Luke
Chapter 18: 9-17
The Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector
9To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on
everybody else, Jesus told this parable: 10"Two men went up to the temple
to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11The Pharisee stood up
and prayed about himself: 'God, I thank you that I am not like other men--robbers,
evildoers, adulterers--or even like this tax collector. 12I fast twice a week
and give a tenth of all I get.'
13"But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to
heaven, but beat his breast and said, 'God, have mercy on me, a sinner.'
14"I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified
before God. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself
will be exalted."
The Little Children and Jesus
15People were also bringing babies to Jesus to have him touch them. When the
disciples saw this, they rebuked them. 16But Jesus called the children to him
and said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the
kingdom of God belongs to such as these. 17I tell you the truth, anyone who
will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it."
