Love Your Enemies

^43 (A)“You have heard that it was said, ^(B)‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ ⁴⁴ But I say to you, ^(C)Love your enemies and ^(D)pray for those who persecute you, ^45 (E)so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and ^(F)sends rain on the just and on the unjust. ^46 (G)For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same?

The Great Commandment

^28 (A)And one of the scribes came up and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well, asked him, “Which commandment is the most important of all?” ²⁹ Jesus answered, “The most important is, ^(B)‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, ^(C)the Lord is one. ³⁰ And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ ^31 (D)The second is this: ^(E)‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment ^(F)greater than these.” ³² And the scribe said to him, “You are right, Teacher. You have truly said that ^(G)he is one, and ^(H)there is no other besides him. ³³ And to love him with all the heart and with all ^(I)the understanding and with all the strength, and to love one's neighbor as oneself, ^(J)is much more than all ^(K)whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.” ³⁴ And when Jesus saw that he answered wisely, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” ^(L)And after that no one dared to ask him any more questions.

Love Your Enemies

²⁷ “But I say to you who hear, ^(A)Love your enemies, ^(B)do good to those who hate you, ^28 (C)bless those who curse you, ^(D)pray for those who abuse you. ^29 (E)To one who ^(F)strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also, and from one who takes away your cloak do not withhold your tunic^[a] either. ^30 (G)Give to everyone who begs from you, and from one who takes away your goods do not demand them back. ³¹ And ^(H)as you wish that others would do to you, do so to them.

^32 (I)“If you love those who love you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. ³³ And if you do good to those who do good to you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. ³⁴ And ^(J)if you ^(K)lend to those from whom you expect to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, to get back the same amount. ³⁵ But ^(L)love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and ^(M)you will be sons of ^(N)the Most High, for ^(O)he is kind to the ungrateful and the evil. ^36 (P)Be merciful, even as ^(Q)your Father is merciful.

^34 (A)A new commandment ^(B)I give to you, ^(C)that you love one another: ^(D)just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. ^35 (E)By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

^12 (A)“This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. ^13 (B)Greater love has no one than this, ^(C)that someone lay down his life for his friends. ¹⁴ You are ^(D)my friends ^(E)if you do what I command you.

Marks of the True Christian

^9 (A)Let love be genuine. ^(B)Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. ^10 (C)Love one another with brotherly affection. ^(D)Outdo one another in showing honor. ¹¹ Do not be slothful in zeal, ^(E)be fervent in spirit,^{[a] (F)}serve the Lord. ^12 (G)Rejoice in hope, ^(H)be patient in tribulation, ^(I)be constant in prayer. ^13 (J)Contribute to the needs of the saints and ^(K)seek to show hospitality.

^14 (L)Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. ^15 (M)Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. ^16 (N)Live in harmony with one another. ^(O)Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly.^{[b] (P)}Never be wise in your own sight. ^17 (Q)Repay no one evil for evil, but ^(R)give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. ¹⁸ If possible, so far as it depends on you, ^(S)live peaceably with all. ¹⁹ Beloved, ^(T)never avenge yourselves, but leave it^[c] to the wrath of God, for it is written, ^(U)“Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” ²⁰ To the contrary, ^(V)“if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” ²¹ Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

Fulfilling the Law Through Love

^8 (A)Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for ^(B)the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. ⁹ For the commandments, ^(C)“You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,” and any other commandment, are summed up in this word: ^(D)“You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” ¹⁰ Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore ^(E)love is the fulfilling of the law.

¹⁴ I know and am persuaded in the Lord Jesus ^(A)that nothing is unclean in itself, ^(B)but it is unclean for anyone who thinks it unclean. ¹⁵ For if your brother is grieved by what you eat, ^(C)you are no longer walking in love. ^(D)By what you eat, do not destroy the one for whom Christ died.

The Way of Love

13 If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. ² And if I have ^(A)prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, ^(B)so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. ^3 (C)If I give away all I have, and ^(D)if I deliver up my body to be burned,^[a] but have not love, I gain nothing.

^4 (E)Love is patient and ^(F)kind; love ^(G)does not envy or boast; it ^(H)is not arrogant ⁵ or rude. It ^(I)does not insist on its own way; it ^(J)is not irritable or resentful;^{[b] 6} it ^(K)does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but ^(L)rejoices with the truth. ^7 (M)Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, ^(N)endures all things.

⁸ Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away.