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And it came to pass, as He was praying in a certain place, when◦ He had ceased, one of His disciples said to Him, Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples.
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And◦ He said◦ to them, When you pray, say, Our Father, who art in the heavens, hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom come; Thy will be··done◦, as in heaven, so◦ upon the earth.
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Give us our daily◦ bread according··to the day*.
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And forgive* us our sins, for◦ we also forgive everyone who is··a··debtor to us. And lead us not◦ into temptation, but deliver◦ us from evil◦*.
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And He said◦ to them, Which◦ of you shall have a friend, and shall go to him at midnight, and say◦ to him, friend, lend◦ me three loaves;
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for a friend of mine in his journey has come▫ to me, and I have not anything to set··before him.
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And··he▵ from inside, answering, shall say◦, Make▵ me not◦ labor; the door is already shut, and my little··children are with me in◦ bed; I cannot stand··up and give thee.
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I say to you, Though he will not rise and give him because he is his friend, yet▵ because of his importunity he will stand··up and give him as··many··as he needs.
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And··I◦ say to··you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and you shall find; knock, and it shall be opened to··you.
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For◦ everyone who asks receives; and he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks it shall be opened.
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And◦ if a son shall ask bread of any◦ of··you who is a father, will he give him a stone? And if he shall ask for a fish, instead··of a fish will he give him a serpent?
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Or if he shall ask an egg, will he give him a scorpion?
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If you then◦, being▵ wicked, know◦ how to give good gifts◦ to your children, how··much more◦ shall the Father who is of heaven give the Holy Spirit to them who ask Him?
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And He was casting··out a demon, and it was mute; and◦ it came··to··pass, when the demon had come··out, the mute spoke; and the crowds marveled.
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But◦ some of them said◦, He casts··out demons by◦ Beelzebub* the ruler of the demons.
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And◦ others◦, tempting Him, sought of▵ Him a sign from◦ heaven.
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But◦ He, seeing◦ their thoughts◦, said◦ to them, Every kingdom divided against◦ itself is made··desolate, and a house divided against◦ a house falls.
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And◦ if· Satan ·also be divided against himself, how shall his kingdom stand? because you say that I cast out demons by Beelzebub.
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And◦ if I by Beelzebub cast out demons, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore shall they be your judges.
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But◦ if I by the finger of God cast out demons, certainly the kingdom of God has come to you.
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When the strong one, fully··armed, guards his··own◦ dwelling, his belongings are in peace;
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but◦ when▵ a stronger than he comes··upon him and overcomes him, he takes··away◦ all· his ·armor on which he trusted, and distributes his spoils.
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He who is not with Me is against Me; and he who gathers not with Me scatters.
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When the unclean spirit has come··out of a man, he passes through waterless places seeking rest; and finding not◦, he says, I will return to◦ my house from··which I came··out;
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and when he comes, he finds it swept and adorned.
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Then he goes and takes seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and entering in, they dwell there; and the last things of that man become worse than the first.
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And◦ it came to pass as He said these things, a certain woman from the crowd, lifting··up◦ her voice, said to Him, Happy is the womb that bore Thee, and the breasts at which Thou hast nursed.
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But◦ He said, Rather, happy are they who hear the Word of God and guard it.
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And◦ when the crowds congregated, He began to say, This is a wicked generation; it seeks a sign, and a sign shall not be given to it except the sign of Jonah the prophet.
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For as Jonah was a sign to the Ninevites, so also shall the Son of Man be to this generation.
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The queen of the south shall rise up in the judgment with the men◦ of this generation, and condemn them; for she came from the uttermost··parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and behold◦, more than Solomon is here.
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The men◦ of Nineveh shall stand··up in judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it; for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and behold◦, more than Jonah is here.
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And◦ no··one having kindled a lamp puts it in a secret place, neither under a bushel, but on a lampstand, that◦ they who go··in may look··at the light◦.
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The lamp of the body is the eye; therefore when thine eye is single,* thy whole body also is illuminated; but◦ when▵ it is evil◦, thy body also is dark;
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take heed, therefore, that the light that is in thee be not darkness.
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If then thy whole body be illuminated, having no part dark, the whole shall be illuminated as when a lamp by its bright··shining gives· thee ·light.
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And◦ as He spoke, a certain Pharisee besought Him to dine with him; and◦ He went in, and reclined▵.
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But◦ the Pharisee, seeing◦, marveled that He had not first washed··thoroughly before dinner.
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And◦ the Lord said◦ to him, Now do you Pharisees make··clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but◦ your inside is··filled◦ with extortion and wickedness.
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Senseless ones! Did not He who made that which is outside make that which is inside also?
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Nevertheless give the things that are··within for alms, and behold◦, all things are clean to you.
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But woe to··you, Pharisees, because you tithe mint and rue and every herb, and pass··by the judgment and the love of God; these··things you ought to have done, and not◦ to have left those··also undone.
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Woe to··you, Pharisees, because you love the first··seats in the synagogues, and greetings in the markets.
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Woe to··you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are as sepulchers that appear not, and the men who walk over them and know◦ not.
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And◦ one of the lawyers answering said to Him, Teacher, in saying these··things Thou insultest us also.
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But◦ He said◦, Woe to··you, lawyers, also, because you burden men with burdens difficult··to··bear, and you yourselves touch not the burdens with one of your fingers.
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Woe to··you because you build the sepulchers of the prophets, and◦ your fathers killed them.
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Then you bear witness to and have good··pleasure in the works of your fathers, for they indeed killed them, and◦ you build their sepulchers.
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By this also the wisdom of God said, I will send··out to them prophets and apostles, and some of them they shall kill and persecute,
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that◦ the blood of all the prophets poured··out from the founding of the world may be required of this generation,
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from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah, who perished between the altar and the house*. Yes, I say to you, it shall be required of this generation.
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Woe to··you, lawyers, because you have taken··away◦ the key of knowledge; you entered not in yourselves, and those who were entering in you have forbidden.
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And◦ as He said these things to them, the scribes and the Pharisees began to urge Him frightfully, and to provoke Him to speak of many things,
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lying in wait for Him, and seeking to catch◦ something out of His mouth that they might accuse Him.
