The Lord's Prayer

(Matthew 6:5-15)

1And it came to pass, in his being in a certain place praying, as he ceased, a certain one of his disciples said unto him, ‘Sir, teach us to pray, as also John taught his disciples.’

2And he said to them, ‘When ye may pray, say ye: Our Father who art in the heavens; hallowed be Thy name: Thy reign come; Thy will come to pass, as in heaven also on earth;

3our appointed bread be giving us daily;

4and forgive us our sins, for also we ourselves forgive every one indebted to us; and mayest Thou not bring us into temptation; but do Thou deliver us from the evil.’

Ask, Seek, Knock

(Matthew 7:7-12)

5And he said unto them, ‘Who of you shall have a friend, and shall go on unto him at midnight, and may say to him, Friend, lend me three loaves, 6seeing a friend of mine came out of the way unto me, and I have not what I shall set before him, 7and he from within answering may say, Do not give me trouble, already the door hath been shut, and my children with me are in the bed, I am not able, having risen, to give to thee. 8‘I say to you, even if he will not give to him, having risen, because of his being his friend, yet because of his importunity, having risen, he will give him as many as he doth need;

9and I say to you, Ask, and it shall be given to you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened to you; 10for every one who is asking doth receive; and he who is seeking doth find; and to him who is knocking it shall be opened. 11‘And of which of you — the father — if the son shall ask a loaf, a stone will he present to him? and if a fish, will he instead of a fish, a serpent present to him? 12and if he may ask an egg, will he present to him a scorpion? 13If, then, ye, being evil, have known good gifts to be giving to your children, how much more shall the Father who is from heaven give the Holy Spirit to those asking Him!’

A House Divided

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

14And he was casting forth a demon, and it was dumb, and it came to pass, the demon having gone forth, the dumb man spake, and the multitudes wondered, 15and certain of them said, ‘By Beelzeboul, ruler of the demons, he doth cast forth the demons;’ 16and others, tempting, a sign out of heaven from him were asking. 17And he, knowing their thoughts, said to them, ‘Every kingdom having been divided against itself is desolated; and house against house doth fall; 18and if also the Adversary against himself was divided, how shall his kingdom be made to stand? for ye say, by Beelzeboul is my casting forth the demons. 19‘But if I by Beelzeboul cast forth the demons — your sons, by whom do they cast forth? because of this your judges they shall be; 20but if by the finger of God I cast forth the demons, then come unawares upon you did the reign of God. 21‘When the strong man armed may keep his hall, in peace are his goods; 22but when the stronger than he, having come upon [him], may overcome him, his whole-armour he doth take away in which he had trusted, and his spoils he distributeth; 23he who is not with me is against me, and he who is not gathering with me doth scatter.

Return of an Unclean Spirit

(Matthew 12:43-45)

24‘When the unclean spirit may go forth from the man it walketh through waterless places seeking rest, and not finding, it saith, I will turn back to my house whence I came forth; 25and having come, it findeth [it] swept and adorned; 26then doth it go, and take to it seven other spirits more evil than itself, and having entered, they dwell there, and the last of that man becometh worst than the first.’

True Blessedness

27And it came to pass, in his saying these things, a certain woman having lifted up the voice out of the multitude, said to him, ‘Happy the womb that carried thee, and the paps that thou didst suck!’ 28And he said, ‘Yea, rather, happy those hearing the word of God, and keeping [it]!’

The Sign of Jonah

(Matthew 12:38-42)

29And the multitudes crowding together upon him, he began to say, ‘This generation is evil, a sign it doth seek after, and a sign shall not be given to it, except the sign of Jonah the prophet, 30for as Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites, so also shall the Son of Man be to this generation. 31‘A queen of the south shall rise up in the judgment with the men of this generation, and shall condemn them, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and lo, greater than Solomon here! 32‘Men of Nineveh shall stand up in the judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it, because they reformed at the proclamation of Jonah; and lo, greater than Jonah here!

The Lamp of the Body

(Matthew 6:22-24)

33‘And no one having lighted a lamp, doth put [it] in a secret place, nor under the measure, but on the lamp-stand, that those coming in may behold the light. 34‘The lamp of the body is the eye, when then thine eye may be simple, thy whole body also is lightened; and when it may be evil, thy body also is darkened; 35take heed, then, lest the light that [is] in thee be darkness; 36if then thy whole body is lightened, not having any part darkened, the whole shall be lightened, as when the lamp by the brightness may give thee light.’

Woes to Pharisees and Experts in Law

(Matthew 23:1-36)

37And in [his] speaking, a certain Pharisee was asking him that he might dine with him, and having gone in, he reclined (at meat), 38and the Pharisee having seen, did wonder that he did not first baptize himself before the dinner. 39And the Lord said unto him, ‘Now do ye, the Pharisees, the outside of the cup and of the plate make clean, but your inward part is full of rapine and wickedness; 40unthinking! did not He who made the outside also the inside make? 41But what ye have give ye [as] alms, and, lo, all things are clean to you.

42‘But wo to you, the Pharisees, because ye tithe the mint, and the rue, and every herb, and ye pass by the judgment, and the love of God; these things it behoveth to do, and those not to be neglecting. 43‘Wo to you, the Pharisees, because ye love the first seats in the synagogues, and the salutations in the market-places. 44‘Wo to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because ye are as the unseen tombs, and the men walking above have not known.’

45And one of the lawyers answering, saith to him, ‘Teacher, these things saying, us also thou dost insult;’ 46and he said, ‘And to you, the lawyers, wo! because ye burden men with burdens grievous to be borne, and ye yourselves with one of your fingers do not touch the burdens. 47‘Wo to you, because ye build the tombs of the prophets, and your fathers killed them. 48Then do ye testify, and are well pleased with the works of your fathers, because they indeed killed them, and ye do 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 shall kill and persecute, 50that the blood of all the prophets, that is being poured forth from the foundation of the world, may be required from this generation; 51from the blood of Abel unto the blood of Zacharias, who perished between the altar and the house; yes, I say to you, It shall be required from this generation. 52‘Wo to you, the lawyers, because ye took away the key of the knowledge; yourselves ye did not enter; and those coming in, ye did hinder.’

53And in his speaking these things unto them, the scribes and the Pharisees began fearfully to urge and to press him to speak about many things, 54laying wait for him, and seeking to catch something out of his mouth, that they might accuse him.