Meditations on the Excellencies of the Word of God

א ALEPH

⁹ Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ¹⁰ “Speak to the children of Israel, saying: ‘If anyone of you or your ^[a]posterity is unclean because of a corpse, or is far away on a journey, he may still keep the Lord’s Passover. ¹¹ On ^(A)the fourteenth day of the second month, at twilight, they may keep it. They shall ^(B)eat it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. ^12 (C)They shall leave none of it until morning, ^(D)nor break one of its bones. ^(E)According to all the ^[b]ordinances of the Passover they shall keep it. ¹³ But the man who is clean and is not on a journey, and ceases to keep the Passover, that same person ^(F)shall be cut off from among his people, because he ^(G)did not bring the offering of the Lord at its appointed time; that man shall ^(H)bear his sin.

¹⁴ ‘And if a stranger ^[c]dwells among you, and would keep the Lord’s Passover, he must do so according to the rite of the Passover and according to its ceremony; ^(I)you shall have one ^[d]ordinance, both for the stranger and the native of the land.’ ”

The Parable of the Good Samaritan^(A)

²⁵ And behold, a certain ^[a]lawyer stood up and tested Him, saying, ^(B)“Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?”

²⁶ He said to him, “What is written in the law? What is your reading of it?”

²⁷ So he answered and said, ^(C)“ ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind,’ and ^(D)‘your neighbor as yourself.’ ”

²⁸ And He said to him, “You have answered rightly; do this and ^(E)you will live.”

²⁹ But he, wanting to ^(F)justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”

³⁰ Then Jesus answered and said: “A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among ^[b]thieves, who stripped him of his clothing, wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead. ³¹ Now by chance a certain priest came down that road. And when he saw him, ^(G)he passed by on the other side. ³² Likewise a Levite, when he arrived at the place, came and looked, and passed by on the other side. ³³ But a certain ^(H)Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was. And when he saw him, he had ^(I)compassion. ³⁴ So he went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine; and he set him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. ³⁵ On the next day, ^[c]when he departed, he took out two ^(J)denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, and said to him, ‘Take care of him; and whatever more you spend, when I come again, I will repay you.’ ³⁶ So which of these three do you think was neighbor to him who fell among the thieves?”

³⁷ And he said, “He who showed mercy on him.”

Then Jesus said to him, ^(K)“Go and do likewise.”