36 “Teacher, which command in the law is the greatest?”[a]

37 He said to him, Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.(A)[b] 38 This is the greatest and most important[c] command. 39 The second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself.(B)[d] 40 All the Law and the Prophets depend[e] on these two commands.”(C)

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The Most Important Command

34-36 When the Pharisees heard how he had bested the Sadducees, they gathered their forces for an assault. One of their religion scholars spoke for them, posing a question they hoped would show him up: “Teacher, which command in God’s Law is the most important?”

37-40 Jesus said, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your passion and prayer and intelligence.’ This is the most important, the first on any list. But there is a second to set alongside it: ‘Love others as well as you love yourself.’ These two commands are pegs; everything in God’s Law and the Prophets hangs from them.”

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