The Foremost Commandment

^28 (A)And when one of the scribes came and heard them arguing, he ^(B)recognized that He had answered them well and asked Him, “What commandment is the ^[a]foremost of all?” ²⁹ Jesus answered, “The foremost is, ‘^(C)Hear, O Israel! The ^[b]Lord our God is one ^[c]Lord; ^30 (D)and you shall love the ^[d]Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ ³¹ The second is this, ‘^(E)You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” ³² And the scribe said to Him, “Right, Teacher; You have truly stated that ^(F)He is One, and there is no one else besides Him; ^33 (G)and to love Him with all the heart and with all the understanding and with all the strength, and to love one’s neighbor as himself, ^(H)is much more than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.” ³⁴ And when Jesus saw that he had answered thoughtfully, He said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” ^(I)After that, no one would dare to ask Him any more questions.

The Foremost Commandment

^34 (A)But when the Pharisees heard that Jesus had silenced ^(B)the Sadducees, they gathered themselves together. ³⁵ And one of them, ^(C)a scholar of the Law, asked Him a question, testing Him, ³⁶ “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” ³⁷ And He said to him, “‘^(D)You shall love the ^[a]Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ ³⁸ This is the great and ^[b]foremost commandment. ³⁹ And the second is like it, ‘^(E)You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ ^40 (F)On these two commandments hang the whole Law and the Prophets.”

The Good Samaritan

^25 (A)And behold, a ^(B)scholar of the Law stood up and was putting Him to the test, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” ²⁶ And He said to him, “What is written in the Law? How do you read it?” ²⁷ And he answered and said, “^(C)You shall love the ^[a]Lord 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.” ²⁸ And He said to him, “You have answered correctly; ^(D)do this and you will live.”

³⁹ And some of the scribes answered and said, “Teacher, You have spoken well.” ⁴⁰ For ^(A)they did not dare to question Him any longer about anything.

^41 (B)Then He said to them, “How is it that they say the ^[a]Christ is ^(C)David’s son? ⁴² For David himself says in the book of Psalms,

⁴⁴ Therefore David calls Him ‘Lord,’ so how is He his son?”

^45 (F)And while all the people were listening, He said to the disciples, ⁴⁶ “Beware of the scribes, ^(G)who want to walk around in long robes, and love greetings in the marketplaces, and best seats in the synagogues and places of honor at banquets, ⁴⁷ who devour widows’ houses, and for appearance’s sake offer long prayers. These will receive greater condemnation.”