Luqas (Luke) — 11
Teaching about Prayer
1 Then 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤔𐤏_YAHUSHA was in a certain place praying. As He finished, one of His Talmidym came to Him and said, “Master, teach us to pray, just as Yahukanun taught his followers.”
2 Then 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤔𐤏_YAHUSHA said, “This is how you should pray: “ABBA, may your Name be kept Qadash, May your Kingdom come soon.
3 Give us each day the food we need,
4 And forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us. And do not let us yield to temptation.”
5 Then, teaching the Talmidym more about prayer, 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤔𐤏_YAHUSHA used this story: “Suppose you went to a friend’s house at midnight, wanting to borrow three loaves of bread, you say to him,
6 ‘A friend of mine has just arrived for a visit, and I have nothing for him to eat.’
7 And he answered out from his bedroom, ‘Do not bother me. The door is locked for the night, and my family and I are all in bed. I cannot help you.’
8 But I tell you this, though he will not do it for friendship’s sake, if you keep knocking long enough, he will get up and give you whatever you need because of your shameless persistence.
9 “And so I tell you, keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you.
10 For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened.
11 “You fathers if your children ask for a fish, do you give them a snake instead?
12 Or if they ask for an egg, do you give them a scorpion? Of course not!
13 So if you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your ABBA in Shamaym give the RUACH Ha'Qadash to those who ask him.”
YAHUSHA and the Prince of Demons
14 One day 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤔𐤏_YAHUSHA cast out a demon from a man who could not speak, and when the demon was gone, the man began to speak. The crowds were amazed,
15 But some of them said, “No wonder He can cast out demons. He gets his power from ha'shatan, the prince of demons.”
16 Others, trying to test 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤔𐤏_YAHUSHA, demanded that He show them a miraculous sign from Shamaym to prove His authority.
17 But 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤔𐤏_YAHUSHA knew their thoughts, so He said, “Any kingdom divided by civil war is doomed. A family splintered by feuding will fall apart.
18 You say I am empowered by ha'shatan. But if ha'shatan is divided and fighting against himself, how can his kingdom survive?
19 And if I am empowered by ha'shatan, what about your own exorcists? They cast out demons, too, so they will condemn you for what you have said.
20 But if I am casting out demons by the power of 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄_YAHUAH, then the Kingdom of 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄_YAHUAH has arrived among you.
21 For when a strong man like ha'shatan is fully armed and guards his palace, his possessions are safe
22 Until someone even stronger attacks and overpowers him, strips him of his weapons, and carries off his belongings.
23 “Anyone who is not with me opposes me, and anyone who is not working with me is actually working against me.
24 “When an evil spirit leaves a person, it goes into the desert, searching for rest. But when it finds none, it says, ‘I will return to the person I came from.’
25 So it returns and finds that its former home is all swept and in order.
26 Then the spirit finds seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they all enter the person and live there. And so that person is worse off than before.”
27 As 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤔𐤏_YAHUSHA was speaking, a woman in the crowd called out, “𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄_YAHUAH Barak your mother, the womb from which you came, and the breasts that nursed you!”
28 And 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤔𐤏_YAHUSHA replied, “But even more baraked are all who hear the Dabar of 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄_YAHUAH and put it into practice.”
The Sign of Yunah
29 As the crowd pressed in on, 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤔𐤏_YAHUSHA said to them, “This evil generation keeps asking me to show them a miraculous sign. But the only sign I will give them is the sign of Yunah.
30 What happened to him was a sign to the people of Ninabah that 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄_YAHUAH had sent him. What happens to the Son of Adam will be a sign to these people that He was sent by 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄_YAHUAH.
31 “The queen of Shyba will stand up against this generation on judgment day and condemn it, for she came from a distant land to hear the wisdom of Shalumah. Now someone greater than Shalumah is here, but you refuse to listen.
32 The people of Ninabah will also stand up against this generation on judgment day and condemn it, for they repented of their sins at the preaching of Yunah. Now someone greater than Yunah is here teaching you, but you refuse to repent.
Receiving the Light
33 “No one lights a lamp and then hides it or puts it under a basket. Instead, a lamp is placed on a stand, where its light can be seen by all who enter the house.
34 “Your eye is a lamp that provides light for your body. When your eye is good, your whole body is filled with light. But when it is bad, your body is filled with darkness.
35 Make sure that the light you think you have is not actually darkness.
36 If you are filled with light, with no dark corners, then your whole life will be radiant, as though a floodlight were filling you with light.”
YAHUSHA Criticizes the Religious Leaders
37 As 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤔𐤏_YAHUSHA was speaking, one of the Pharisees invited Him home for a meal. So 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤔𐤏_YAHUSHA went in and took His place at the table.
38 For 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤔𐤏_YAHUSHA‘s host was amazed to see that He sat down to eat without first performing the hand washing ceremony required by Yahudym custom.
39 Then 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤔𐤏_YAHUSHA said to him, “You Pharisees are so careful to clean the outside of the cup and the dish, but inside you are filthy full of greed and wickedness!
40 Fools! For 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄_YAHUAH made the inside as well as the outside?
41 So clean the inside by giving gifts to the poor, and you will be clean all over.
42 “What sorrow awaits you Pharisees! For you are careful to tithe even the tiniest income from your herb gardens, but you ignore justice and the Ahaba (love) of 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄_YAHUAH. You should tithe, yes, but do not neglect the more important things.
43 “What sorrow awaits you Pharisees! For you love to sit in the seats of honor in the congregation and receive respectful greetings as you walk in the marketplaces.
44 Yes, what sorrow awaits you! For you are like hidden graves in a field. People walk over them without knowing the trap they are stepping on.”
45 “An expert in religious law said to 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤔𐤏_YAHUSHA, teacher “you have insulted us, in what you just said.”
46 And 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤔𐤏_YAHUSHA said, “Yes what sorrow also awaits you experts in religious law! For you crush people with unbearable religious demands, and you never lift a finger to ease the burden.
47 What sorrow awaits you! For you build monuments for the Nabyms your own ancestors killed long ago.
48 But in fact, you stand as witnesses who agree with what your ancestors did. They killed the Nabyms, and you join in their crime by building the monuments!
49 This is what 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄_YAHUAH in his wisdom said about you: ‘I will send Nabyms and Shaliach to them, but they will kill some and persecute the others.’
50 “As a result, this generation will be held responsible for the murder of all 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄_YAHUAH’s Nabyms from the creation of the world
51 from the murder of Abal to the murder of Zacharyahu, who was killed between the altar and the sanctuary. Yes, it will certainly be charged against this generation.
52 “What sorrow awaits you experts in religious law! For you remove the key to knowledge from the people. You do not enter the Kingdom yourselves, and you prevent others from entering.”
53 As 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤔𐤏_YAHUSHA was leaving, the teachers of religious law and the Pharisees became hostile and tried to provoke Him with many questions.
54 They wanted to trap 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤔𐤏_YAHUSHA into saying something they could use against Him.