The Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector

⁹ To some who were confident of their own righteousness^(A) and looked down on everyone else,^(B) Jesus told this parable: ¹⁰ “Two men went up to the temple to pray,^(C) one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. ¹¹ The Pharisee stood by himself^(D) and prayed: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. ¹² I fast^(E) twice a week and give a tenth^(F) of all I get.’

¹⁴ “You have said, ‘It is futile^(A) to serve^(B) God. What do we gain by carrying out his requirements^(C) and going about like mourners^(D) before the Lord Almighty?

²⁹ “This is to be a lasting ordinance^(A) for you: On the tenth day of the seventh month^(B) you must deny yourselves^[a](C) and not do any work^(D)—whether native-born^(E) or a foreigner residing among you—

¹¹ When they received it, they began to grumble^(A) against the landowner. ¹² ‘These who were hired last worked only one hour,’ they said, ‘and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the work and the heat^(B) of the day.’

⁶ When Jonah’s warning reached the king of Nineveh, he rose from his throne, took off his royal robes, covered himself with sackcloth and sat down in the dust.^{(A) 7} This is the proclamation he issued in Nineveh:

⁷ I pondered them in my mind and then accused the nobles and officials. I told them, “You are charging your own people interest!”^(A) So I called together a large meeting to deal with them

²⁹ But he answered his father, ‘Look! All these years I’ve been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends.