But the Pharisees, hearing that he had silenced the Sadducees, gathered together. And one of the scribes, a doctor of the law, came near, tempting him and saying: 'Master, which is the great commandment in the law?' Jesus said to him: 'The first of all commandments is: Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one God; and, You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind (Deut. 6:4). This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like to it: You shall love your neighbour as yourself. On these two commandments hang the whole law and the prophets.' And the scribe said to him:
You have well said in truth, Master, that he is one, and there is none other beside him; and that he is to be loved with all the heart, with all the understanding, and with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love one's neighbour as oneself, is greater than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices. And Jesus, seeing that he had answered wisely, said to him: 'You have answered rightly; do this, and you shall live.' But he, wishing to justify himself, said to Jesus: 'And who is my neighbour?' And Jesus, taking up the question, said: 'A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among robbers, who also stripped him, and having laid stripes on him, went away, leaving him half dead. And it happened that a certain priest went down by the same way;
and seeing him, he passed by. Likewise a Levite also, when he was near the place and saw him, passed by. But a certain Samaritan, journeying, came near him, and seeing him, was moved with compassion. And going up, he bound his wounds, pouring in wine and oil. And setting him on his own beast, he brought him to an inn and took care of him. And on the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper, and said: 'Take care of him, and whatever you spend more, I, when I return, will repay you.' Which of these three seems to you to have been neighbour to him who fell among the robbers?' And he said: 'He who showed mercy on him.' And Jesus said to him: 'Go, and do likewise.'