1 And so it was, that as he was praying in a certaine place, when he ceased, one of his disciples said vnto him, Lord, teache vs to pray, as Iohn also taught his disciples. 2 And he said vnto them, When ye pray, say, Our Father, which art in heauen, halowed be thy Name: Thy kingdome come: Let thy will be done, euen in earth, as it is in heauen: 3 Our dayly bread giue vs for the day: 4 And forgiue vs our sinnes: for euen we forgiue euery man that is indetted to vs: And leade vs not into temptation: but deliuer vs from euill. 5 Moreouer he said vnto them, Which of you shall haue a friende, and shall goe to him at midnight, and say vnto him, Friende, lende mee three loaues? 6 For a friende of mine is come out of the way to me, and I haue nothing to set before him: 7 And hee within shoulde answere, and say, Trouble mee not: the doore is nowe shut, and my children are with mee in bed: I can not rise and giue them to thee. 8 I say vnto you, Though he would not arise and giue him, because he is his friende, yet doubtlesse because of his importunitie, hee woulde rise, and giue him as many as he needed. 9 And I say vnto you, Aske, and it shall be giuen you: seeke, and yee shall finde: knocke, and it shalbe opened vnto you. 10 For euery one that asketh, receiueth: and he that seeketh, findeth: and to him that knocketh, it shalbe opened. 11 If a sonne shall aske bread of any of you that is a father, will he giue him a stone? or if hee aske a fish, will he for a fish giue him a serpent? 12 Or if hee aske an egge, will hee giue him a scorpion? 13 If yee then which are euill, can giue good giftes vnto your children, howe much more shall your heauenly Father giue the holy Ghost to them, that desire him? 14 Then hee cast out a deuill which was domme: and when the deuill was gone out, the domme spake, and the people wondered. 15 But some of them said, He casteth out deuils through Beelzebub the chiefe of ye deuils. 16 And others tempted him, seeking of him a signe from heauen. 17 But he knew their thoughts, and said vnto them, Euery kingdom deuided against it self, shall be desolate, and an house deuided against an house, falleth. 18 So if Satan also bee deuided against himselfe, howe shall his kingdome stande, because yee say that I cast out deuils through Beelzebub? 19 If I through Beelzebub cast out deuils, by whome doe your children cast them out? Therefore shall they be your iudges. 20 But if I by ye finger of God cast out deuils, doutles the kingdome of God is come vnto you. 21 When a strong man armed keepeth his palace, the thinges that hee possesseth, are in peace. 22 But when a stronger then hee, commeth vpon him, and ouercommeth him: hee taketh from him all his armour wherein he trusted, and deuideth his spoiles. 23 He that is not with me, is against me: and he that gathereth not with me, scattereth. 24 When the vncleane spirite is gone out of a man, he walketh through drie places, seeking rest: and when he findeth none he saieth, I wil returne vnto mine house whence I came out. 25 And when he cometh, he findeth it swept and garnished. 26 Then goeth hee, and taketh to him seuen other spirites worse then himselfe: and they enter in, and dwel there: so the last state of that man is worse then the first. 27 And it came to passe as he sayde these thinges, a certaine woman of the companie lifted vp her voyce, and sayde vnto him, Blessed is the wombe that bare thee, and the pappes which thou hast sucked. 28 But hee saide, Yea, rather blessed are they that heare the woorde of God, and keepe it. 29 And when the people were gathered thicke together, he began to say, This is a wicked generation: they seeke a signe, and there shall no signe be giuen them, but the signe of Ionas the Prophet. 30 For as Ionas was a signe to the Niniuites: so shall also the Sonne of man bee to this generation. 31 The Queene of the South shall rise in iudgement, with the men of this generation, and shall condemne them: for shee came from the vtmost partes of the earth to heare the wisedome of Salomon, and beholde, a greater then Salomon is here. 32 The men of Niniue shall rise in iudgement with this generation, and shall condemne it: for they repented at the preaching of Ionas: and beholde, a greater then Ionas is here. 33 No man when he hath lighted a candle, putteth it in a priuie place, neither vnder a bushell: but on a candlesticke, that they which come in, may see the light. 34 The light of the bodie is the eye: therefore when thine eye is single, then is thy whole bodie light: but if thine eye be euill, then thy bodie is darke. 35 Take heede therefore, that the light which is in thee, be not darkenesse. 36 If therefore thy whole body shall be light, hauing no part darke, then shall all be light, euen as when a candle doth light thee with the brightnesse. 