Luke 18:1-17

Luke 18

The Parable of the Persistent Widow

¹ Jesus told them a parable about the need to always pray and not lose heart: ² “There was a judge in a certain town who did not fear God and did not care about people. ³ There was a widow in that town, and she kept going to him, saying, ‘Give me justice from my adversary!’ ⁴ For some time he refused, but after a while he said to himself, ‘Even though I do not fear God or care about people, ⁵ yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will give her justice so that she will not wear me out with her endless pleading.’”

⁶ The Lord said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says. ⁷ Will not God give justice to his chosen ones, who are crying out to him day and night? Will he put off helping them? ⁸ I tell you that he will give them justice quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?”

The Pharisee and the Tax Collector

⁹ Jesus told this parable to certain people who trusted in themselves (that they were righteous) and looked down on others: ¹⁰ “Two men went up to the temple courts to pray. One was a Pharisee, and the other was a tax collector. ¹¹ The Pharisee stood and prayed about himself like this: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people, robbers, evildoers, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. ¹² I fast twice a week. I give a tenth of all my income.’

¹³ “However the tax collector stood at a distance and would not even lift his eyes up to heaven, but was beating his chest and saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’

¹⁴ “I tell you, this man went home justified rather than the other, because everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”

Jesus Loves Little Children

¹⁵ People were bringing even their babies to Jesus, so that he would touch them. When the disciples saw this, they began to rebuke them. ¹⁶ But Jesus invited them, saying, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. ¹⁷ Amen I tell you: Whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.”