Love

²⁵Now an expert in religious law stood up to test Jesus, saying, “Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” ²⁶He said to him, “What is written in the law? How do you understand it?” ²⁷The expert answered, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind, and love your neighbor as yourself.” ²⁸Jesus said to him, “You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live.”

²⁹But the expert, wanting to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” ³⁰Jesus replied, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell into the hands of robbers, who stripped him, beat him up, and went off, leaving him half dead. ³¹Now by chance a priest was going down that road, but when he saw the injured man, he passed by on the other side. ³²So too a Levite, when he came up to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. ³³But a Samaritan who was traveling came to where the injured man was, and when he saw him, he felt compassion for him. ³⁴He went up to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring olive oil and wine on them. Then he put him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. ³⁵The next day he took out two silver coins and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, ‘Take care of him, and whatever else you spend, I will repay you when I come back this way.’ ³⁶Which of these three do you think became a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers?” ³⁷The expert in religious law said, “The one who showed mercy to him.” So Jesus said to him, “Go and do the same.”