Luke 10:25-34

²⁵One day a man came to Jesus and tried to get him to say something wrong, so he asked a hard question. He was a man that knew a lot about the Jewish laws. He asked Jesus, “What can I do so that I will live a good life for ever, and never die?”

²⁶Jesus said, “You know God’s laws, and you read them all the time. What do you reckon they say?”

²⁷The man answered, “One law says this, ‘You have to love God properly, not just a little bit. You have to love God from right inside yourself. You have to love God in the way you feel, and in the way you think. And you have to love God in the way you do things.’ And another law says this, ‘You have to love the other people around you just as much as you love yourself.’”

²⁸Jesus said, “You are right. Do what those laws say and you will live real good.”

²⁹But the man wanted to show that he did the right thing when he asked that question, so he said, “Who are the other people around me?”

³⁰Jesus answered that question by telling this picture story. He said, “A man was going down the road from Jerusalem city to the town called Jericho. About half way along that road some bad men grabbed him. They beat him up, and they took everything he had, even his clothes, and then they ran away. They left him lying there, half dead.

³¹After that, a man that looked after the Jewish ceremonies was walking down that road. He saw that man lying there, but he didn’t do anything to help him. He went over to the other side of the road to go past him, and he kept going down the road.

³²After that a man that helped in the Jewish ceremonies came along the road. He looked at the man lying there, then he went to the other side of the road to go past him, and he kept going down the road.

³³Then a man from Samaria country came along the road. He was riding on a donkey. He saw the man lying there and he felt sorry for him.

³⁴He went to that man and helped him. He treated the places where he was bleeding. He put wine and oil on them, and bandaged them, to help them get better. Then he lifted him up and put him on his donkey and took him to a hotel, and they both stayed there that night.