²⁵ An expert in Torah stood up to try and trap him by asking, “Rabbi, what should I do to obtain eternal life?” ²⁶ But Yeshua said to him, “What is written in the Torah? How do you read it?” ²⁷ He answered, “You are to love Adonai your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength and with all your understanding; and your neighbor as yourself.”^{[a] 28} “That’s the right answer,” Yeshua said. “Do this, and you will have life.”

²⁹ But he, wanting to justify himself, said to Yeshua, “And who is my ‘neighbor’?” ³⁰ Taking up the question, Yeshua said: “A man was going down from Yerushalayim to Yericho when he was attacked by robbers. They stripped him naked and beat him up, then went off, leaving him half dead. ³¹ By coincidence, a cohen was going down on that road; but when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. ³² Likewise a Levi who reached the place and saw him also passed by on the other side.

³³ “But a man from Shomron who was traveling came upon him; and when he saw him, he was moved with compassion. ³⁴ So he went up to him, put oil and wine on his wounds and bandaged them. Then he set him on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and took care of him. ³⁵ The next day, he took out two days’ wages, gave them to the innkeeper and said, ‘Look after him; and if you spend more than this, I’ll pay you back when I return.’ ³⁶ Of these three, which one seems to you to have become the ‘neighbor’ of the man who fell among robbers?” ³⁷ He answered, “The one who showed mercy toward him.” Yeshua said to him, “You go and do as he did.”

³⁸ On their way Yeshua and his talmidim came to a village where a woman named Marta welcomed him into her home. ³⁹ She had a sister called Miryam who also sat at the Lord’s feet and heard what he had to say. ⁴⁰ But Marta was busy with all the work to be done; so, going up to him, she said, “Sir, don’t you care that my sister has been leaving me to do all the work by myself?” ⁴¹ However, the Lord answered her, “Marta, Marta, you are fretting and worrying about so many things! ⁴² But there is only one thing that is essential. Miryam has chosen the right thing, and it won’t be taken away from her.”