Verse 1
He comes (pretender vain) to pray,
Yet nothing of the Lord desires:
He comes, his virtues to display,
Himself, instead of God, admires;
Or thanks him with his lips alone,
And thinks his goodness all his own.

Verse 2
His goodness in externals lies,
In negatives, and forms of good,
In freedom from disgraceful vice,
In alms by vanity bestow’d,
In fasts for sin to satisfy,
And the first seat above to buy.

Verse 3
His thanks abominably vain
The number of his sins increase,
And while he scorns the dregs of men,
His inward parts are wickedness;
And while he God his debtor makes,
All glory to himself he takes.

Verse 4
Presumption, confidence, and pride,
The prayer of Pharisees compose,
Of all who in themselves confide;
From nature their religion flows,
Nature improv’d by hellish art
To hide the demon in their heart.