The New Commandment

⁷ Beloved, I am writing you ^(A)no new commandment, but ^(B)an old commandment ^(C)that you had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word that you have heard.

^18 (A)You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against the sons of your own people, but ^(B)you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord.

Love One Another

¹¹ For ^(A)this is the message that you have heard from the beginning, ^(B)that we should love one another.

²⁹ Jesus answered, “The most important is, ^(A)‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, ^(B)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 (C)The second is this: ^(D)‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment ^(E)greater than these.” ³² And the scribe said to him, “You are right, Teacher. You have truly said that ^(F)he is one, and ^(G)there is no other besides him. ³³ And to love him with all the heart and with all ^(H)the understanding and with all the strength, and to love one's neighbor as oneself, ^(I)is much more than all ^(J)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.” ^(K)And after that no one dared to ask him any more questions.

⁵ And now I ask you, dear lady—^(A)not as though I were writing you a new commandment, but the one we have had from the beginning—^(B)that we love one another. ⁶ And ^(C)this is love, that we walk according to his commandments; this is the commandment, just ^(D)as you have heard from the beginning, so that you should walk in it.

¹³ For you were called to freedom, brothers. ^(A)Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love ^(B)serve one another. ¹⁴ For ^(C)the whole law is fulfilled in one word: ^(D)“You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

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.

³⁷ And he said to him, ^(A)“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. ³⁸ This is the great and first commandment. ³⁹ And ^(B)a second is like it: ^(C)You shall love your neighbor as yourself. ^40 (D)On these two commandments depend ^(E)all the Law and the Prophets.”

²³ And this is his commandment, ^(A)that we believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and ^(B)love one another, ^(C)just as he has commanded us.