Daily Reading for Personal Growth, 40 Days with God

¹⁰ “Two men went up to the temple to pray: the one a Pharisee, and the other a tax-collector. ¹¹ The Pharisee, having stood^[a], was praying these things to^[b] himself: ‘God, I thank You that I am not just-like the rest of the people— swindlers, unrighteous ones, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. ¹² I fast twice a week. I give-a-tenth-of all that I get’. ¹³ But the tax collector, standing at-a-distance, was not willing even to lift-up his eyes to heaven, but was striking his chest, saying, ‘God, be merciful^[c] to me, the sinner!’ ¹⁴ I say to you, this one went-down^[d] to his house having been declared-righteous, rather-than that one. Because everyone exalting himself will be humbled, but the one humbling himself will be exalted”.