Study Desk

It happened that while ^[a]Jesus was praying in a certain place, after He had finished, one of His disciples said to Him, "Lord, teach us to pray just as John also taught his disciples."

And He said to them, "^(a)When you pray, say: ‘^[b]Father, hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come.

‘Give us ^(b)each day our ^[c]daily bread.

‘And forgive us our sins, For we ourselves also forgive everyone who ^(c)is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation.'"

Then He said to them, "^[d]Suppose one of you has a friend, and goes to him at midnight and says to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves;

for a friend of mine has come to me from a journey, and I have nothing to set before him';

and from inside he answers and says, ‘Do not bother me; the door has already been shut and my children ^[e]and I are in bed; I cannot get up and give you anything.'

I tell you, even though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet ^(d)because of his ^[f]persistence he will get up and give him as much as he needs.

"So I say to you, ^[g](e)ask, and it will be given to you; ^[h]seek, and you will find; ^[i]knock, and it will be opened to you.

For everyone who asks, receives; and he who seeks, finds; and to him who knocks, it will be opened.

Now ^[j]suppose one of you fathers is asked by his son for a ^[k]fish; he will not give him a snake instead of a fish, will he?

Or if he is asked for an egg, he will not give him a scorpion, will he?

^(f)If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your ^[l]heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him?"

^(g)And He was casting out a demon, and it was mute; when the demon had gone out, the mute man spoke; and the crowds were amazed.

But some of them said, "He casts out demons ^(h)by ⁽ⁱ⁾Beelzebul, the ruler of the demons."

Others, ^[m]to test Him, ^(j)were demanding of Him a ^[n]sign from heaven.

^(k)But He knew their thoughts and said to them, "^[o]Any kingdom divided against itself is laid waste; and a house divided against ^[p]itself falls.

If ^(l)Satan also is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand? For you say that I cast out demons by ^(m)Beelzebul.

And if I by ⁽ⁿ⁾Beelzebul cast out demons, by whom do your sons cast them out? So they will be your judges.

But if I cast out demons by the ^(o)finger of God, then ^(p)the kingdom of God has come upon you.

When ^[q]a strong man, fully armed, guards his own house, his possessions are ^[r]undisturbed.

But when someone stronger than he attacks him and overpowers him, he takes away from him all his armor on which he had relied and distributes his plunder.

^(q)He who is not with Me is against Me; and he who does not gather with Me, scatters.

"^(r)When the unclean spirit goes out of ^[s]a man, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, and not finding any, it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.'

And when it comes, it finds it swept and put in order.

Then it goes and takes along seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they go in and live there; and the last state of that man becomes worse than the first."

While ^[t]Jesus was saying these things, one of the women in the crowd raised her voice and said to Him, "^(s)Blessed is the womb that bore You and the breasts at which You nursed."

But He said, "On the contrary, blessed are ^(t)those who hear the word of God and observe it."