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And he told them a parable, to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart.
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He said, "In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor regarded man;
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and there was a widow in that city who kept coming to him and saying, 'Vindicate me against my adversary.'
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For a while he refused; but afterward he said to himself, 'Though I neither fear God nor regard man,
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yet because this widow bothers me, I will vindicate her, or she will wear me out by her continual coming.'"
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And the Lord said, "Hear what the unrighteous judge says.
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And will not God vindicate his elect, who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long over them?
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I tell you, he will vindicate them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of man comes, will he find faith on earth?"
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He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and despised others:
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"Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector.
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The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, 'God, I thank thee that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector.
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I fast twice a week, I give tithes of all that I get.'
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But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, 'God, be merciful to me a sinner!'
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I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for every one who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted."