³³ “Again, you have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not swear falsely, but shall carry out your oaths to Adonai.’ ^{[a] 34} But I tell you, do not swear at all—not by heaven, for it is the throne of God; ³⁵ or by the earth, for it is the footstool of His feet;^[b] or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the Great King. ^{[c] 36} And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make a single hair white or black. ³⁷ But let your word ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes’ and your ‘No,’ ‘No’—anything more than this is from the evil one.”

⁴³ “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor^[a] and hate your enemy.’ ⁴⁴ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, ⁴⁵ so that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. ⁴⁶ For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Even the tax collectors do the same, don’t they? ⁴⁷ And if you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than anyone else? Even the pagans do that, don’t they? ⁴⁸ Therefore be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.”

Religious Leaders Quiz Yeshua

15 Then some Pharisees and Torah scholars came to Yeshua from Jerusalem. They said, ² “Why do Your disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? For they do not do the ritual handwashing when they eat bread.”

³ And answering, He said to them, “Why do you also transgress the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition? ⁴ For God said, ‘Honor your father and mother’^[a] and ‘He who speaks evil of father or mother must be put to death.’ ^{[b] 5} But you say, ‘Whoever tells his father or mother, “Whatever you might have gained from me is a gift to God,” ^{[c] 6} he need not honor his father.’ On account of your tradition, you made void the word of God. ⁷ Hypocrites! Rightly did Isaiah prophesy about you, saying,

¹⁰ Then Yeshua called the crowd and said to them, “Hear and understand. ¹¹ It’s not what goes into the mouth that makes the man unholy; but what comes out of the mouth, this makes the man unholy.”^[e]

¹⁶ Now behold, one came to Him and said, “Teacher, what good shall I do to have eternal life?”

¹⁷ “Why do you ask Me about what is good?” Yeshua said to him. “There is only One who is good; but if you want to enter into life, keep the commandments.”

¹⁸ “Which ones?” he said.

Yeshua said, “‘Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony, ¹⁹ honor your father and mother,’ and ‘love your neighbor as yourself.’”^[a]

²⁰ “All these I’ve kept,” the young man said to Him. “What do I still lack?”

²¹ Yeshua said to him, “If you wish to be perfect, go, sell what you own, and give to the poor; and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow Me.” ²² But when the young man heard this statement, he went away grieving, for he had much property.

²³ Then Yeshua said to His disciples, “Amen, I tell you, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. ²⁴ Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”

²⁵ When the disciples heard this, they were utterly astonished and said, “Then who can be saved?”

²⁶ And looking, Yeshua said to them, “With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”^[b]

²⁷ Then Peter said to Him, “Look, we’ve left everything to follow You! So what will we have?”

²⁸ And Yeshua said to them, “Amen, I tell you, when the Son of Man sits on His glorious throne in the new world,^[c] you who have followed Me shall also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. ²⁹ And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or property, for My name’s sake, will receive a hundred times as much, and will inherit eternal life. ³⁰ But many who are first will be last, and the last first.”

^{[a] 33} When the crowds heard this, they were astounded at His teaching.

The Greatest Mitzvot

³⁴ But the Pharisees, when they heard that Yeshua had silenced the Sadducees, gathered together in one place. ³⁵ And testing Him, one of them, a lawyer, asked, ³⁶ “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Torah?”

³⁷ And He said to him, “‘You shall love Adonai your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ ^{[b] 38} This is the first and greatest commandment. ³⁹ And the second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ ^{[c] 40} The entire Torah and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

Hearts Harden

7 Now the Pharisees and some of the Torah scholars who had come from Jerusalem gathered around Yeshua. ² And they saw that some of His disciples were eating bread with unclean hands, that is, not washed. ³ (For the Pharisees and all Jewish people do not eat unless they wash their hands up to the elbow, keeping the tradition of the elders. ⁴ And when they come from the marketplace, they do not eat unless they perform a ritual washing.^[a] There are many other traditions they have received and hold, such as the washing of cups, pitchers, copper vessels.)^[b]

⁵ The Pharisees and Torah scholars questioned Yeshua, “Why don’t Your disciples walk according to the tradition of the elders? Why do they eat bread with unwashed hands?”

