The Pharisee and the Tax Collector

Jesus tells a parable to certain people “which trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others.” Two men go up to the temple to pray: a Pharisee and a tax collector. The Pharisee, standing, prays to himself: “God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican. I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess.” The tax collector, meanwhile, stands at a distance. He will not even lift his eyes to heaven, but beats his breast: “God be merciful to me a sinner.” Jesus concludes that this man went down to his house justified rather than the other. For “every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.”