³⁶ “Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?”

The First Commandment

²⁸ One of the scribes came near and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well he asked him, “Which commandment is the first of all?”^{(A) 29} Jesus answered, “The first is, ‘Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one;^{(B) 30} you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ ³¹ The second is this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”^{(C) 32} Then the scribe said to him, “You are right, Teacher; you have truly said that ‘he is one, and besides him there is no other’;^{(D) 33} and ‘to love him with all the heart and with all the understanding and with all the strength’ and ‘to love one’s neighbor as oneself’—this is much more important than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.”^(E)

⁴² “But woe to you Pharisees! For you tithe mint and rue and herbs of all kinds and neglect justice and the love of God; it is these you ought to have practiced, without neglecting the others.^(A)

¹⁹ Therefore, whoever breaks^[a] one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.^{(A) 20} For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

²³ “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint, dill, and cumin and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. It is these you ought to have practiced without neglecting the others.^{(A) 24} You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel!

⁶ So, for the sake of your tradition, you nullify the word^[a] of God.