A man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho: it was a wild, lonely road over the hills; and he met some thieves who robbed him, took off his clothes, wounded him, and left him for dead by the road-side. And by chance a priest came by that way but he did not help the poor man; he crossed over to the other side of the way and went on. Then, a Levite, one of the men who served the priests in the Temple, came that way; he stopped and looked at the poor man, and then left him and crossed to the other side of the road.
Next, a Samaritan came along—you remember, do you not, that the Jews hated the Samaritans?—but this man, when he saw the poor wounded Jew lying in the road, had pity on him. And he went to him and bound up his wounds, putting oil and wine to them, as people used then to do; and he lifted him off the hard ground and put him on his own beast and brought him to an inn and took care of him. And the next day, when he had to go away, he called the host—that is, the man who kept the inn—and gave him two pence—which were worth more than a shilling—and said, "Take care of the poor man, and whatever you spend I will repay you when I come again."
"Which of these three men do you think was neighbour to the man who fell among thieves?" asked Our Lord. And the lawyer could not help answering, "He that had mercy on him."
Then Jesus said to him, "Go and do the same."
One day Our Lord told His disciples of what would happen soon, how He must go up to Jerusalem and die for them and for all the world; and that made them very sad.
About eight days after, He took Peter and James and John with Him and went up a high mountain to pray. It was late, and the disciples were tired, and while Jesus prayed they fell asleep. But a great light woke them, and then they saw a wonderful thing. Our Lord's face shone like the sun, and His robe was white and glittering as the light; and two men stood by Him in shining white robes; and the apostles knew that they were Moses and Elijah. Moses had been dead very, very long, and Elijah had been taken up to Heaven alive; but now, like two bright angels, they talked with Our Lord. What did they talk about? Of how Jesus would go up to Jerusalem and die to save men. The disciples could not quite tell what it meant, and Peter said, "Lord, it is good for us to be here. Let us make here three tents for Thee and Moses and Elijah," not knowing what he said; but, as he spoke, a bright cloud came over them, and they were taken into it, and a voice came out of the cloud and said, "This is My Beloved Son; hear Him." And when the voice was past, Jesus was alone. It was He who was God's Dear Son.
Soon after this the disciples began to talk together about which of them should be greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven. And Jesus called a little child to Him, and when He had taken him in His arms, He said to them, "Whoever will receive one of such children in My name receiveth Me, and whosoever shall receive Me receiveth not Me but Him that sent Me." And He told the apostles that they must be as gentle and humble as little children if they would be great in Heaven, for there the humble would be the first, and the proud the last.