The Most Important
Commandment
28One 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?”
29Jesus
replied, “The
most important commandment is this:
‘Listen, O Israel! The Lord our God is the one and only
Lord.
30And you must love the Lord your God with all your
heart,
all your soul, all your mind,
and all your strength.’
(Deuteronomy
6:4-5)
31The second is equally
important: ‘Love your neighbor
as yourself.’ (Leviticus
19:18)
No other commandment is
greater than these.”
32The teacher of religious law
replied, “Well said, Teacher. You have spoken the
truth by saying that there is only one God and no
other. 33And
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.”
34Realizing 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.
Mark
12:28-34 NLT
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