Luke 11 :: New Living Translation (NLT)

Teaching about Prayer

(Mat 6:9–15 )

Luk 11:1Once Jesus was in a certain place praying. As he finished, one of his disciples came to him and said, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.”

Luk 11:2

Luk 11:2Jesus said, “This is how you should pray:[fn]
“Father, may your name be kept holy.
May your Kingdom come soon.

Luk 11:3

Luk 11:3Give us each day the food we need,[fn]

Luk 11:4

Luk 11:4and forgive us our sins,
as we forgive those who sin against us.
And don’t let us yield to temptation.[fn]”

Luk 11:5

Luk 11:5Then, teaching them more about prayer, he used this story: “Suppose you went to a friend’s house at midnight, wanting to borrow three loaves of bread. You say to him,

Luk 11:6

Luk 11:6‘A friend of mine has just arrived for a visit, and I have nothing for him to eat.’

Luk 11:7

Luk 11:7And suppose he calls out from his bedroom, ‘Don’t bother me. The door is locked for the night, and my family and I are all in bed. I can’t help you.’

Luk 11:8

Luk 11:8But I tell you this—though he won’t do it for friendship’s sake, if you keep knocking long enough, he will get up and give you whatever you need because of your shameless persistence.[fn]

(Mat 7:7–11 )

Luk 11:9

Luk 11:9“And so I tell you, keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you.

Luk 11:10

Luk 11:10For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened.

Luk 11:11

Luk 11:11“You fathers—if your children ask[fn] for a fish, do you give them a snake instead?

Luk 11:12

Luk 11:12Or if they ask for an egg, do you give them a scorpion? Of course not!

Luk 11:13

Luk 11:13So if you sinful people 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.”

Jesus and the Prince of Demons

(Mat 12:22–30; Mar 3:22–27 )

Luk 11:14

Luk 11:14One day Jesus cast out a demon from a man who couldn’t speak, and when the demon was gone, the man began to speak. The crowds were amazed,

Luk 11:15

Luk 11:15but some of them said, “No wonder he can cast out demons. He gets his power from Satan,[fn] the prince of demons.”

Luk 11:16

Luk 11:16Others, trying to test Jesus, demanded that he show them a miraculous sign from heaven to prove his authority.

Luk 11:17

Luk 11:17He knew their thoughts, so he said, “Any kingdom divided by civil war is doomed. A family splintered by feuding will fall apart.

Luk 11:18

Luk 11:18You say I am empowered by Satan. But if Satan is divided and fighting against himself, how can his kingdom survive?

Luk 11:19

Luk 11:19And if I am empowered by Satan, what about your own exorcists? They cast out demons, too, so they will condemn you for what you have said.

Luk 11:20

Luk 11:20But if I am casting out demons by the power of God,[fn] then the Kingdom of God has arrived among you.

Luk 11:21

Luk 11:21For when a strong man like Satan is fully armed and guards his palace, his possessions are safe—

Luk 11:22

Luk 11:22until someone even stronger attacks and overpowers him, strips him of his weapons, and carries off his belongings.

Luk 11:23

Luk 11:23“Anyone who isn’t with me opposes me, and anyone who isn’t working with me is actually working against me.

(Mat 12:43–45 )

Luk 11:24

Luk 11:24“When an evil[fn] spirit leaves a person, it goes into the desert, searching for rest. But when it finds none, it says, ‘I will return to the person I came from.’

Luk 11:25

Luk 11:25So it returns and finds that its former home is all swept and in order.

Luk 11:26

Luk 11:26Then the spirit finds seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they all enter the person and live there. And so that person is worse off than before.”

Luk 11:27

Luk 11:27As he was speaking, a woman in the crowd called out, “God bless your mother—the womb from which you came, and the breasts that nursed you!”

Luk 11:28

Luk 11:28Jesus replied, “But even more blessed are all who hear the word of God and put it into practice.”

The Sign of Jonah

(Mat 12:38–42 )

Luk 11:29

Luk 11:29As the crowd pressed in on Jesus, he said, “This evil generation keeps asking me to show them a miraculous sign. But the only sign I will give them is the sign of Jonah.

