The Scribes: Which Is the First Commandment of All?^(A)

^34 (B)But when the Pharisees heard that He had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together. ³⁵ Then one of them, ^(C)a lawyer, asked Him a question, testing Him, and saying, ³⁶ “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?”

²⁹ Jesus answered him, “The ^[a]first of all the commandments is: ^(A)‘Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. ³⁰ And you shall ^(B)love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ ^[b]This is the first commandment.

³⁸ This is the first and great commandment.

³¹ And the second, like it, is this: ^(A)‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than ^(B)these.”

^40 (A)On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.”

³² So the scribe said to Him, “Well said, Teacher. You have spoken the truth, for there is one God, ^(A)and there is no other but He. ³³ And to love Him with all the heart, with all the understanding, ^[a]with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love one’s neighbor as oneself, ^(B)is more than all the whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.”

³⁴ Now when Jesus saw that he answered wisely, He said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.”

^(C)But after that no one dared question Him.