⁴ “Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: ^5 (A)Build houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat their produce. ⁶ Take wives and have sons and daughters; take wives for your sons, and give your daughters in marriage, that they may bear sons and daughters; multiply there, and do not decrease. ⁷ But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and ^(B)pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare. ⁸ For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: ^(C)Do not let your prophets and ^(D)your diviners who are among you deceive you, and do not listen to the dreams that they dream,^[a]

The Parable of the Good Samaritan

^25 (A)And behold, a ^(B)lawyer stood up to ^(C)put him to the test, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to ^(D)inherit eternal life?” ²⁶ He said to him, “What is written in the Law? How do you read it?” ²⁷ And he answered, ^(E)“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and ^(F)your neighbor as yourself.” ²⁸ And he said to him, “You have answered correctly; ^(G)do this, and you will live.”

²⁹ But he, ^(H)desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” ³⁰ Jesus replied, “A man ^(I)was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who stripped him and beat him and departed, leaving him half dead. ³¹ Now by chance a ^(J)priest was going down that road, and when he saw him he passed by on the other side. ³² So likewise ^(K)a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. ³³ But a ^(L)Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion. ³⁴ He went to him and ^(M)bound up his wounds, pouring on ^(N)oil and wine. Then he set him on his own animal and brought him to an inn and took care of him. ³⁵ And the next day he took out two ^(O)denarii^[a] and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, ‘Take care of him, and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I come back.’ ³⁶ Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?” ³⁷ He said, “The one who showed him mercy.” And Jesus said to him, “You go, and do likewise.”