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41 And if anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him two [miles].

42 Give to him who keeps on begging from you, and do not turn away from him who would borrow [[a]at interest] from you.(A)

43 You have heard that it was said, You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy;(B)

44 But I tell you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,(C)

45 [b]To show that you are the children of your Father Who is in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the wicked and on the good, and makes the rain fall upon the upright and the wrongdoers [alike].

46 For if you love those who love you, what reward can you have? Do not even the tax collectors do that?

47 And if you greet only your brethren, what more than others are you doing? Do not even the Gentiles (the heathen) do that?

48 You, therefore, must be perfect [growing into complete [c]maturity of godliness in mind and character, [d]having reached the proper height of virtue and integrity], as your heavenly Father is perfect.(D)

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Footnotes

  1. Matthew 5:42 Marvin Vincent, Word Studies.
  2. Matthew 5:45 Joseph Thayer, A Greek-English Lexicon.
  3. Matthew 5:48 Kenneth Wuest, Word Studies in the New Testament.
  4. Matthew 5:48 Joseph Thayer, A Greek-English Lexicon.

13 So Abram went up out of Egypt, he and his wife and all that he had, and Lot with him, into the South [country of Judah, the Negeb].

Now Abram was extremely rich in livestock and in silver and in gold.

And he journeyed on from the South [country of Judah, the Negeb] as far as Bethel, to the place where his tent had been at the beginning, between Bethel and Ai,

Where he had built an altar at first; and there Abram called on the name of the Lord.(A)

But Lot, who went with Abram, also had flocks and herds and tents.

Now the land was not able to nourish and support them so they could dwell together, for their possessions were too great for them to live together.

And there was strife between the herdsmen of Abram’s cattle and the herdsmen of Lot’s cattle. And the Canaanite and the Perizzite were dwelling then in the land [making fodder more difficult to obtain].

So Abram said to Lot, Let there be no strife, I beg of you, between you and me, or between your herdsmen and my herdsmen, for we are relatives.

Is not the whole land before you? Separate yourself, I beg of you, from me. If you take the left hand, then I will go to the right; or if you choose the right hand, then I will go to the left.

10 And Lot looked and saw that everywhere the Jordan Valley was well watered. Before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, [it was all] like the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt, as you go to Zoar.

11 Then Lot chose for himself all the Jordan Valley and [he] traveled east. So they separated.

12 Abram dwelt in the land of Canaan, and Lot dwelt in the cities of the [Jordan] Valley and moved his tent as far as Sodom and dwelt there.

13 But the men of Sodom were wicked and exceedingly great sinners against the Lord.

14 The Lord said to Abram after Lot had left him, Lift up now your eyes and look from the place where you are, northward and southward and eastward and westward;

15 For all the land which you see I will give to you and to your posterity forever.(B)

16 And I will make your descendants like the dust of the earth, so that if a man could count the dust of the earth, then could your descendants also be counted.(C)

17 Arise, walk through the land, the length of it and the breadth of it, for I will give it to you.

18 Then Abram moved his tent and came and dwelt among the oaks or terebinths of Mamre, which are at Hebron, and built there an altar to the Lord.

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