¹¹ The Pharisee ^(A)stood and prayed thus with himself, ^(B)‘God, I thank You that I am not like other men—extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this tax collector. ¹² I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I possess.’ ¹³ And the tax collector, standing afar off, would not so much as raise his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me a sinner!’

Prayer for Safety from Enemies^(A)

To the Chief Musician. Set to ^[a]“Do Not Destroy.” A Michtam of David ^(B)when he fled from Saul into the cave.

² And he spoke before his brethren and the army of Samaria, and said, “What are these feeble Jews doing? Will they fortify themselves? Will they offer sacrifices? Will they complete it in a day? Will they revive the stones from the heaps of rubbish—stones that are burned?”

³ Now ^(A)Tobiah the Ammonite was beside him, and he said, “Whatever they build, if even a fox goes up on it, he will break down their stone wall.”

^4 (B)Hear, O our God, for we are despised; ^(C)turn their reproach on their own heads, and give them as plunder to a land of captivity!

³⁵ And ^(A)the people stood looking on. But even the ^(B)rulers with them sneered, saying, “He saved others; let Him save Himself if He is the Christ, the chosen of God.”

The Law, the Prophets, and the Kingdom

¹⁴ Now the Pharisees, ^(A)who were lovers of money, also heard all these things, and they ^[a]derided Him.