18 Then Yeshua told his talmidim a parable, in order to impress on them that they must always keep praying and not lose heart. ² “In a certain town, there was a judge who neither feared God nor respected other people. ³ There was also in that town a widow who kept coming to him and saying, ‘Give me a judgment against the man who is trying to ruin me.’ ⁴ For a long time he refused; but after awhile, he said to himself, ‘I don’t fear God, and I don’t respect other people; ⁵ but because this widow is such a nudnik, I will see to it that she gets justice — otherwise, she’ll keep coming and pestering me till she wears me out!’”

⁶ Then the Lord commented, “Notice what this corrupt judge says. ⁷ Now won’t God grant justice to his chosen people who cry out to him day and night? Is he delaying long over them? ⁸ I tell you that he will judge in their favor, and quickly! But when the Son of Man comes, will he find this trust on the earth at all?”

⁹ Also, to some who were relying on their own righteousness and looking down on everyone else, he told this parable: ¹⁰ “Two men went up to the Temple to pray, one a Parush and the other a tax-collector. ¹¹ The Parush stood and prayed to himself, ‘O God! I thank you that I am not like the rest of humanity — greedy, dishonest, immoral, or like this tax-collector! ¹² I fast twice a week, I pay tithes on my entire income, . . . ’ ¹³ But the tax-collector, standing far off, would not even raise his eyes toward heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God! Have mercy on me, sinner that I am!’ ¹⁴ I tell you, this man went down to his home right with God rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but everyone who humbles himself will be exalted.”

¹⁵ People brought him babies to touch; but when the talmidim saw the people doing this, they rebuked them. ¹⁶ However, Yeshua called the children to him and said, “Let the children come to me, and stop hindering them, because the Kingdom of God belongs to such as these. ¹⁷ Yes! I tell you that whoever does not receive the Kingdom of God like a little child will not enter it at all!”

¹⁸ One of the leaders asked him, “Good rabbi, what should I do to obtain eternal life?” ¹⁹ Yeshua said to him, “Why are you calling me good? No one is good but God! ²⁰ You know the mitzvot — ‘Don’t commit adultery, don’t murder, don’t steal, don’t give false testimony, honor your father and mother, . . .’”^{[a] 21} He replied, “I have kept all these since I was a boy.” ²² On hearing this Yeshua said to him, “There is one thing you still lack. Sell whatever you have, distribute the proceeds to the poor, and you will have riches in heaven. Then come, follow me!” ²³ But when the man heard this, he became very sad, because he was very rich.

²⁴ Yeshua looked at him and said, “How hard it is for people with wealth to enter the Kingdom of God! ²⁵ It’s easier for a camel to pass through a needle’s eye than for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of God!” ²⁶ Those who heard this asked, “Then who can be saved?” ²⁷ He said, “What is impossible humanly is possible with God.”

²⁸ Kefa said, “Look, we have left our homes and followed you.” ²⁹ Yeshua answered them, “Yes! I tell you that everyone who has left house, wife, brothers, parents or children, for the sake of the kingdom of God, ³⁰ will receive many times as much in the ‘olam hazeh, and in the ‘olam haba eternal life.”