Isaiah 29:13
29:13 The sovereign master says,
“These people say they are loyal to me;
they say wonderful things about me,
but they are not really loyal to me.
Their worship consists of
nothing but man-made ritual.
Luke 18:9-14
The Parable of the Pharisee and Tax Collector
18:9 Jesus also told this parable to some who were confident that they were righteous and looked down on everyone else.
18:10 “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector.
18:11 The Pharisee stood and prayed about himself like this: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people: extortionists, unrighteous people, adulterers – or even like this tax collector.
18:12 I fast twice a week; I give a tenth of everything I get.’
18:13 The tax collector, however, stood far off and would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, be merciful to me, sinner that I am!’
18:14 I tell you that this man went down to his home justified rather than the Pharisee. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted.”
Luke 18:2
18:2 He said,
“In a certain city
there was a judge
who neither feared God nor respected people.
Luke 3:5
3:5 Every valley will be filled,
and every mountain and hill will be brought low,
and the crooked will be made straight,
and the rough ways will be made smooth,