¹⁵ “‘·Be fair in your judging [^LDo not render perverted judgment]. You must not show ·special favor [partiality] to poor people or great people, but ·be fair when you [^Lwith righteousness] judge your ·neighbor [countryman; James 2:1, 9]. ¹⁶ You must not spread ·false stories [slander] against other people, and you must not do anything that would ·put your neighbor’s life in danger [^Lstand against the blood of your neighbor]. I am the Lord.

¹⁷ “‘You must not hate your ·fellow citizen [brother] in your heart. ·If your ·neighbor [countryman] does something wrong, tell him about it [^LYou must reprove your brother], or you will be partly to blame. ¹⁸ ·Forget about the wrong things people do to you, and do not try to get even [You should not seek revenge or bear a grudge against any of your people]. Love your neighbor as you love yourself [Matt. 19:19; 22:39; Mark 12:31, 33; Luke 10:27]. I am the Lord.

The Most Important Command^(A)

³⁴ When the Pharisees learned that ·the Sadducees could not argue with Jesus’ answers to them [^LJesus had silenced the Sadducees], the Pharisees met together. ³⁵ One Pharisee, who was an expert on the law of Moses, asked Jesus this question to ·test [trap] him: ³⁶ “Teacher, which command in the law is the ·most important [greatest]?”

³⁷ Jesus answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind [Deut. 6:5].’ ³⁸ This is the first and ·most important [greatest] command. ³⁹ And the second command is like the first: ‘Love your neighbor as you love yourself [Lev. 19:18].’ ⁴⁰ All the law and the ·writings of the prophets [^Lprophets] ·depend [are based; ^Lhang] on these two commands.”

The Good Samaritan^(A)

²⁵ Then an expert on the law stood up to test Jesus, saying, “Teacher, what must I do to ·get life forever [^Linherit eternal life]?”

²⁶ Jesus said, “What is written in the law? ·What do you read there [or How do you interpret it]?”

²⁷ The man answered, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your strength, and all your mind [Deut. 6:5].” Also, “Love your neighbor as you love yourself [Lev. 19:18].”

²⁸ Jesus said to him, “Your answer is right. Do this and you will live.”

²⁹ But the man, wanting to ·show the importance of his question [or justify his question; or justify himself/his own actions], said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”

³⁰ Jesus answered, “As a man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho [^Ca dangerous 17-mile trek through desolate territory], some robbers attacked him. They tore off his clothes, beat him, and left him lying there, almost dead. ³¹ ·It happened that [or By chance] a priest was going down that road. When he saw the man, he ·walked [passed] by on the other side. ³² ·Next [^LLikewise; So too], a Levite [^CLevites were members of the tribe of Levi who helped the priests in the temple; 1 Chr. 23:24–32] came there, and ·after he went over and looked at the man [^Lseeing him], he ·walked [passed] by on the other side of the road. ³³ Then a Samaritan [^Ca people disliked by the Jews because they were only part Jewish and worshiped differently] traveling down the road came to where the hurt man was. When he saw the man, he felt ·very sorry [compassion] for him. ³⁴ The Samaritan went to him, poured olive oil and wine on his wounds [^Cto soothe and clean them], and bandaged them. Then he put the hurt man on his own ·donkey [^Lanimal] and took him to an inn where he cared for him. ³⁵ The next day, the Samaritan brought out two ·coins [^Ldenarii; ^Ceach equivalent to a day’s wage], gave them to the innkeeper, and said, ‘Take care of this man. If you spend more money on him, I will pay it back to you when I come again.’”

³⁶ Then Jesus said, “Which one of these three men do you think was a neighbor to the man who was attacked by the robbers?”

³⁷ The expert on the law answered, “The one who showed him mercy.”

Jesus said to him, “Then go and do ·what he did [the same; likewise].”

Loving Others

⁸ Do not owe ·people [^Lanyone] anything, except always owe love to each other, because the person who loves others has ·obeyed all [fulfilled] the law. ⁹ [^LFor] The law says, “You must not be guilty of adultery. You must not murder anyone. You must not steal. You must not ·want to take your neighbor’s things [covet; Ex. 20:13–15, 17; Deut. 5:17–21].” All these commands and all others are really summed up in this one ·rule [command; word]: “Love your neighbor as you love yourself [Lev. 19:18].” ¹⁰ Love never ·hurts [does wrong/evil to] a neighbor, so loving is ·obeying all [fulfilling] the law.

¹³ My brothers and sisters, God called you to ·be free [^Lfreedom], but do not use your freedom as an ·excuse to do what pleases [opportunity/occasion for] your ·sinful self [sinful nature; flesh]. [^LBut; Rather] Serve each other with love. ¹⁴ [^LFor] The whole law is ·made complete [summed up; fulfilled] in this one command: “Love your neighbor as you love yourself [Lev. 19:18].” ¹⁵ [^LBut] If you go on ·hurting each other and tearing each other apart [^Lbiting and devouring one another], be careful, or you will completely ·destroy [or consume] each other.

The Spirit and Human Nature

¹⁶ So I tell you: ·Live [Walk] ·by following [guided by; in the power of; ^Lby] the Spirit. Then you will not do what your ·sinful self [sinful nature; ^Tflesh] ·wants [desires; craves]. ¹⁷ Our ·sinful self [sinful nature; ^Tflesh] ·wants [desires] what is against the Spirit, and the Spirit ·wants [desires] what is against our ·sinful self [sinful nature; ^Tflesh]. [^LFor] The two are ·against [opposed to; or hostile toward] each other, so you cannot do just what you ·please [want]. ¹⁸ But if the Spirit is leading you, you are not under the law.

