Being Right with God

⁹ Jesus told this ·story [parable] to some people who ·thought they were very good [were confident of their own righteousness] and ·looked down on [scorned; despised] everyone else: ¹⁰ “Two men went up to the Temple [courts] to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector [^Cdespised by their fellow Jews because they worked for the hated Romans and were notorious for extortion]. ¹¹ The Pharisee ·stood alone and prayed [or stood and prayed about himself], ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people—thieves, ·cheaters [evildoers; unrighteous people], adulterers—or even like this tax collector. ¹² I fast twice a week [^CPharisees commonly fasted on Monday and Thursday], and I ·give one-tenth of [pay tithes on] everything I get!’

¹³ “[^LBut] The tax collector, standing at a distance, would not even ·look up [^Lraise his eyes] to heaven. But he beat on his chest [^Ca sign of sorrow and remorse] and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’ ¹⁴ I tell you, when this man went home, he was ·right with God [justified], ·but the Pharisee was not [^Lrather than that (other) man]. [^LBecause] All who ·make themselves great [exalt themselves] will be made humble, but all who make themselves humble will be ·made great [exalted].”