3
In that same town there was a widow who kept coming to this judge, saying, 'Give me my rights against my enemy.'
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For a while the judge refused to help her. But afterwards, he thought to himself, 'Even though I don't respect God or care about people,
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I will see that she gets her rights. Otherwise she will continue to bother me until I am worn out.'"
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The Lord said, "Listen to what the unfair judge said.
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God will always give what is right to his people who cry to him night and day, and he will not be slow to answer them.
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I tell you, God will help his people quickly. But when the Son of Man comes again, will he find those on earth who believe in him?"
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Jesus told this story to some people who thought they were very good and looked down on everyone else:
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"A Pharisee and a tax collector both went to the Temple to pray.
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The Pharisee stood alone and prayed, 'God, I thank you that I am not like other people who steal, cheat, or take part in adultery, or even like this tax collector.
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I give up eatingn twice a week, and I give one-tenth of everything I get!'
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"The tax collector, standing at a distance, would not even look up to heaven. But he beat on his chest because he was so sad. He said, 'God, have mercy on me, a sinner.'