⁶ And He said to them, “Rightly did Isaiah prophesy about you hypocrites, as it is written,

⁸ Having left behind the commandment of God, you hold on to the tradition of men.”

⁹ He was also telling them, “You set aside the commands of God, in order that you may validate your own tradition. ¹⁰ For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and your mother,’ and, ‘He who speaks evil of father or mother must be put to death.’ ^{[d] 11} But you say if anyone tells his father or mother, ‘Whatever you might have gained from me is korban (that is, an offering to God),’ ¹² then you no longer permit him to do anything for his father or mother, ¹³ making void the word of God with your tradition that you’ve handed down. And you do many such things.”^[e]

¹⁴ Then Yeshua called the crowd again and began saying to them, “Hear Me, everyone, and understand. ¹⁵ There is nothing outside the man that can make him unholy by going into him. Rather, it is what comes out of the man that makes the man unholy.” ^{[f] (16) [g]}

¹⁷ When He had left the crowd and entered the house, His disciples questioned Him about the parable. ¹⁸ And He said to them, “Are you then also lacking understanding? Don’t you grasp that whatever goes into the man cannot make him unholy? ¹⁹ For it does not enter into the heart but into the stomach, and then goes out into the sewer, cleansing all foods.”^[h]

²⁰ And He continued, “It is what comes out of the man that makes the man unholy. ²¹ For from within, out of the heart of men, come evil intentions, sexual immorality, theft, murder, ²² adultery, greed, wickedness, deceit, lustfulness, envy, slander, pride, and foolishness. ²³ All these evil things come from within and make the man unholy.”

Love Ends the Argument

²⁸ One of the Torah scholars came and heard them debating. Seeing that Yeshua had answered them well, he asked Him, “Which commandment is first of all?”

²⁹ Yeshua answered, “The first is, ‘Shema Yisrael, Adonai Eloheinu, Adonai echad. Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is One. ³⁰ And you shall love Adonai your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ ^{[a] 31} The second is this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’^[b] There is no other commandment greater than these.”

³² “Well said, Teacher,” the Torah scholar said to Him. “You have spoken the truth, that He is echad, and besides Him there is no other! ^{[c] 33} And ‘to love Him with all the heart, with all the understanding, and with all the strength,’^[d] and ‘to love the neighbor as oneself,’^[e] is much more than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.”

³⁴ When Yeshua saw that he had answered wisely, He said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” And no one dared any longer to question Him.

Who Is My Neighbor?

²⁵ Now a certain Torah lawyer stood up to entrap Yeshua, saying, “Teacher, what should I do to gain eternal life?”

²⁶ Then Yeshua said to him, “What has been written in the Torah? How do you read it?”

²⁷ And he replied, “You shall love Adonai your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself.”^[a]

²⁸ Yeshua said to him, “You have answered correctly. Do this and you will live.”

²⁹ But wanting to vindicate himself, he said to Yeshua, “Then who is my neighbor?”

³⁰ Yeshua replied, “A certain man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho. He was attacked by robbers, who stripped him and beat him. Then they left, abandoning him as half dead. ³¹ And by chance, a kohen was going down that road; but when he saw the man, he passed by on the opposite side. ³² Likewise a Levite also, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the opposite side. ³³ But a Samaritan who was traveling came upon him; and when he noticed the man, he felt compassion. ³⁴ He went up to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on olive oil and wine. Then setting him on his own animal, he brought him to a lodge for travelers and took care of him. ³⁵ The next day he took out two denarii^[b] and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, ‘Take care of him. And whatever else you spend, upon my return I will repay you myself.’ ³⁶ Which of these three seems to you a neighbor to the one attacked by robbers?”

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

Then Yeshua said to him, “Go, and you do the same.”

At Home with Miriam and Martha

³⁸ Now while they were traveling, Yeshua entered a certain village; and a woman named Martha welcomed Him into her house. ³⁹ She had a sister called Miriam, who was seated at the Master’s feet, listening to His teaching.

⁸ Owe no one anything except to love one another, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the Torah. ⁹ For the commandments—“You shall not commit adultery, you shall not murder, you shall not steal, you shall not covet,”^[a] and any other commandment—are summed up in this word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” ^{[b] 10} Love does no harm to a neighbor; therefore love is the fullness of the Torah.