Luke 18:1-17

English Standard Version

The Parable of the Persistent Widow

18 And he told them a parable to the effect that they ought ^(A)always to pray and not ^(B)lose heart. ²He said, “In a certain city there was a judge who ^(C)neither feared God nor respected man. ³And there was a widow in that city who kept coming to him and saying, ‘Give me justice against my adversary.’ ⁴For a while he refused, but afterward he said to himself, ^(D)‘Though I neither fear God nor respect man, ⁵yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will give her justice, so that she will not beat me down by her continual coming.’” ⁶And the Lord said, “Hear what the unrighteous judge says. ⁷And ^(E)will not God give justice to ^(F)his elect, ^(G)who cry to him day and night? ^(H)^(I)Will he delay long over them? ⁸I tell you, he will give justice to them ^(J)speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, ^(K)will he find faith on earth?”

The Pharisee and the Tax Collector

⁹He also told this parable to some ^(L)who trusted ^(M)in themselves that they were righteous, ^(N)and treated others with contempt: ¹⁰“Two men ^(O)went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. ¹¹The Pharisee, ^(P)standing by himself, prayed^[a] ^(Q)thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. ¹²^(R)I fast twice a week; ^(S)I give tithes of all that I get.’ ¹³But the tax collector, ^(T)standing far off, ^(U)would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but ^(V)beat his breast, saying, ‘God, ^(W)be merciful to me, a sinner!’ ¹⁴I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For ^(X)everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”

Let the Children Come to Me

¹⁵^(Y)Now they were bringing even infants to him that he might touch them. And when the disciples saw it, they ^(Z)rebuked them. ¹⁶But Jesus called them to him, saying, ^(AA)“Let the children come to me, and ^(AB)do not hinder them, ^(AC)for to such belongs the kingdom of God. ¹⁷^(AD)Truly, I say to you, whoever does not ^(AE)receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.”