18:1 Then ¹  Jesus ²  told them a parable to show them they should always ³  pray and not lose heart. ⁴  18:2 He said, ⁵  “In a certain city ⁶  there was a judge ⁷  who neither feared God nor respected people. ⁸  18:3 There was also a widow ⁹  in that city ¹⁰  who kept coming ¹¹  to him and saying, ‘Give me justice against my adversary.’ 18:4 For ¹²  a while he refused, but later on ¹³  he said to himself, ‘Though I neither fear God nor have regard for people, ¹⁴  18:5 yet because this widow keeps on bothering me, I will give her justice, or in the end she will wear me out ¹⁵  by her unending pleas.’” ¹⁶  18:6 And the Lord said, “Listen to what the unrighteous judge says! ¹⁷  18:7 Won’t ¹⁸  God give justice to his chosen ones, who cry out ¹⁹  to him day and night? ²⁰  Will he delay ²¹  long to help them? 18:8 I tell you, he will give them justice speedily. ²²  Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith ²³  on earth?”

18:9 Jesus ²⁴  also told this parable to some who were confident that they were righteous and looked down ²⁵  on everyone else. 18:10 “Two men went up ²⁶  to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee ²⁷  and the other a tax collector. ²⁸  18:11 The Pharisee stood and prayed about himself like this: ²⁹  ‘God, I thank ³⁰  you that I am not like other people: ³¹  extortionists, ³²  unrighteous people, ³³  adulterers – or even like this tax collector. ³⁴  18:12 I fast twice ³⁵  a week; I give a tenth ³⁶  of everything I get.’ 18:13 The tax collector, however, stood ³⁷  far off and would not even look up ³⁸  to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, be merciful ³⁹  to me, sinner that I am!’ ⁴⁰  18:14 I tell you that this man went down to his home justified ⁴¹  rather than the Pharisee. ⁴²  For everyone who exalts ⁴³  himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted.”