And look, a certain doctor of the law stood up testing him and saying,
“Teacher, I’ll inherit eternal life having done...what?”
And he said to him,
“What has been written in the law? How do you read it?”
And he answering said,
“‘You will love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul and with all your strength, and with all your mind, and your neighbour like yourself.’”
And he said to him,
“You’ve answered correctly, do this and you’ll live!”
But he, wanting to justify himself, said to Jesus,
“And who is my neighbour?”
And taking up the question Jesus said,
“A certain man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among robbers who, having both stripped him and wounded him, went away, leaving him half dead.
“And by coincidence a certain priest was going down that road, and having seen him he passed by on the opposite side,and similarly also a Levite being at the place, having come and seen, passed by on the opposite side.
But a certain Samaritan passing along the way came to him and having seen him, took pity on him,and having come up bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine, and having put him on his own animal brought him to an inn and took care of him.And on the following day, going out, taking out two pence he gave them to the innkeeper and said to him, ‘Take care of him, and whatever youmay spend more, on my coming back I’ll repay you!’
“Which of these three seems to you to have been neighbour of him who fell among the robbers?”
And he said,
“He who took pity on him!”
So Jesus said to him,
“You go and do like that!”
This translation,
from the Greek Text used for the ‘Authorised’ or ‘King James’Version
Copyright © David Lawrie 1998