37 And as hee spake, a certaine Pharise besought him to dine with him: and hee went in, and sate downe at table. 38 And when the Pharise saw it, he marueiled that he had not first washed before dinner. 39 And the Lord saide to him, In deede yee Pharises make cleane the outside of the cuppe, and of the platter: but the inwarde part is full of rauening and wickednesse. 40 Ye fooles, did not he that made that which is without, make that which is within also? 41 Therefore, giue almes of those thinges which you haue, and beholde, all thinges shall be cleane to you. 42 But wo be to you, Pharises: for ye tithe the mynt and the rewe, and all maner herbs, and passe ouer iudgement and the loue of God: these ought yee to haue done, and not to haue left the other vndone. 43 Wo be to you, Pharises: for ye loue the vppermost seats in the Synagogues, and greetings in the markets. 44 Wo be to you, Scribes and Pharises, hypocrites: for ye are as graues which appeare not, and the men that walke ouer them, perceiue not. 45 Then answered one of the Lawyers, and saide vnto him, Master, thus saying thou puttest vs to rebuke also. 46 And he sayde, Wo be to you also, yee Lawyers: for yee lade men with burdens grieuous to be borne, and yee your selues touche not the burdens with one of your fingers. 47 Wo be to you: for ye builde the sepulchres of the Prophetes, and your fathers killed them. 48 Truely ye beare witnesse, and allowe the deedes of your fathers: for they killed them, and yee build their sepulchres. 49 Therefore said the wisedome of God, I wil sende them Prophets and Apostles, and of them they shall slaie, and persecute away, 50 That the blood of all the Prophets, shed from the foundation of the world, may be required of this generation, 51 From the blood of Abel vnto the blood of Zacharias, which was slaine betweene the altar and the Temple: verely I say vnto you, it shall be required of this generation. 52 Wo be to you, Lawyers: for ye haue taken away the key of knowledge: ye entred not in your selues, and them that came in, ye forbade. 53 And as he sayde these things vnto them, the Scribes and Pharises began to vrge him sore, and to prouoke him to speake of many things, 54 Laying wait for him, and seeking to catche some thing of his mouth, whereby they might accuse him.
Jesus' Teaching on Prayer
(Matthew 6.9-13Matthew 7.7-11)1 One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he had finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.”
2 Jesus said to them, “When you pray, say this:
‘Father:
May your holy name be honored;
may your Kingdom come.
3 Give us day by day the food we need.
4 Forgive us our sins,
for we forgive everyone who does us wrong.
And do not bring us to hard testing.’”
5 And Jesus said to his disciples, “Suppose one of you should go to a friend's house at midnight and say, ‘Friend, let me borrow three loaves of bread. 6 A friend of mine who is on a trip has just come to my house, and I don't have any food for him!’ 7 And suppose your friend should answer from inside, ‘Don't bother me! The door is already locked, and my children and I are in bed. I can't get up and give you anything.’ 8 Well, what then? I tell you that even if he will not get up and give you the bread because you are his friend, yet he will get up and give you everything you need because you are not ashamed to keep on asking. 9 And so I say to you: Ask, and you will receive; seek, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you. 10 For those who ask will receive, and those who seek will find, and the door will be opened to anyone who knocks. 11 Would any of you who are fathers give your son a snake when he asks for fish? 12 Or would you give him a scorpion when he asks for an egg? 13 As bad as you are, you know how to give good things to your children. How much more, then, will the Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”
Jesus and Beelzebul
(Matthew 12.22-30Mark 3.20-27)14 Jesus was driving out a demon that could not talk; and when the demon went out, the man began to talk. The crowds were amazed, 15 but some of the people said, “It is Beelzebul, the chief of the demons, who gives him the power to drive them out.”
16 Others wanted to trap Jesus, so they asked him to perform a miracle to show that God approved of him. 17 But Jesus knew what they were thinking, so he said to them, “Any country that divides itself into groups which fight each other will not last very long; a family divided against itself falls apart. 18 So if Satan's kingdom has groups fighting each other, how can it last? You say that I drive out demons because Beelzebul gives me the power to do so. 19 If this is how I drive them out, how do your followers drive them out? Your own followers prove that you are wrong! 20 No, it is rather by means of God's power that I drive out demons, and this proves that the Kingdom of God has already come to you.
