The Lord's Prayer
(Matthew 6:5-15)

1And it came to pass in His being in a certain place praying, when He ceased, one of His disciples said to Him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples.”

2And He said to them, “When you pray, say:

‘Father,a hallowed be Your name.

Your kingdom come.b

3Give us each day our daily bread.

4And forgive us our sins,

for also we ourselves forgive everyone indebted to us;

and lead us not into temptation.’”c

Ask, Seek, Knock
(Matthew 7:7-12)

5And He said to them, “Who among you will have a friend, and will go to him at midnight and say to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves, 6since a friend of mine is come to me off a journey, and I have nothing that I will set before him.’

7And he answering from within will say, ‘Do not cause me trouble; the door already has been shut, and my children are with me in bed; I am not able, having risen up, to give to you.’

8I say to you, even though he will not give to him, having risen up because of being his friend; yet because of his persistence, having risen, he will give him as much as he needs.

9And I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and it will be opened to you. 10For everyone asking receives; and the one seeking finds; and to the one knocking, it will be opened.

11And which father among you, if the sond will ask for a fish, and instead of a fish, will give to him a serpent? 12Or also if he will ask for an egg, will he give to him a scorpion? 13Therefore if you, being evil, know to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the Father who is in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those asking Him!”

A House Divided
(Matthew 12:22-30; Mark 3:20-27)

14And He was casting out a demon, and it was mute; and it came to pass, the demon having gone out, the mute man spoke. And the crowds marveled. 15And some of them said, “By Beelzebul the prince of the demons He casts out the demons.” 16And others, testing, were seeking from Him a sign from heaven.

17And He knowing their thoughts, said to them, “Every kingdom having been divided against itself is brought to desolation; and a house against a house falls. 18And if Satan also is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand? For you say I cast out the demons by Beelzebul. 19And if I cast out the demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your sons cast them out? On account of this, they will be your judges. 20But if I cast out the demons by the finger of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.

21When the strong man being armed might guard his house, his possessions are in peace. 22But when one stronger than he, having come upon him, shall overcome him, he takes away his complete armor in which he had trusted, and he divides his plunder.

23The one not being with Me is against Me; and the one not gathering with Me scatters.

An Unclean Spirit Returns
(Matthew 12:43-45)

24When the unclean spirit is gone out from the man, it passes through waterless places, seeking rest and not finding any. Then it says, ‘I will return to my house, from where I came out.’ 25And having come, it finds it swept and put in order. 26Then it goes and takes seven other spirits more evil than itself, and having entered, they dwell there; and the last of that man becomes worse than the first.”

True Blessedness

27And it came to pass, in His saying these things, a certain woman from the crowd, having lifted up her voice, said to Him, “Blessed is the womb having borne You, and the breasts at which You nursed.”

28And He said, “No rather, blessed are those hearing the word of God and keeping it.”

The Sign of Jonah
(Matthew 12:38-42)

29And of the crowds being pressed around together, He began to say, “This generation is an evil generation; it seeks after a sign, and no sign will be given to it, except the sign of Jonah. 30For as Jonah was a sign to the Ninevites, thus also the Son of Man will be to this generation.

31The Queen of the South will rise up in the judgment with the men of this generation and will condemn them. For she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and behold, greater than Solomon is here. 32The men of Nineveh will stand up in the judgment with this generation and will condemn it. For they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and behold, greater than Jonah is here.

The Lamp of the Body
(Matthew 6:22-24)

33But no one having lit a lamp, sets it in secret, nor under the basket, but upon the lampstand, that those entering in may see the light.

34Your eye is the lamp of your body. When your eye is clear, your whole body is also light; but when it is evil, your body is also dark. 35Therefore take heed, lest the light that is in you be darkness. 36If therefore your body is full of light, not having any part dark, it will be all light, as when the lamp shining might light you.”

Woes to Religious Leaders
(Matthew 23:1-36)

37And as He was speaking, a Pharisee asked Him that He would dine with him. And having entered, He reclined. 38And the Pharisee, having seen, marveled that He did not wash first before the dinner.

39And the Lord said to him, “Now you Pharisees, you cleanse the outside of the cup and of the dish, but your inside is full of plundering and wickedness. 40Fools! Did not the One having made the outside make the inside also? 41But give as alms the things being within, and behold, all things are clean to you.

42But woe to you Pharisees, for you pay tithes of mint and rue and every herb; and you pass by justice and the love of God. But it behooved you to do these things, and those not to neglect.

43Woe to you Pharisees, for you love the first seat in the synagogues and the greetings in the marketplaces. 44Woe to you, for you are like unmarked graves, and the men walking above have not known it.”

45And one of the lawyers answering, says to Him, “Teacher, saying these things You insult us also.”

46And He said, “Woe to you lawyers also! For you burden men with burdens heavy to bear, and you yourselves do not touch the burdens with one of your fingers. 47Woe to you, for you build the tombs of the prophets, yet your fathers killed them. 48So you are witnesses and consent to the works of your fathers; for indeed they killed them, and you build their tombs. 49Because of this also, the Wisdom of God said, ‘I will send to them prophets and apostles, and some of them they will kill and persecute,’ 50so that the blood of all the prophets having been poured out from the foundation of the world might be charged against this generation, 51from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah, the one having perished between the altar and the house. Yes, I say to you, it will be required of this generation.

52Woe to you lawyers, for you have taken away the key of knowledge. You yourselves did not enter, and you hindered those who are entering.”

53Of Him having gone forth from there, the scribes and the Pharisees began urgently to press upon Him and to make Him speak about many things, 54watching to catch Him in something out of his mouth.