Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

The Word of God

⁹ Then the Lord said to Moses, ¹⁰ “Tell the ·Israelites [^Lsons/^Tchildren of Israel] this: ‘If you or your descendants become unclean [^Cin a ritual sense] because of a dead body, or if you are away on a trip during the Passover, you must still celebrate the Lord’s Passover. ¹¹ But celebrate it at ·twilight [^Lbetween the two evenings] on the fourteenth day of the second month. Eat the lamb with bitter herbs [Ex. 12:8] and bread made without ·yeast [leaven]. ¹² Don’t leave any of it until the next morning or break any of its bones [Ex. 12:46]. When you celebrate the Passover, follow all the rules [2 Chr. 30:1–27]. ¹³ Anyone who is clean and is not away on a trip but does not eat the Passover must be cut off from the people. That person did not give an offering to the Lord at the appointed time and must be punished for the sin.

¹⁴ “‘·Foreigners [Resident aliens] among you may celebrate the Lord’s Passover, but they must follow all the rules. You must have the same rules for ·foreigners [resident aliens] as you have for ·yourselves [^Lnatives; citizens].’”

The Good Samaritan^(A)

²⁵ Then an expert on the law stood up to test Jesus, saying, “Teacher, what must I do to ·get life forever [^Linherit eternal life]?”

²⁶ Jesus said, “What is written in the law? ·What do you read there [or How do you interpret it]?”

²⁷ The man answered, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your strength, and all your mind [Deut. 6:5].” Also, “Love your neighbor as you love yourself [Lev. 19:18].”

²⁸ Jesus said to him, “Your answer is right. Do this and you will live.”

²⁹ But the man, wanting to ·show the importance of his question [or justify his question; or justify himself/his own actions], said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”

³⁰ Jesus answered, “As a man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho [^Ca dangerous 17-mile trek through desolate territory], some robbers attacked him. They tore off his clothes, beat him, and left him lying there, almost dead. ³¹ ·It happened that [or By chance] a priest was going down that road. When he saw the man, he ·walked [passed] by on the other side. ³² ·Next [^LLikewise; So too], a Levite [^CLevites were members of the tribe of Levi who helped the priests in the temple; 1 Chr. 23:24–32] came there, and ·after he went over and looked at the man [^Lseeing him], he ·walked [passed] by on the other side of the road. ³³ Then a Samaritan [^Ca people disliked by the Jews because they were only part Jewish and worshiped differently] traveling down the road came to where the hurt man was. When he saw the man, he felt ·very sorry [compassion] for him. ³⁴ The Samaritan went to him, poured olive oil and wine on his wounds [^Cto soothe and clean them], and bandaged them. Then he put the hurt man on his own ·donkey [^Lanimal] and took him to an inn where he cared for him. ³⁵ The next day, the Samaritan brought out two ·coins [^Ldenarii; ^Ceach equivalent to a day’s wage], gave them to the innkeeper, and said, ‘Take care of this man. If you spend more money on him, I will pay it back to you when I come again.’”

³⁶ Then Jesus said, “Which one of these three men do you think was a neighbor to the man who was attacked by the robbers?”

³⁷ The expert on the law answered, “The one who showed him mercy.”

Jesus said to him, “Then go and do ·what he did [the same; likewise].”