New International Reader s Version - NIrV - 1996
Luke 11
1
One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples spoke to him. "Lord," he said, "teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples."
Reference
2
Jesus said to them, "When you pray, this is what you should say. " 'Father, may your name be honored. May your kingdom come.
Reference
4
Forgive us our sins, as we also forgive everyone who sins against us. Keep us from falling into sin when we are tempted.' "
Reference
Evil
John 17:15
Parallel theme
Matthew 26:41
Colossians 3:13
Matthew 18:35
Daniel 9:19
1 Corinthians 10:13
Luke 8:13
Luke 22:46
James 2:13
Sin
Psalm 25:18
5
Then Jesus said to them, "Suppose someone has a friend. He goes to him at midnight. He says, 'Friend, lend me three loaves of bread.
6
A friend of mine on a journey has come to stay with me. I have nothing for him to eat.'
7
"Then the one inside answers, 'Don't bother me. The door is already locked. My children are with me in bed. I can't get up and give you anything.'
Reference
Resurrection
Luke 13:25
8
"I tell you, that person will not get up. And he won't give the man bread just because he is his friend. But because the man keeps on asking, he will get up. He will give him as much as he needs.
Reference
9
"So here is what I say to you. Ask, and it will be given to you. Search, and you will find. Knock, and the door will be opened to you.
Reference
10
Everyone who asks will receive. He who searches will find. And the door will be opened to the one who knocks.
Reference
11
"Fathers, suppose your son asks for a fish. Which of you will give him a snake instead?
Reference
12
Or suppose he asks for an egg. Which of you will give him a scorpion?
13
Even though you are evil, you know how to give good gifts to your children. How much more will your Father who is in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!"
Reference
Evil
Matthew 7:11
Holy
Acts 2:38
Parallel theme
John 4:10
Romans 8:32
Isaiah 49:15
Matthew 6:14
Matthew 6:30
Spirit
Proverbs 1:23
Joel 2:28
Ezekiel 36:27
14
Jesus was driving out a demon. The man who had the demon could not speak. When the demon left, the man began to speak. The crowd was amazed.
15
But some of them said, "Jesus is driving out demons by the power of Beelzebub, the prince of demons."
Reference
Evil
Matthew 9:34
17
Jesus knew what they were thinking. So he said to them, "Any kingdom that fights against itself will be destroyed. A family that is divided against itself will fall.
Reference
18
If Satan fights against himself, how can his kingdom stand? "I say this because of what you claim. You say I drive out demons by the power of Beelzebub.
Reference
Kingdom
Matthew 12:26
19
Suppose I do drive out demons with Beelzebub's help. With whose help do your followers drive them out? So then, they will be your judges.
Reference
Evil
Luke 9:49
20
But suppose I drive out demons with the help of God's powerful finger. Then God's kingdom has come to you.
Reference
22
But when someone stronger attacks, he is overpowered. The attacker takes away the armor the man had trusted in. Then he divides up what he has stolen.
Reference
23
"Anyone who is not with me is against me. Anyone who does not gather sheep with me scatters them.
Reference
24
"What happens when an evil spirit comes out of a man? It goes through dry areas looking for a place to rest. But it doesn't find it. Then it says, 'I will return to the house I left.'
Reference
Kingdom
1 Peter 5:8
Job 1:7
Job 2:2
Parallel theme
Psalm 63:1
Isaiah 48:22
Mark 5:10
Isaiah 35:7
Spirit
Ephesians 2:2
Mark 9:25
Isaiah 44:3
26
Then the evil spirit goes and takes seven other spirits more evil than itself. They go in and live there. That man is worse off than before."
Reference
27
As Jesus was saying these things, a woman in the crowd called out. She shouted, "Blessed is the mother who gave you birth and nursed you."
Reference
Blessing
Luke 1:42
29
As the crowds grew larger, Jesus spoke to them. "The people of today are evil," he said. "They ask for a miraculous sign from God. But none will be given except the sign of Jonah.
Reference
30
He was a sign from God to the people of Nineveh. In the same way, the Son of Man will be a sign from God to the people of today.
Reference
Parallel theme
Jonah 1:17
31
"The Queen of the South will stand up on judgment day with the men now living. And she will prove that they are guilty. She came from very far away to listen to Solomon's wisdom. And now one who is more important than Solomon is here.
Reference
32
"The men of Nineveh will stand up on judgment day with the people now living. And the Ninevites will prove that those people are guilty. The men of Nineveh turned away from their sins when Jonah preached to them. And now one who is more important than Jonah is here.
33
"No one lights a lamp and hides it. No one puts it under a bowl. Instead, people put a lamp on its stand. Then those who come in can see the light.
