₂₅A teacher of the Law came up and tried to trap Jesus. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to receive eternal life?”

₂₆Jesus answered him, “What do the Scriptures say? How do you interpret them?”

₂₇The man 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 neighbour as you love yourself.’ ”

₂₈“You are right,” Jesus replied; “do this and you will live.”

₂₉But the teacher of the Law wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, “Who is my neighbour?”

₃₀Jesus answered, “There was once a man who was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho when robbers attacked him, stripped him, and beat him up, leaving him half dead. ₃₁It so happened that a priest was going down that road; but when he saw the man, he walked on by, on the other side. ₃₂In the same way a Levite also came along, went over and looked at the man, and then walked on by, on the other side. ₃₃But a Samaritan who was travelling that way came upon the man, and when he saw him, his heart was filled with pity. ₃₄He went over to him, poured oil and wine on his wounds and bandaged them; then he put the man on his own animal and took him to an inn, where he took care of him. ₃₅The next day he took out two silver coins and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Take care of him,’ he told the innkeeper, ‘and when I come back this way, I will pay you whatever else you spend on him.’ ”

₃₆And Jesus concluded, “In your opinion, which one of these three acted like a neighbour towards the man attacked by the robbers?”

₃₇The teacher of the Law answered, “The one who was kind to him.”

Jesus replied, “You go, then, and do the same.”