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29 But the man, wanting to show the importance of his question, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”

30 Jesus answered, “As a man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, some robbers attacked him. They tore off his clothes, beat him, and left him lying there, almost dead. 31 It happened that a priest was going down that road. When he saw the man, he walked by on the other side. 32 Next, a Levite[a] came there, and after he went over and looked at the man, he walked by on the other side of the road. 33 Then a Samaritan[b] traveling down the road came to where the hurt man was. When he saw the man, he felt very sorry for him. 34 The Samaritan went to him, poured olive oil and wine[c] on his wounds, and bandaged them. Then he put the hurt man on his own donkey and took him to an inn where he cared for him. 35 The next day, the Samaritan brought out two coins,[d] 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.”

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Footnotes

  1. 10:32 Levite Levites were members of the tribe of Levi who helped the Jewish priests with their work in the Temple. Read 1 Chronicles 23:24–32.
  2. 10:33 Samaritan Samaritans were people from Samaria. These people were part Jewish, but the Jews did not accept them as true Jews. Samaritans and Jews disliked each other.
  3. 10:34 olive oil and wine Oil and wine were used like medicine to soften and clean wounds.
  4. 10:35 coins Roman denarii. One coin was the average pay for one day’s work.

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