Now he is not God of the dead, but of the living, ¹  for all live before him.” ² 

“Blessed ¹  be the Lord God of Israel, because he has come to help ²  and has redeemed ³  his people.

Jesus ¹  said to him, “Why do you call me good? ²  No one is good except God alone.

He ¹  will be great, ²  and will be called the Son of the Most High, ³  and the Lord God will give him the throne of his father ⁴  David.

But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life ¹  will be demanded back from ²  you, but who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’ ³ 

And if ¹  this is how God clothes the wild grass, ²  which is here ³  today and tomorrow is tossed into the fire to heat the oven, ⁴  how much more ⁵  will he clothe you, you people of little faith!

Won’t ¹  God give justice to his chosen ones, who cry out ²  to him day and night? ³  Will he delay ⁴  long to help them?

Therefore produce ¹  fruit ²  that proves your repentance, and don’t begin to say ³  to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ ⁴  For I tell you that God can raise up children for Abraham from these stones! ⁵ 

Then ¹  the experts in the law ²  and the Pharisees began to think ³  to themselves, ⁴  “Who is this man ⁵  who is uttering blasphemies? ⁶  Who can forgive sins but God alone?”

Fear ¹  seized them all, and they began to glorify ²  God, saying, “A great prophet ³  has appeared ⁴  among us!” and “God has come to help ⁵  his people!”

“Return to your home, ¹  and declare ²  what God has done for you.” ³  So ⁴  he went away, proclaiming throughout the whole town ⁵  what Jesus ⁶  had done for him.

Consider the ravens: ¹  They do not sow or reap, they have no storeroom or barn, yet God feeds ²  them. How much more valuable are you than the birds!

But ¹  Jesus ²  said to them, “You are the ones who justify yourselves in men’s eyes, ³  but God knows your hearts. For what is highly prized ⁴  among men is utterly detestable ⁵  in God’s sight.

The Pharisee stood and prayed about himself like this: ¹  ‘God, I thank ²  you that I am not like other people: ³  extortionists, ⁴  unrighteous people, ⁵  adulterers – or even like this tax collector. ⁶ 

The tax collector, however, stood ¹  far off and would not even look up ²  to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, be merciful ³  to me, sinner that I am!’ ⁴