²⁸One^q of the scribes^r approached. When he heard them debating and saw that Jesus answered them well, he asked him, “Which command is the most important of all?”

²⁹Jesus answered, “The most important^E is Listen, Israel! The Lord^s our God, the Lord^t is one.^F ³⁰Love^u the Lord your God^v with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, ^w and with all your strength.^G^H^x ³¹The second is, Love your neighbor ^y as yourself.^I^z There is no other command^aa greater than these.”

³²Then the scribe said to him, “You are right, teacher. You have correctly said that he is one, and there is no one^ab else except him.^ac ³³And to love^ad him with all your heart, with all your understanding,^j and with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself, is far more important than all the burnt offerings and sacrifices.”^ae

³⁴When Jesus saw that he answered wisely, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.”^af And no one dared^ag to question him any longer.

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Footnotes

EOther add of all the commands
FOr the Lord our God is Lord alone.
GOther add This is the first commandment.
jOther add with all your soul

Cross references

q Mt 22:34–40
r Mt 2:4
s Col 4:1; Jd 5
t Dt 6:4
u Lk 6:35
v Dt 6:5; Lk 10:27
w 1Jn 5:20
H Dt 6:4–5; Jos 22:5
x Dt 6:4–5; Jos 22:5
y Lk 10:29
I Lv 19:18
z Lv 19:18; 1Jn 4:21
aa Mk 7:8
ab Rm 3:30
ac Dt 4:35,39; 6:4; Is 37:20; 43:10; 44:6; 45:21
ad Lk 6:35
ae 1Sm 15:22; Ps 51:16; Hs 6:6; Am 5:22; Mc 6:6–8
af Mk 1:15
ag Lk 20:40

In other versions

ESVEnglish Standard Version

And one of the scribes came up and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well, asked him, “Which commandment is the most important of all?” Jesus answered, “The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” And the scribe said to him, “You are right, Teacher. You have truly said that he is one, and there is no other besides him. 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 oneself, is much more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.” And when Jesus saw that he answered wisely, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” And after that no one dared to ask him any more questions.

NIVNew International Version (2011)

One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?”

“The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.”

“Well said, teacher,” the man replied. “You are right in saying that God is one and there is no other but him. To love him with all your heart, with all your understanding and with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself is more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.”

When Jesus saw that he had answered wisely, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” And from then on no one dared ask him any more questions.

NLTNew Living Translation

One of the teachers of religious law was standing there listening to the debate. He realized that Jesus had answered well, so he asked, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?”

Jesus replied, “The most important commandment is this: ‘Listen, O Israel! The Lord our God is the one and only Lord. And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength.’ The second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ No other commandment is greater than these.”

The teacher of religious law replied, “Well said, Teacher. You have spoken the truth by saying that there is only one God and no other. And I know it is important to love him with all my heart and all my understanding and all my strength, and to love my neighbor as myself. This is more important than to offer all of the burnt offerings and sacrifices required in the law.”

Realizing how much the man understood, Jesus said to him, “You are not far from the Kingdom of God.” And after that, no one dared to ask him any more questions.

LEBThe Lexham English Bible

And one of the scribes came up and heard them debating. When he saw that he answered them well, he asked him, “Which commandment is the most important of all?” Jesus answered, “The most important is, ‘Listen, Israel! The Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God from your whole heart and from your whole soul and from your whole mind and from your whole strength.’ The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” And the scribe said to him, “That is true, Teacher. You have said correctly that he is one and there is no other except him. And to love him from your whole heart and from your whole understanding and from your whole strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself, is much more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.” And Jesus, when he saw that he had answered thoughtfully, said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” And no one dared to put a question to him any longer.

KJV 1900King James Version

And one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, and perceiving that he had answered them well, asked him, Which is the first commandment of all? And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord: And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment. And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these. And the scribe said unto him, Well, Master, thou hast said the truth: for there is one God; and there is none other but he: And to love him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love his neighbour as himself, is more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices. And when Jesus saw that he answered discreetly, he said unto him, Thou art not far from the kingdom of God. And no man after that durst ask him any question.

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