The Scribes: Which Is the First Commandment of All?^(A)

^28 (B)Then one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, ^[a]perceiving that He had answered them well, asked Him, “Which is the ^[b]first commandment of all?”

²⁹ Jesus answered him, “The ^[c]first of all the commandments is: ^(C)‘Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. ³⁰ And you shall ^(D)love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ ^[d]This is the first commandment. ³¹ And the second, like it, is this: ^(E)‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than ^(F)these.”

³² So the scribe said to Him, “Well said, Teacher. You have spoken the truth, for there is one God, ^(G)and there is no other but He. ³³ And to love Him with all the heart, with all the understanding, ^[e]with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love one’s neighbor as oneself, ^(H)is more than all the whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.”

³⁴ Now when Jesus saw that he answered wisely, He said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.”

^(I)But after that no one dared question Him.

Living Sacrifices to God

12 I ^(A)beseech^[a] you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies ^(B)a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your ^[b]reasonable service. ² And ^(C)do not be conformed to this world, but ^(D)be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may ^(E)prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

Flee from Idolatry

¹⁴ Therefore, my beloved, ^(A)flee from idolatry. ¹⁵ I speak as to ^(B)wise men; judge for yourselves what I say. ^16 (C)The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the ^[a]communion of the blood of Christ? ^(D)The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ? ¹⁷ For ^(E)we, though many, are one bread and one body; for we all partake of that one bread.

¹⁸ Observe ^(F)Israel ^(G)after the flesh: ^(H)Are not those who eat of the sacrifices ^[b]partakers of the altar? ¹⁹ What am I saying then? ^(I)That an idol is anything, or what is offered to idols is anything? ²⁰ Rather, that the things which the Gentiles ^(J)sacrifice ^(K)they sacrifice to demons and not to God, and I do not want you to have fellowship with demons. ^21 (L)You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and ^(M)the cup of demons; you cannot partake of the ^(N)Lord’s table and of the table of demons. ²² Or do we ^(O)provoke the Lord to jealousy? ^(P)Are we stronger than He?

All to the Glory of God^(Q)

²³ All things are lawful ^[c]for me, but not all things are ^(R)helpful; all things are lawful for me, but not all things ^[d]edify.