⁸ And the word of the Lord came again to Zechariah: ⁹ “This is what the Lord Almighty said: ‘Administer true justice;^(A) show mercy and compassion to one another.^{(B) 10} Do not oppress the widow^(C) or the fatherless, the foreigner^(D) or the poor.^(E) Do not plot evil against each other.’^(F)

¹¹ “But they refused to pay attention; stubbornly^(G) they turned their backs^(H) and covered their ears.^{(I) 12} They made their hearts as hard as flint^(J) and would not listen to the law or to the words that the Lord Almighty had sent by his Spirit through the earlier prophets.^(K) So the Lord Almighty was very angry.^(L)

²⁵ Large crowds from Galilee, the Decapolis,^[a] Jerusalem, Judea and the region across the Jordan followed him.^(A)

Introduction to the Sermon on the Mount

5 Now when Jesus saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, ² and he began to teach them.

The Beatitudes^(B)

He said:

¹¹ “Blessed are you when people insult you,^(N) persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me.^{(O) 12} Rejoice and be glad,^(P) because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.^(Q)

Salt and Light

¹³ “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.^(R)

The Parable of the Good Samaritan^(A)

²⁵ On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”^(B)

²⁶ “What is written in the Law?” he replied. “How do you read it?”

²⁷ He answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’^[a];^(C) and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’^[b]”^(D)

²⁸ “You have answered correctly,” Jesus replied. “Do this and you will live.”^(E)

²⁹ But he wanted to justify himself,^(F) so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”