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].”

The Most Important Command^(A)

³⁴ When the Pharisees learned that ·the Sadducees could not argue with Jesus’ answers to them [^LJesus had silenced the Sadducees], the Pharisees met together. ³⁵ One Pharisee, who was an expert on the law of Moses, asked Jesus this question to ·test [trap] him: ³⁶ “Teacher, which command in the law is the ·most important [greatest]?”

³⁷ Jesus answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind [Deut. 6:5].’ ³⁸ This is the first and ·most important [greatest] command. ³⁹ And the second command is like the first: ‘Love your neighbor as you love yourself [Lev. 19:18].’ ⁴⁰ All the law and the ·writings of the prophets [^Lprophets] ·depend [are based; ^Lhang] on these two commands.”

The Most Important Command^(A)

²⁸ One of the ·teachers of the law [scribes] came and heard Jesus arguing with the Sadducees. Seeing that Jesus gave good answers to their questions, he asked Jesus, “Which of the commands is most important?”

²⁹ Jesus answered, “The most important command is this: ‘·Listen, people of Israel [^THear, O Israel]! The Lord our God is ·the only Lord [one Lord]. ³⁰ Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength’ [Deut. 6:4–5; ^Cthese are the opening words of the Shema, the prayer said by pious Jews twice a day]. ³¹ The second command is this: ‘Love your neighbor as you love yourself’ [Lev. 19:18]. There are no commands ·more important [greater] than these.”

³² The man answered, “·That was a good answer [Well said!], Teacher. You were right when you said God is ·the only Lord [one] and there is no other God besides him. ³³ One must love God with all his heart, all his mind, and all his strength. And one must love his neighbor as he loves himself. These commands are more important than all the ·animals [burnt offerings] and sacrifices we offer to God [1 Sam. 15:22; Hos. 6:6; Mic. 6:6–8].”

³⁴ When Jesus saw that the man answered him ·wisely [thoughtfully; with insight], Jesus said to him, “You are close to the kingdom of God.” And after that, no one ·was brave enough [dared] to ask Jesus any more questions.