₂₈A teacher of the Law was there who heard the discussion. He saw that Jesus had given the Sadducees a good answer, so he came to him with a question: “Which commandment is the most important of all?”

₂₉Jesus replied, “The most important one is this: ‘Listen, Israel! The Lord our God is the only Lord. ₃₀Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ ₃₁The second most important commandment is this: ‘Love your neighbour as you love yourself.’ There is no other commandment more important than these two.”

₃₂The teacher of the Law said to Jesus, “Well done, Teacher! It is true, as you say, that only the Lord is God and that there is no other god but he. ₃₃And to love God with all your heart and with all your mind and with all your strength, and to love your neighbour as yourself, is more important than to offer animals and other sacrifices to God.”

₃₄Jesus noticed how wise his answer was, and so he told him, “You are not far from the Kingdom of God.”

After this nobody dared to ask Jesus any more questions.