The Good Samaritan

²⁵ Just then an expert in the Law stood up to test Jesus.^[a] He asked, “Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”

²⁶ Jesus^[b] answered him, “What is written in the Law? What do you read there?”

²⁷ He answered, “You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind.^[c] And you must love^[d] your neighbor as yourself.”^[e]

²⁸ Jesus^[f] told him, “You have answered correctly. ‘Do this, and you will live.’”^[g]

²⁹ But the man wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”

³⁰ After careful consideration, Jesus replied, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho when he fell into the hands of bandits. They stripped him, beat him, and went away, leaving him half dead. ³¹ By chance, a priest was traveling along that road. When he saw the man,^[h] he went by on the other side. ³² Similarly, a descendant of Levi came to that place. When he saw the man,^[i] he also went by on the other side. ³³ But as he was traveling along, a Samaritan came across the man.^[j] When the Samaritan^[k] saw him, he was moved with compassion. ³⁴ He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring oil and wine on them. Then he put him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. ³⁵ The next day, he took out two denarii^[l] and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, ‘Take good care of him. If you spend more than that, I’ll repay you when I come back.’

³⁶ “Of these three men, who do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of the bandits?”

³⁷ He said, “The one who showed mercy to him.”

Jesus told him, “Go and do what he did.”