¹⁹ The ·wrong things the sinful self does [works of the flesh/sinful nature] are ·clear [evident; obvious]: ·being sexually unfaithful [sexual immorality], ·not being pure [impurity], ·taking part in sexual sins [depravity; promiscuity], ²⁰ ·worshiping gods [idolatry], ·doing witchcraft [sorcery], ·hating [hostility; antagonism], ·making trouble [discord; strife], being jealous, ·being angry [rage], ·being selfish [rivalries], ·making people angry with each other [dissensions], ·causing divisions among people [factions], ²¹ feeling envy, being drunk, ·having wild and wasteful parties [carousings; orgies], and doing other things like these. I warn you now as I warned you before: Those who do these things will not inherit God’s kingdom. ²² But the ·Spirit produces the fruit of [^Lfruit of the Spirit is] love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, ·faithfulness [or faith], ²³ gentleness, self-control. ·There is no law that says these things are wrong [or No law can oppose such things]. ²⁴ Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified ·their own sinful selves [the sinful nature; the flesh]. They have given up ·their old selfish feelings and the evil things they wanted to do [^Lits passions and desires]. ²⁵ ·We [^LIf/Since we…] ·get our new life from the Spirit [live by the Spirit], so we should ·follow [be guided by; walk in step with] the Spirit. ²⁶ We must not be ·proud [conceited] or ·make trouble with [provoke] each other or be ·jealous [envious] of each other.

Warning Against False Teaching

³ I ·asked [urged; encouraged] you to stay longer in Ephesus [^Ca major port city in the Roman province of Asia, present-day western Turkey; Acts 19] when I went into Macedonia [^Ca Roman province in present-day northern Greece] so you could ·command [charge; instruct] some people there ·to stop teaching [or not to teach] ·false things [^Ldifferent doctrine/teachings; ^Cdifferent from Paul’s Gospel, and so false]. ⁴ Tell them not to ·spend their time on [occupy themselves with; devote themselves to] ·stories that are not true [myths] and ·on long lists of names in family histories [endless/useless genealogies; Titus 3:9]. These things only bring ·arguments [controversy; or useless speculation]; they do not help God’s ·work [plan; redemptive purpose], which ·is done in [or operates by; or is received by; or is known by] faith. ⁵ The ·purpose [goal; aim] of this ·command [charge; instruction] is for people to have love, a love that comes from a pure heart and a ·good [clear] conscience and a ·true [genuine; sincere] faith. ⁶ Some people have ·missed [departed/deviated from] these things and turned to ·useless talk [empty/meaningless/foolish discussion]. ⁷ They want to be teachers of the law, but they do not understand either what they are talking about or what they ·are sure about [so confidently assert].

⁸ But we know that the law [^Cthe OT law of Moses] is good if someone uses it ·lawfully [legitimately; as God intended]. ⁹ ·We also know [or …recognizing this:] that the law is not ·made [intended; laid down] for ·good people [^Lthe just/righteous person] but for those who are ·against the law [lawbreakers; lawless] and for ·those who refuse to follow it [rebels; criminals]. It is for people who are ·against God [godless; ungodly] and are sinful, who are unholy and ·ungodly [irreverent; profane], who ·kill [or strike] their fathers and mothers, who murder, ¹⁰ who take part in sexual sins, who ·have sexual relations with people of the same sex [are practicing homosexuals], who ·sell slaves [are kidnappers/slave traders], who tell lies, who speak falsely, and ·who do anything against [or all who live contrary to] the true teaching of God. ¹¹ That teaching ·is part of [accords with; conforms to] the ·Good News [Gospel] of the blessed God that he ·gave me to tell [entrusted to me].

Thanks for God’s Mercy

¹² I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who gave me strength, because he ·trusted me [considered me trustworthy/faithful] and ·gave me this work of serving him [placed me in his service; appointed me to ministry]. ¹³ [Even though] In the past I ·spoke against Christ [^Lwas a blasphemer] and persecuted him and ·did all kinds of things to hurt him [was an arrogant/insolent/violent man; Acts 8:3]. But God showed me mercy, because I acted in ignorance and unbelief. ¹⁴ But the grace of our Lord ·was fully given [overflowed; abounded] to me, and with that grace came the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.

¹⁵ ·What I say is true [or This saying/word is trustworthy; 3:1; 4:9; 2 Tim. 2:11; Titus 3:8], and ·you should fully accept it [^Lworthy of full acceptance; ^Cwhat follows may be an early Christian hymn]: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the ·worst [^Lfirst; foremost]. ¹⁶ But [^Lfor that reason] I was given mercy so that in me, the worst of all sinners, Christ Jesus could show that he has ·unlimited [immense; perfect; ^Lall] patience. His patience with me made me an example for those who would believe in him and have ·life forever [eternal life]. ¹⁷ To the ·King who rules forever [eternal King; ^LKing of the ages], ·who will never die [immortal; incorruptible], ·who cannot be seen [invisible], the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.

¹⁸ Timothy, my child, I am giving you ·a command [this charge/instruction] that agrees with the prophecies that were given about you in the past [4:14; 6:12]. I tell you this so that ·by following [or by recalling; ^Lby] them you can fight the good fight. ¹⁹ Continue to have faith and ·do what you know is right [^La good conscience]. Some people have rejected this, and their faith has been shipwrecked. ²⁰ Hymenaeus [2 Tim. 2:17] and Alexander [2 Tim. 4:14] have done that, and I have ·given them [handed them over] to Satan so they will learn not to ·speak against God [^Lblaspheme].