³⁵ and one of them, a teacher of the Law, tried to trap him with a question. ³⁶ “Teacher,” he asked, “which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”

^37 (A)Jesus answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ ³⁸ This is the greatest and the most important commandment. ^39 (B)The second most important commandment is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as you love yourself.’ ^40 (C)The whole Law of Moses and the teachings of the prophets depend on these two commandments.”

The Great Commandment^(A)

²⁸ A teacher of the Law was there who heard the discussion. He saw that Jesus had given the Sadducees a good answer, so he came to him with a question: “Which commandment is the most important of all?”

^29 (B)Jesus replied, “The most important one is this: ‘Listen, Israel! The Lord our God is the only Lord.^{[a] 30} Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ ^31 (C)The second most important commandment is this: ‘Love your neighbor as you love yourself.’ There is no other commandment more important than these two.”

^32 (D)The teacher of the Law said to Jesus, “Well done, Teacher! It is true, as you say, that only the Lord is God and that there is no other god but he. ^33 (E)And you must love God with all your heart and with all your mind and with all your strength; and you must love your neighbor as you love yourself. It is more important to obey these two commandments than to offer on the altar animals and other sacrifices to God.”

^34 (F)Jesus noticed how wise his answer was, and so he told him, “You are not far from the Kingdom of God.”

After this nobody dared to ask Jesus any more questions.