Reference
Light
John 12:46
34
"Your eye is like a lamp for your body. Suppose your eyes are good. Then your whole body also is full of light. But suppose your eyes are bad. Then your body also is full of darkness.
Reference
Light
2 Corinthians 4:4
Parallel theme
Psalm 119:18
Jeremiah 5:21
2 Corinthians 11:3
Ephesians 1:17
Isaiah 44:18
Mark 8:18
Sin
Acts 26:18
Colossians 3:22
Mark 4:12
36
"Suppose your whole body is full of light. And suppose no part of it is dark. Then your body will be completely lit up. It will be as when the light of a lamp shines on you."
Reference
37
Jesus finished speaking. Then a Pharisee invited him to eat with him. So Jesus went in and took his place at the table.
Reference
Resurrection
Luke 7:36
38
But the Pharisee noticed that Jesus did not wash before the meal. He was surprised.
Reference
Parallel theme
John 3:25
39
Then the Lord spoke to him. "You Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and dish," he said. "But inside you are full of greed and evil.
Reference
Evil
Matthew 15:19
Genesis 6:5
Jeremiah 4:14
Parallel theme
Acts 5:3
Proverbs 30:12
Matthew 7:15
James 4:8
Titus 1:15
Psalm 22:13
Proverbs 26:25
42
"How terrible it will be for you Pharisees! You give God a tenth of your garden plants, such as mint and rue. But you have forgotten to be fair and to love God. You should have practiced the last things without failing to do the first.
Reference
Judgment
Matthew 23:23
Proverbs 21:3
Love
1 John 4:20
Micah 6:8
Parallel theme
Luke 18:12
1 Samuel 15:22
References God
Malachi 3:8
Resurrection
Matthew 23:27
43
"How terrible for you Pharisees! You love the most important seats in the synagogues. You love having people greet you in the market places.
Reference
Love
Luke 20:46
44
"How terrible for you! You are like graves that are not marked. People walk over them without knowing it."
Reference
45
An authority on the law spoke to Jesus. He said, "Teacher, when you say things like that, you say bad things about us too."
Reference
Word
Jeremiah 6:10
46
Jesus replied, "How terrible for you authorities on the law! You put such heavy loads on people that they can hardly carry them. But you yourselves will not lift one finger to help them.
Reference
47
"How terrible for you! You build tombs for the prophets. It was your people of long ago who killed them.
Reference
48
So you give witness that you agree with what your people did long ago. They killed the prophets, and now you build the prophets' tombs.
Reference
49
"So God in his wisdom said, 'I will send prophets and apostles to them. They will kill some. And they will try to hurt others.'
Reference
Parallel theme
Colossians 2:3
Prophecy
Ephesians 4:11
References God
1 Corinthians 1:30
1 Corinthians 1:24
50
So the people of today will be punished. They will pay for all the prophets' blood spilled since the world began.
Reference
Blood
2 Kings 24:4
51
I mean from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah, who was killed between the altar and the temple. Yes, I tell you, the people of today will be punished for all these things.
Reference
Blood
Matthew 23:35
Hebrews 12:24
Parallel theme
1 John 3:12
Zechariah 1:1
Jeremiah 7:28
Sacrifice
Hebrews 11:4
52
"How terrible for you authorities on the law! You have taken away the key to the door of knowledge. You yourselves have not entered. And you have stood in the way of those who were entering."
Reference
53
When Jesus left there, the Pharisees and the teachers of the law strongly opposed him. They threw a lot of questions at him.
Chapter Summary
Luke 11 focuses on prayer, dependence upon God, spiritual authority, inner transformation, and the danger of religious hypocrisy, beginning with Jesus teaching His disciples how to pray and ending with a strong confrontation against religious leaders who emphasize outward appearances while neglecting justice, love, and genuine devotion to God.
The chapter begins when Jesus is praying, and one of His disciples asks Him to teach them to pray as John the Baptist had taught his disciples.
Jesus responds with what is commonly called the Lord's Prayer, teaching His followers to approach God as Father, honor His name, seek the coming of His kingdom, ask for daily provision, request forgiveness, and ask for protection from temptation.
The prayer demonstrates that genuine prayer is not primarily about using impressive words but about developing a relationship of trust, dependence, forgiveness, and submission to God's will.
Jesus then tells a story about a man who receives an unexpected visitor late at night and has no bread to offer him, so he goes to a friend's house and repeatedly asks for food.
Although the friend initially refuses because everyone is already in bed, the man eventually receives what he needs because of his persistent asking.
Jesus uses this story to encourage His disciples to ask, seek, and knock, teaching that prayer should involve confidence and persistence rather than giving up quickly when an answer does not immediately appear.
