Luke 18:1-13 ▼

1 Then he told them a parable about the necessity for them to pray always without becoming weary. He said,

2 “There was a judge in a certain town who neither feared God nor respected any human being.

3 And a widow in that town used to come to him and say, ‘Render a just decision for me against my adversary.’

4 For a long time the judge was unwilling, but eventually he thought, ‘While it is true that I neither fear God nor respect any human being,

5 because this widow keeps bothering me I shall deliver a just decision for her lest she finally come and strike me.’”

6 The Lord said, “Pay attention to what the dishonest judge says.

7 Will not God then secure the rights of his chosen ones who call out to him day and night? Will he be slow to answer them?

8 I tell you, he will see to it that justice is done for them speedily. But when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”

9 He then addressed this parable to those who were convinced of their own righteousness and despised everyone else.

10 “Two people went up to the temple area to pray; one was a Pharisee and the other was a tax collector.

11 The Pharisee took up his position and spoke this prayer to himself, ‘O God, I thank you that I am not like the rest of humanity—greedy, dishonest, adulterous—or even like this tax collector.

12 I fast twice a week, and I pay tithes on my whole income.’

13 But the tax collector stood off at a distance and would not even raise his eyes to heaven but beat his breast and prayed, ‘O God, be merciful to me a sinner.’