye yourselves enter not in, and those who were entering ye have hindered.

⁵³ And as he was saying these things unto them, the scribes and Pharisees began to urge him vehemently, and to extort answers from him respecting many things;