THEN HE was praying in a certain place; and when He stopped, one of His disciples said to Him, Lord, teach us to pray, [just] as John taught his disciples.
And He said to them, When you pray, say: Our Father Who is in heaven, hallowed be Your name, Your kingdom come. Your will be done [held holy and revered] on earth as it is in heaven.
'And forgive us our sins, for also we ourselves forgive every [one] being indebted to us; and do not lead us into temptation,_but_ deliver us from evil [or, the evil [one]].'"
and that [one] answering from within shall say, 'Stop causing me troubles! The door has already been shut, and my young children are with me in bed. I am not able, having gotten up, to give to you.'
"I say to you*, even if he will not give to him, having gotten up, because of him being a friend, yet because of his shameless persistence, having gotten up, he will give to him as much as he needs.
"Now which father [among] you*, [if] his son will ask [for] a loaf of bread, he will not give to him a stone, will he? Or also [if he asks for] a fish, he will not give to him a serpent instead of a fish, will he?
"If you* then being evil know [how] to be giving good gifts to your* children, how much more will the Father of heaven [fig., your* heavenly Father] give [the] Holy Spirit to the ones asking Him?"
But knowing their thoughts,_He_ said to them, "Every kingdom having been divided against itself is laid waste, and a house [divided] against a house falls.
"But when the [one] stronger than he, having come upon [him], overcomes him, he takes away his complete suit of armor in which he had relied on, and he distributes his spoils.
"When the unclean [or, defiling] spirit goes out from the person, it goes through waterless places seeking rest, and not finding [any], it says, 'I will return to my house from where I came out.'
"Then it goes and takes along seven different spirits more evil [than] itself. And having come, they dwell there, and the last [state] of that person becomes worse [than] the first."
Now it happened, while He [was] saying these [things], a certain woman from the crowd having raised [her] voice, said to Him, "Happy [is] the womb, the one having carried You, and [the] breasts [from] which You nursed!"
Now [as] the crowds gathered even more, He began to be saying, "This generation is evil. It seeks a sign, and a sign will not be given to it, except the sign of Jonah the prophet.
"[The] Queen of [the] South will be raised up in the judgment with the men of this generation and will condemn them, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon. And listen! [One] greater than Solomon [is] here!
"Men, Ninevites, will rise up in the judgment with this generation and will condemn it, because they repented at [or, because of] the proclamation of Jonah. And listen! [One] greater than Jonah [is] here! [Jonah 3:5]
"But no one having lit a lamp puts [it] in a hidden place [or, a cellar] nor under the basket,_but_ on the lamp-stand, so that the one coming in shall be seeing the light.
"The lamp of the body is the eye. Therefore, when your eye is healthy, your whole body is also full of light. But when it is bad, your body is also dark.
"So if your whole body is full of light, not having any part darkened, the whole will be full of light, like when the lamp by its brightness shall be giving you light."
Then the Lord said to him, "Now you*, the Pharisees, make the outside of the cup and of the wooden platter clean, but the inside of you* is full of violent greed and wickedness.
"_But_ how horrible it will be to you*, the Pharisees! Because you* tithe [i.e. give a tenth of] the mint and the rue [i.e. a scented herb] and every vegetable, and you* pass by [fig., overlook] the justice and the love of God. These [things] it is necessary to do, and those not to be neglecting.
"How horrible it will be to you*, the Pharisees! Because you* love the first seats [fig., most important places] in the synagogues and the greetings in the marketplaces.
"How horrible it will be to you*, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! Because you* are like the unmarked tombs, and the people walking about above do not know [it]."
But He said, "How horrible it will be to you* also, the lawyers! Because you* burden the people with hard to carry [fig., difficult] burdens, and you* yourselves do not touch the burdens with one of your* fingers.
"For this reason the wisdom of God also said, I will send to them prophets and apostles, and [some] of them they will kill, and [some] they will persecute,
so that the blood of all the prophets, the [blood] being shed from the laying of the foundation of the world, shall be charged against this generation,
from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zacharias, the one having perished between the altar and the house [of God]. Yes, I say to you*, it will be charged against this generation. [Gen 4:8; 2Chron 36:16]
"How horrible it will be to you*, the lawyers! For you took away the key of knowledge. You* yourselves did not enter, and you* hindered the ones entering in."
Now while He [was] speaking these [things] to them, the scribes and the Pharisees began to be terribly hostile towards [Him] and to be attacking Him with questions concerning many things,
laying in wait for Him, seeking to catch something out of His mouth [fig., to catch Him in something He might say], so that they should bring charges against Him.