21 “When a strong man, with all his weapons ready, guards his own house, all his belongings are safe. 22 But when a stronger man attacks him and defeats him, he carries away all the weapons the owner was depending on and divides up what he stole.
23 “Anyone who is not for me is really against me; anyone who does not help me gather is really scattering.
The Return of the Evil Spirit
(Matthew 12.43-45)24 “When an evil spirit goes out of a person, it travels over dry country looking for a place to rest. If it can't find one, it says to itself, ‘I will go back to my house.’ 25 So it goes back and finds the house clean and all fixed up. 26 Then it goes out and brings seven other spirits even worse than itself, and they come and live there. So when it is all over, that person is in worse shape than at the beginning.”
True Happiness
27 When Jesus had said this, a woman spoke up from the crowd and said to him, “How happy is the woman who bore you and nursed you!”
28 But Jesus answered, “Rather, how happy are those who hear the word of God and obey it!”
The Demand for a Miracle
(Matthew 12.38-42)29 As the people crowded around Jesus, he went on to say, “How evil are the people of this day! They ask for a miracle, but none will be given them except the miracle of Jonah. 30 In the same way that the prophet Jonah was a sign for the people of Nineveh, so the Son of Man will be a sign for the people of this day. 31 On the Judgment Day the Queen of Sheba will stand up and accuse the people of today, because she traveled all the way from her country to listen to King Solomon's wise teaching; and there is something here, I tell you, greater than Solomon. 32 On the Judgment Day the people of Nineveh will stand up and accuse you, because they turned from their sins when they heard Jonah preach; and I assure you that there is something here greater than Jonah!
The Light of the Body
(Matthew 5.15Matthew 6.22Matthew 23)33 “No one lights a lamp and then hides it or puts it under a bowl; instead, it is put on the lampstand, so that people may see the light as they come in. 34 Your eyes are like a lamp for the body. When your eyes are sound, your whole body is full of light; but when your eyes are no good, your whole body will be in darkness. 35 Make certain, then, that the light in you is not darkness. 36 If your whole body is full of light, with no part of it in darkness, it will be bright all over, as when a lamp shines on you with its brightness.”
Jesus Accuses the Pharisees and the Teachers of the Law
(Matthew 23.1-36Mark 12.38-40)37 When Jesus finished speaking, a Pharisee invited him to eat with him; so he went in and sat down to eat. 38 The Pharisee was surprised when he noticed that Jesus had not washed before eating. 39 So the Lord said to him, “Now then, you Pharisees clean the outside of your cup and plate, but inside you are full of violence and evil. 40 Fools! Did not God, who made the outside, also make the inside? 41 But give what is in your cups and plates to the poor, and everything will be ritually clean for you.
42 “How terrible for you Pharisees! You give to God one tenth of the seasoning herbs, such as mint and rue and all the other herbs, but you neglect justice and love for God. These you should practice, without neglecting the others.
43 “How terrible for you Pharisees! You love the reserved seats in the synagogues and to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces. 44 How terrible for you! You are like unmarked graves which people walk on without knowing it.”
45 One of the teachers of the Law said to him, “Teacher, when you say this, you insult us too!”
46 Jesus answered, “How terrible also for you teachers of the Law! You put onto people's backs loads which are hard to carry, but you yourselves will not stretch out a finger to help them carry those loads. 47 How terrible for you! You make fine tombs for the prophets—the very prophets your ancestors murdered. 48 You yourselves admit, then, that you approve of what your ancestors did; they murdered the prophets, and you build their tombs. 49 For this reason the Wisdom of God said, ‘I will send them prophets and messengers; they will kill some of them and persecute others.’ 50 So the people of this time will be punished for the murder of all the prophets killed since the creation of the world, 51 from the murder of Abel to the murder of Zechariah, who was killed between the altar and the Holy Place. Yes, I tell you, the people of this time will be punished for them all!
52 “How terrible for you teachers of the Law! You have kept the key that opens the door to the house of knowledge; you yourselves will not go in, and you stop those who are trying to go in!”
53 When Jesus left that place, the teachers of the Law and the Pharisees began to criticize him bitterly and ask him questions about many things, 54 trying to lay traps for him and catch him saying something wrong.