The Pharisee and the Tax Collector

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,[fn] ‘God, I thank You that I am not like 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!’ 14 I tell you, this [man], rather than [the Pharisee], went home justified. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the [one who] humbles himself will be exalted.”