⁴ This is what the Lord of Armies, the God of Israel, says to all the exiles I deported from Jerusalem to Babylon: ⁵ “Build houses and live in them.^(A) Plant gardens and eat their produce. ⁶ Find wives for yourselves, and have sons and daughters. Find wives for your sons and give your daughters to men in marriage so that they may bear sons and daughters. Multiply there; do not decrease.^{(B) 7} Pursue the well-being^[a] of the city I have deported you to. Pray to the Lord on its behalf,^(C) for when it thrives, you will thrive.”

²⁵ Jesus called them over and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those in high positions act as tyrants over them. ²⁶ It must not be like that among you. On the contrary, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant,^{(A) 27} and whoever wants to be first among you must be your slave; ²⁸ just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve,^(B) and to give his life as a ransom for many.”^(C)

The Primary Commands

³⁴ When^(A) the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they came together. ³⁵ And one of them, an expert in the law, asked a question to test him:^{(B) 36} “Teacher, which command in the law is the greatest?”

³⁷ He said to him, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.^{[a](C) 38} This is the greatest and most important^[b] command. ³⁹ The second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself.^{[c](D) 40} All the Law and the Prophets depend^[d] on these two commands.”^(E)

The Sheep and the Goats

³¹ “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels^[a](A) with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne.^{(B) 32} All the nations^[b](C) will be gathered before him, and he will separate them one from another, just as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.^{(D) 33} He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on the left. ³⁴ Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; inherit the kingdom^(E) prepared for you from the foundation of the world.^(F)

³⁵ “‘For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat; I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink; I was a stranger and you took me in; ³⁶ I was naked and you clothed me; I was sick and you took care of me; I was in prison and you visited me.’^(G)

³⁷ “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? ³⁸ When did we see you a stranger and take you in, or without clothes and clothe you? ³⁹ When did we see you sick, or in prison, and visit you?’

⁴⁰ “And the King will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’^(H)

⁴¹ “Then he will also say to those on the left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels!^{(I) 42} For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat; I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink; ⁴³ I was a stranger and you didn’t take me in; I was naked and you didn’t clothe me, sick and in prison and you didn’t take care of me.’

⁴⁴ “Then they too will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or without clothes, or sick, or in prison, and not help you?’

⁴⁵ “Then he will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’^(J)

⁴⁶ “And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”^(K)

Jesus Washes His Disciples’ Feet

13 Before the Passover Festival, Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart from this world to the Father.^(A) Having loved his own who were in the world,^(B) he loved them to the end.

² Now when it was time for supper, the devil^(C) had already put it into the heart of Judas,^(D) Simon Iscariot’s son,^[a] to betray^(E) him. ³ Jesus knew that the Father had given everything into his hands,^(F) that he had come from God,^(G) and that he was going back to God.^{(H) 4} So he got up from supper, laid aside his outer clothing,^(I) took a towel, and tied it around himself.^{(J) 5} Next, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet and to dry them with the towel tied around him.

⁶ He came to Simon Peter,^(K) who asked him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?”

⁷ Jesus answered him, “What I’m doing you don’t realize now, but afterward you will understand.”^(L)

⁸ “You will never wash my feet,” Peter said.

Jesus replied, “If I don’t wash you, you have no part with me.”

⁹ Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, not only my feet, but also my hands and my head.”

¹⁰ “One who has bathed,” Jesus told him, “doesn’t need to wash anything except his feet, but he is completely clean. You are clean, but not all of you.” ¹¹ For he knew who would betray him. This is why he said, “Not all of you are clean.”

The Meaning of Foot Washing

¹² When Jesus had washed their feet and put on his outer clothing, he reclined again and said to them, “Do you know what I have done for you? ¹³ You call me Teacher and Lord—and you are speaking rightly, since that is what I am. ¹⁴ So if I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet.^{(M) 15} For I have given you an example,^(N) that you also should do just as I have done for you.

¹⁶ “Truly I tell you, a servant is not greater than his master,^[b](O) and a messenger is not greater than the one who sent him. ¹⁷ If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them.^(P)

¹⁶ This is how we have come to know love: He laid down his life^(A) for us.^(B) We should also lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters.^{(C) 17} If anyone has this world’s goods^(D) and sees a fellow believer^[a] in need^(E) but withholds compassion^(F) from him—how does God’s love reside in him?^{(G) 18} Little children, let us not love in word or speech, but in action and in truth.^(H)