Jesus strengthens this teaching by comparing earthly fathers with God, explaining that human fathers generally know how to give good gifts to their children, so God's children can trust that the heavenly Father will give what is truly good, especially the Holy Spirit, to those who ask Him.
The chapter then moves to a confrontation over Jesus' authority.
Jesus drives out a demon from a person who is unable to speak, and when the demon leaves, the person speaks.
The crowd is amazed, but some people accuse Jesus of driving out demons by the power of Beelzebul, essentially claiming that His authority comes from Satan.
Jesus exposes the weakness of this accusation by explaining that a kingdom divided against itself cannot stand, because if Satan were fighting against his own forces, his own kingdom would collapse.
Jesus therefore makes clear that His power over demons demonstrates that God's kingdom has arrived and is confronting the power of evil.
Jesus also warns that simply removing an evil influence without replacing it with genuine devotion to God can leave a person spiritually vulnerable, illustrating the importance of inner transformation rather than merely temporary outward improvement.
A woman in the crowd then praises Jesus' mother, but Jesus redirects the focus toward those who hear God's word and obey it, emphasizing that spiritual blessing is ultimately connected not merely with physical relationships to Jesus but with faithful response to God's message.
Jesus next speaks about the sign of Jonah, explaining that the people are seeking a dramatic sign, yet the greater sign is already present in Jesus Himself.
Just as Jonah became a sign to the people of Nineveh, Jesus' presence and message provide God's decisive call to repentance.
He points to the people of Nineveh, who responded to Jonah's preaching, and to the Queen of the South, who traveled a great distance to hear Solomon's wisdom, arguing that these historical examples will stand as witnesses against people who refuse to respond even though something greater than Jonah and Solomon is now present.
Jesus then uses the image of a lamp to explain that light is meant to illuminate rather than remain hidden.
The spiritual meaning is that God's truth has been revealed openly, and people must respond by allowing that truth to illuminate their lives rather than hiding from it.
Jesus then confronts a Pharisee who is surprised that Jesus does not perform the traditional ceremonial washing before eating.
Jesus uses the situation to expose a deeper problem: the Pharisees carefully focus on outward religious practices while their inner lives remain filled with greed and wickedness.
He explains that God cares not merely about external cleanliness but about the condition of the heart, because outward religious behavior has little value when justice, generosity, and love are neglected.
Jesus pronounces a series of strong warnings against the Pharisees and experts in religious law because they place heavy burdens on other people while failing to carry those burdens themselves, seek positions of honor, and make religious life unnecessarily difficult.
He also criticizes them for building monuments to the prophets whom their ancestors killed, while their own behavior shows that they continue the same pattern of rejecting God's messengers.
The chapter concludes with the religious leaders becoming increasingly hostile toward Jesus, questioning Him aggressively and attempting to trap Him with His own words.
Luke therefore shows a growing conflict between Jesus' message of God's kingdom and a religious system that has become focused on external appearance, status, control, and legal arguments rather than mercy and genuine obedience.
Historically, these events belong to the 1st century AD, during Jesus' later ministry and His journey toward Jerusalem, probably around AD 28–30.
The references to Jonah and Nineveh reach much further into Israel's history, with Jonah traditionally associated with the 8th century BC, during the period of the Assyrian Empire, while the Queen of the South is connected with the era of Solomon, traditionally around the 10th century BC.
The reference to Solomon is especially significant because Solomon was remembered for exceptional wisdom, yet Jesus declares that someone greater than Solomon is now present, placing His own ministry within the larger story of God's revelation to Israel.
The discussion of Pharisees, scribes, ceremonial washing, tithing, and religious law reflects the complex religious environment of Second Temple Judaism in the 1st century AD, when Jewish religious leaders carefully debated how God's Law should be interpreted and practiced.
Luke 11 therefore moves from the private discipline of prayer to the public confrontation between Jesus and His opponents, showing that genuine spiritual life begins with trusting God as Father, continues through persistent prayer and dependence upon the Holy Spirit, and must ultimately produce an inward transformation that becomes visible through justice, mercy, generosity, and obedience.
Luke 11 ultimately teaches that God's people must seek Him persistently, trust His goodness, welcome His kingdom, recognize Jesus' authority over evil, respond to God's revelation, and guard against the hypocrisy of appearing spiritually righteous while neglecting the deeper matters of the heart.
The chapter begins when Jesus is praying, and one of His disciples asks Him to teach them to pray as John the Baptist had taught his disciples.
Jesus responds with what is commonly called the Lord's Prayer, teaching His followers to approach God as Father, honor His name, seek the coming of His kingdom, ask for daily provision, request forgiveness, and ask for protection from temptation.
The prayer demonstrates that genuine prayer is not primarily about using impressive words but about developing a relationship of trust, dependence, forgiveness, and submission to God's will.
