⁸ “But you are not to be called ‘Rabbi,’ for you have one Teacher, and you are all brothers. ⁹ And do not call anyone on earth ‘father,’ for you have one Father,^(A) and he is in heaven. ¹⁰ Nor are you to be called instructors, for you have one Instructor, the Messiah. ¹¹ The greatest among you will be your servant.^{(B) 12} For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.^(C)

⁷ When he noticed how the guests picked the places of honor at the table,^(A) he told them this parable: ⁸ “When someone invites you to a wedding feast, do not take the place of honor, for a person more distinguished than you may have been invited. ⁹ If so, the host who invited both of you will come and say to you, ‘Give this person your seat.’ Then, humiliated, you will have to take the least important place. ¹⁰ But when you are invited, take the lowest place, so that when your host comes, he will say to you, ‘Friend, move up to a better place.’ Then you will be honored in the presence of all the other guests. ¹¹ For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”^(B)

¹⁵ He said to them, “You are the ones who justify yourselves^(A) in the eyes of others, but God knows your hearts.^(B) What people value highly is detestable in God’s sight.

The Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector

⁹ To some who were confident of their own righteousness^(A) and looked down on everyone else,^(B) Jesus told this parable: ¹⁰ “Two men went up to the temple to pray,^(C) one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. ¹¹ The Pharisee stood by himself^(D) and prayed: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. ¹² I fast^(E) twice a week and give a tenth^(F) 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^(G) and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’^(H)

¹⁴ “I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”^(I)

³⁴ Jesus replied, “The people of this age marry and are given in marriage. ³⁵ But those who are considered worthy of taking part in the age to come^(A) and in the resurrection from the dead will neither marry nor be given in marriage, ³⁶ and they can no longer die; for they are like the angels. They are God’s children,^(B) since they are children of the resurrection.