Luke 18:1–14

¹Then Jesus told them a parable about their need to pray at all times and not lose heart: ²“In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor respected men. ³And there was a widow in that town who kept appealing to him, ‘Give me justice against my adversary.’

⁴For a while he refused, but later he said to himself, ‘Though I neither fear God nor respect men, ⁵yet because this widow keeps pestering me, I will give her justice. Otherwise, she will wear me out with her perpetual requests.’”

⁶And the Lord said, “Listen to the words of the unjust judge. ⁷Will not God bring about justice for His elect who cry out to Him day and night? Will He delay in helping them? ⁸I tell you, He will promptly carry out justice on their behalf. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on earth?”

⁹To some who trusted in their own righteousness and viewed others with contempt, He also told this parable: ¹⁰“Two men went up to the temple to pray. One was a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. ¹¹The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed,^a ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other men — swindlers, evildoers, adulterers — or even like this tax collector. ¹²I fast twice a week and pay tithes of all that I acquire.’

¹³But the tax collector stood at a distance, unwilling even to lift up his eyes to heaven. Instead, he beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner!’ ¹⁴I tell you, this man, rather than the Pharisee, went home justified. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”