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!