Luk 11:30

Luk 11:30What happened to him was a sign to the people of Nineveh that God had sent him. What happens to the Son of Man[fn] will be a sign to these people that he was sent by God.

Luk 11:31

Luk 11:31“The queen of Sheba[fn] will stand up against this generation on judgment day and condemn it, for she came from a distant land to hear the wisdom of Solomon. Now someone greater than Solomon is here—but you refuse to listen.

Luk 11:32

Luk 11:32The people of Nineveh will also stand up against this generation on judgment day and condemn it, for they repented of their sins at the preaching of Jonah. Now someone greater than Jonah is here—but you refuse to repent.

Receiving the Light

(Mat 6:22, 23 )

Luk 11:33

Luk 11:33“No one lights a lamp and then hides it or puts it under a basket.[fn] Instead, a lamp is placed on a stand, where its light can be seen by all who enter the house.

Luk 11:34

Luk 11:34“Your eye is a lamp that provides light for your body. When your eye is good, your whole body is filled with light. But when it is bad, your body is filled with darkness.

Luk 11:35

Luk 11:35Make sure that the light you think you have is not actually darkness.

Luk 11:36

Luk 11:36If you are filled with light, with no dark corners, then your whole life will be radiant, as though a floodlight were filling you with light.”

Jesus Criticizes the Religious Leaders

Luk 11:37

Luk 11:37As Jesus was speaking, one of the Pharisees invited him home for a meal. So he went in and took his place at the table.[fn]

Luk 11:38

Luk 11:38His host was amazed to see that he sat down to eat without first performing the hand-washing ceremony required by Jewish custom.

Luk 11:39

Luk 11:39Then the Lord said to him, “You Pharisees are so careful to clean the outside of the cup and the dish, but inside you are filthy—full of greed and wickedness!

Luk 11:40

Luk 11:40Fools! Didn’t God make the inside as well as the outside?

Luk 11:41

Luk 11:41So clean the inside by giving gifts to the poor, and you will be clean all over.

Luk 11:42

Luk 11:42“What sorrow awaits you Pharisees! For you are careful to tithe even the tiniest income from your herb gardens,[fn] but you ignore justice and the love of God. You should tithe, yes, but do not neglect the more important things.

Luk 11:43

Luk 11:43“What sorrow awaits you Pharisees! For you love to sit in the seats of honor in the synagogues and receive respectful greetings as you walk in the marketplaces.

Luk 11:44

Luk 11:44Yes, what sorrow awaits you! For you are like hidden graves in a field. People walk over them without knowing the corruption they are stepping on.”

Luk 11:45

Luk 11:45“Teacher,” said an expert in religious law, “you have insulted us, too, in what you just said.”

Luk 11:46

Luk 11:46“Yes,” said Jesus, “what sorrow also awaits you experts in religious law! For you crush people with unbearable religious demands, and you never lift a finger to ease the burden.

Luk 11:47

Luk 11:47What sorrow awaits you! For you build monuments for the prophets your own ancestors killed long ago.

Luk 11:48

Luk 11:48But in fact, you stand as witnesses who agree with what your ancestors did. They killed the prophets, and you join in their crime by building the monuments!

Luk 11:49

Luk 11:49This is what God in his wisdom said about you:[fn] ‘I will send prophets and apostles to them, but they will kill some and persecute the others.’

Luk 11:50

Luk 11:50“As a result, this generation will be held responsible for the murder of all God’s prophets from the creation of the world—

Luk 11:51

Luk 11:51from the murder of Abel to the murder of Zechariah, who was killed between the altar and the sanctuary. Yes, it will certainly be charged against this generation.

Luk 11:52

Luk 11:52“What sorrow awaits you experts in religious law! For you remove the key to knowledge from the people. You don’t enter the Kingdom yourselves, and you prevent others from entering.”

Luk 11:53

Luk 11:53As Jesus was leaving, the teachers of religious law and the Pharisees became hostile and tried to provoke him with many questions.

Luk 11:54

Luk 11:54They wanted to trap him into saying something they could use against him.