Luke 18:1-14

EasyEnglish Bible

Jesus talks about how to pray

18 Then Jesus told his disciples a story. He wanted to teach them that they must go on praying always. They must not get tired. ² He said to them, ‘In a certain city, there was a judge.^[a] He was not afraid of God. He did not respect people.

³ A woman lived in that same city. Her husband had died. She came to the judge many times with a problem. “Somebody is doing bad things against me. Please keep me safe from that person,” she was saying. ⁴ For a long time, the judge would not do anything to help her. Later, he thought, “I am not afraid of God. Nor do I respect people. ⁵ But this woman causes me trouble. If I do not do anything for her, she will continue to come to me again and again. She will make me ill. So I will help her to be safe. I will say that she is right.” ’

⁶ Jesus then said, ‘This judge was not a good man. But you should think about what he said. He helped the woman because she caused him trouble. ⁷ But as for God, he always helps those that he has chosen to be his children. When they continue to ask him for help, in the day and in the night, he will answer them. He will not wait. ⁸ I tell you this. He will show that they are right. He will help them quickly. I, the Son of Man, will return to earth. But will I find many people that still believe in me then, or not?’

Jesus tells a story about two men who were praying

⁹ Jesus told a story to teach other people. These people thought that they were very good in front of God. They thought that they were much better than other people.

¹⁰ Jesus said, ‘One day, two men went into the temple to pray. One man was a Pharisee. The other man took taxes from people. ¹¹ The Pharisee stood there by himself. He prayed like this: “Thank you, God, that I am different from all these other people. They are bad people. They rob other people. They have sex with women who are not their wife. Thank you, God, that I am not like this man who takes taxes on behalf of the government. ¹² I fast for two days of each week. I give to you one tenth of all the things and money that I receive.”

¹³ But the other man stood far away. He would not even look up towards heaven. He was hitting his body with his hands to show how sorry he was. He prayed like this: “Please, God, be kind to me. I have done many bad things.” ’

¹⁴ Jesus then said, ‘Let me tell you about these men when they went home. The man that took taxes from people was now right with God. But the Pharisee was still guilty. Some people lift themselves up to be important. But God will bring all of them down low. Other people are humble. God will lift up those people to a good place.’