Mark 12:28–34

The Greatest Commandment

28 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?” 29 Jesus answered, “The most important is, ‘Listen, Israel! The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 30 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.’k 31 The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’l There is no other commandment greater than these.” 32 And the scribe said to him, “That is true, Teacher. You have said ⌊correctly⌋m that he is one and there is no other except him. 33 And to love him from yourn whole heart and from youro whole understanding and from yourp whole strength, and to love yourq neighbor as yourself, is much more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.” 34 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.

Sign up for the Verse of the Day

Get beautiful Bible art delivered to your inbox. We’ll send you a new verse every day to download or share.

*	Here “and” is supplied because the previous participle (“came up”) has been translated as a finite verb
*	Here “when” is supplied as a component of the participle (“saw”) which is understood as temporal
k	A quotation from Deut 6:4–5; Josh 22:5
l	A quotation from Lev 19:18
m	Literally “in accordance with truth”
n	Literally “the”; the Greek article is used here as a possessive pronoun
o	Literally “the”; the Greek article is used here as a possessive pronoun
p	Literally “the”; the Greek article is used here as a possessive pronoun
q	Literally “the”; the Greek article is used here as a possessive pronoun
*	Here “when” is supplied as a component of the participle (“saw”) which is understood as temporal