Luke 18:1–43

¹ Then 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. ³ And there was a widow in that town who kept appealing to him, ‘Give me justice against my adversary.’ ⁴ For a while he refused, but later he said to himself, ‘Though I neither fear God nor respect men, ⁵ yet because this widow keeps pestering me, I will give her justice. Then she will stop wearing me out with her perpetual requests.’” ⁶ And the Lord said, “Listen to the words of the unjust judge. ⁷ Will not God bring about justice for His elect who cry out to Him day and night? Will He continue to defer their help? ⁸ I tell you, He will promptly carry out justice on their behalf. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on earth?” ⁹ To 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. ¹¹ The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed, ‘God, I thank You that I am not like the other men—swindlers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. ¹² I fast twice a week and pay tithes of all that I acquire.’ ¹³ But 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!’ ¹⁴ I 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.” ¹⁵ Now people were even bringing their babies to Jesus for Him to place His hands on them. And when the disciples saw this, they rebuked those who brought them. ¹⁶ But Jesus called the children to Him and said, “Let the little children come to Me, and do not hinder them! For the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. ¹⁷ Truly I tell you, anyone who does not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.” ¹⁸ Then a certain ruler asked Him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” ¹⁹ “Why do you call Me good?” Jesus replied. “No one is good except God alone. ²⁰ You know the commandments: ‘Do not commit adultery, do not murder, do not steal, do not bear false witness, honor your father and mother.’” ²¹ “All these I have kept from my youth,” he said. ²² On hearing this, Jesus told him, “You still lack one thing: Sell everything you own and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow Me.” ²³ But when the ruler heard this, he became very sad, because he was extremely wealthy. ²⁴ Seeing the man’s sadness, Jesus sai…