The Good Samaritan

²⁵ Then a teacher of the law stood up. He was trying to test Jesus. He said, “Teacher, what must I do to get life forever?”

²⁶ Jesus said to him, “What is written in the law? What do you read there?”

²⁷ The man answered, “Love the Lord your God. Love him with all your heart, all your soul, all your strength, and all your mind.”^[a] Also, “You must love your neighbor as you love yourself.”^[b]

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

²⁹ But the man wanted to show that the way he was living was right. So he said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”

³⁰ To answer this question, Jesus said, “A man was going down the road from Jerusalem to Jericho. Some robbers attacked him. They tore off his clothes and beat him. Then they left him lying there, almost dead. ³¹ It happened that a Jewish priest was going down that road. When the priest saw the man, he walked by on the other side of the road. ³² Next, a Levite^[c] came there. He went over and looked at the man. Then he walked by on the other side of the road. ³³ Then a Samaritan^[d] traveling down the road came to where the hurt man was lying. He saw the man and felt very sorry for him. ³⁴ The Samaritan went to him and poured olive oil and wine^[e] on his wounds and bandaged them. He put the hurt man on his own donkey and took him to an inn. At the inn, the Samaritan took care of him. ³⁵ The next day, the Samaritan brought out two silver coins^[f] and gave them to the innkeeper. The Samaritan 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 teacher of the law answered, “The one who helped him.”

Jesus said to him, “Then go and do the same thing he did!”

The Most Important Command

²⁸ One of the teachers of the law came to Jesus. He heard Jesus arguing with the Sadducees and the Pharisees. He saw that Jesus gave good answers to their questions. So he asked Jesus, “Which of the commands is most important?”

²⁹ Jesus answered, “The most important command is this: ‘Listen, people of Israel! The Lord our God, he is the only Lord. ³⁰ Love the Lord your God. Love him with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength.’^{[a] 31} The second most important command is this: ‘Love your neighbor as you love yourself.’^[b] These two commands are the most important commands.”

³² The man answered, “That was a good answer, Teacher. You were right when you said these things. God is the only Lord, and there is no other God besides him. ³³ One must love God with all his heart, all his mind, and all his strength. And one must love his neighbor as he loves himself. These commands are more important than all the animals and sacrifices we offer to God.”

³⁴ Jesus saw that the man answered him wisely. So Jesus said to him, “You are close to the kingdom of God.” And after that, no one was brave enough to ask Jesus any more questions.

The Most Important Rule

¹² “Do for other people the same things you want them to do for you. This is the meaning of the law of Moses and the teaching of the prophets.

³⁶ The Pharisee asked, “Teacher, which command in the law is the most important?”

³⁷ Jesus answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul and mind.’^{[a] 38} This is the first and most important command. ³⁹ And the second command is like the first: ‘Love your neighbor as you love yourself.’^{[b] 40} All the law and the writings of the prophets depend on these two commands.”

Loving Others

⁸ Do not owe people anything. But you will always owe love to each other. The person who loves others has obeyed all the law. ⁹ 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.”^[a] All these commands and all others are really only one rule: “Love your neighbor as you love yourself.”^{[b] 10} Love never hurts a neighbor. So loving is obeying all the law.