The Holy Bible

[10:17] The seventy-two men came back in great joy. “Lord,” they said, “even the demons obeyed us when we gave them a command in your name!”

[10:18] Jesus answered them, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.

[10:19] Listen! I have given you authority, so that you can walk on snakes and scorpions and overcome all the power of the Enemy, and nothing will hurt you.

[10:20] But don't be glad because the evil spirits obey you; rather be glad because your names are written in heaven.”

[10:21] At that time Jesus was filled with joy by the Holy Spirit and said, “Father, Lord of heaven and earth! I thank you because you have shown to the unlearned what you have hidden from the wise and learned. Yes, Father, this was how you were pleased to have it happen.

[10:22] “My Father has given me all things. No one knows who the Son is except the Father, and no one knows who the Father is except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.”

[10:23] Then Jesus turned to the disciples and said to them privately, “How fortunate you are to see the things you see!

[10:24] I tell you that many prophets and kings wanted to see what you see, but they could not, and to hear what you hear, but they did not.”

[10:25] A teacher of the Law came up and tried to trap Jesus. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to receive eternal life?”

[10:26] Jesus answered him, “What do the Scriptures say? How do you interpret them?”

[10:27] The man answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind’; and ‘Love your neighbor as you love yourself.’”

[10:28] “You are right,” Jesus replied; “do this and you will live.”

[10:29] But the teacher of the Law wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, “Who is my neighbor?”

[10:30] Jesus answered, “There was once a man who was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho when robbers attacked him, stripped him, and beat him up, leaving him half dead.

[10:31] It so happened that a priest was going down that road; but when he saw the man, he walked on by on the other side.

[10:32] In the same way a Levite also came there, went over and looked at the man, and then walked on by on the other side.

[10:33] But a Samaritan who was traveling that way came upon the man, and when he saw him, his heart was filled with pity.

[10:34] He went over to him, poured oil and wine on his wounds and bandaged them; then he put the man on his own animal and took him to an inn, where he took care of him.

[10:35] The next day he took out two silver coins and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Take care of him,’ he told the innkeeper, ‘and when I come back this way, I will pay you whatever else you spend on him.’”

[10:36] And Jesus concluded, “In your opinion, which one of these three acted like a neighbor toward the man attacked by the robbers?”

[10:37] The teacher of the Law answered, “The one who was kind to him.” Jesus replied, “You go, then, and do the same.”

[10:38] As Jesus and his disciples went on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha welcomed him in her home.

[10:39] She had a sister named Mary, who sat down at the feet of the Lord and listened to his teaching.

[10:40] Martha was upset over all the work she had to do, so she came and said, “Lord, don't you care that my sister has left me to do all the work by myself? Tell her to come and help me!”

[10:41] The Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha! You are worried and troubled over so many things,

[10:42] but just one is needed. Mary has chosen the right thing, and it will not be taken away from her.”

[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.”

[11:2] Jesus said to them, “When you pray, say this: ‘Father: May your holy name be honored; may your Kingdom come.

[11:3] Give us day by day the food we need.

[11:4] Forgive us our sins, for we forgive everyone who does us wrong. And do not bring us to hard testing.’”

[11:5] 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.

[11:6] A friend of mine who is on a trip has just come to my house, and I don't have any food for him!’

[11:7] 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.’

[11:8] 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.

[11:9] 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.

[11:10] For those who ask will receive, and those who seek will find, and the door will be opened to anyone who knocks.

[11:11] Would any of you who are fathers give your son a snake when he asks for fish?

[11:12] Or would you give him a scorpion when he asks for an egg?

[11:13] 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!”

[11:14] 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,

[11:15] but some of the people said, “It is Beelzebul, the chief of the demons, who gives him the power to drive them out.”

[11:16] Others wanted to trap Jesus, so they asked him to perform a miracle to show that God approved of him.

[11:17] 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.

[11:18] 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.

[11:19] If this is how I drive them out, how do your followers drive them out? Your own followers prove that you are wrong!

[11:20] 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.

[11:21] “When a strong man, with all his weapons ready, guards his own house, all his belongings are safe.

[11:22] 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.

[11:23] “Anyone who is not for me is really against me; anyone who does not help me gather is really scattering.

[11:24] “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.’

[11:25] So it goes back and finds the house clean and all fixed up.

[11:26] 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.”

[11:27] 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!”

[11:28] But Jesus answered, “Rather, how happy are those who hear the word of God and obey it!”

[11:29] 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.

[11:30] 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.

[11:31] 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.

[11:32] 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!

[11:33] “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.

[11:34] 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.

[11:35] Make certain, then, that the light in you is not darkness.

[11:36] 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.”