Jesus then tells a story about a man who receives an unexpected visitor late at night and has no bread to offer him, so he goes to a friend's house and repeatedly asks for food.
Although the friend initially refuses because everyone is already in bed, the man eventually receives what he needs because of his persistent asking.
Jesus uses this story to encourage His disciples to ask, seek, and knock, teaching that prayer should involve confidence and persistence rather than giving up quickly when an answer does not immediately appear.
Jesus strengthens this teaching by comparing earthly fathers with God, explaining that human fathers generally know how to give good gifts to their children, so God's children can trust that the heavenly Father will give what is truly good, especially the Holy Spirit, to those who ask Him.
The chapter then moves to a confrontation over Jesus' authority.
Jesus drives out a demon from a person who is unable to speak, and when the demon leaves, the person speaks.
The crowd is amazed, but some people accuse Jesus of driving out demons by the power of Beelzebul, essentially claiming that His authority comes from Satan.
Jesus exposes the weakness of this accusation by explaining that a kingdom divided against itself cannot stand, because if Satan were fighting against his own forces, his own kingdom would collapse.
Jesus therefore makes clear that His power over demons demonstrates that God's kingdom has arrived and is confronting the power of evil.
Jesus also warns that simply removing an evil influence without replacing it with genuine devotion to God can leave a person spiritually vulnerable, illustrating the importance of inner transformation rather than merely temporary outward improvement.
A woman in the crowd then praises Jesus' mother, but Jesus redirects the focus toward those who hear God's word and obey it, emphasizing that spiritual blessing is ultimately connected not merely with physical relationships to Jesus but with faithful response to God's message.
Jesus next speaks about the sign of Jonah, explaining that the people are seeking a dramatic sign, yet the greater sign is already present in Jesus Himself.
Just as Jonah became a sign to the people of Nineveh, Jesus' presence and message provide God's decisive call to repentance.
He points to the people of Nineveh, who responded to Jonah's preaching, and to the Queen of the South, who traveled a great distance to hear Solomon's wisdom, arguing that these historical examples will stand as witnesses against people who refuse to respond even though something greater than Jonah and Solomon is now present.
Jesus then uses the image of a lamp to explain that light is meant to illuminate rather than remain hidden.
The spiritual meaning is that God's truth has been revealed openly, and people must respond by allowing that truth to illuminate their lives rather than hiding from it.
Jesus then confronts a Pharisee who is surprised that Jesus does not perform the traditional ceremonial washing before eating.
Jesus uses the situation to expose a deeper problem: the Pharisees carefully focus on outward religious practices while their inner lives remain filled with greed and wickedness.
He explains that God cares not merely about external cleanliness but about the condition of the heart, because outward religious behavior has little value when justice, generosity, and love are neglected.
Jesus pronounces a series of strong warnings against the Pharisees and experts in religious law because they place heavy burdens on other people while failing to carry those burdens themselves, seek positions of honor, and make religious life unnecessarily difficult.
He also criticizes them for building monuments to the prophets whom their ancestors killed, while their own behavior shows that they continue the same pattern of rejecting God's messengers.
The chapter concludes with the religious leaders becoming increasingly hostile toward Jesus, questioning Him aggressively and attempting to trap Him with His own words.
Luke therefore shows a growing conflict between Jesus' message of God's kingdom and a religious system that has become focused on external appearance, status, control, and legal arguments rather than mercy and genuine obedience.
Historically, these events belong to the 1st century AD, during Jesus' later ministry and His journey toward Jerusalem, probably around AD 28–30.
The references to Jonah and Nineveh reach much further into Israel's history, with Jonah traditionally associated with the 8th century BC, during the period of the Assyrian Empire, while the Queen of the South is connected with the era of Solomon, traditionally around the 10th century BC.
The reference to Solomon is especially significant because Solomon was remembered for exceptional wisdom, yet Jesus declares that someone greater than Solomon is now present, placing His own ministry within the larger story of God's revelation to Israel.
The discussion of Pharisees, scribes, ceremonial washing, tithing, and religious law reflects the complex religious environment of Second Temple Judaism in the 1st century AD, when Jewish religious leaders carefully debated how God's Law should be interpreted and practiced.
Luke 11 therefore moves from the private discipline of prayer to the public confrontation between Jesus and His opponents, showing that genuine spiritual life begins with trusting God as Father, continues through persistent prayer and dependence upon the Holy Spirit, and must ultimately produce an inward transformation that becomes visible through justice, mercy, generosity, and obedience.
Luke 11 ultimately teaches that God's people must seek Him persistently, trust His goodness, welcome His kingdom, recognize Jesus' authority over evil, respond to God's revelation, and guard against the hypocrisy of appearing spiritually righteous while neglecting the deeper matters of the heart.