Presently another step was heard, and another man, a Jewish Levite, came along the road, and, catching sight of the wounded man, he came over and looked at him; but he, too, passed by on the other side.
* * * * *
But at length there was a traveller who was making the same journey, and he saw the poor man lying there dying; and when he saw him, he had compassion on him. A great pity filled his heart. He could not bear to see him wounded and suffering.
So he quickly went to his side and bound up his wounds, putting on them the only salves he had with him, oil and wine, which would both soothe and heal the sores; and then he lifted him on to his own donkey, and walking by his side and doing everything he could for the poor man, he brought him at length to an Inn, where he made him as comfortable as ever he could, and stayed with him all night.
You can picture to yourself this kind traveller sitting quietly by the suffering stranger, and cheering him with kind words, and bidding him hope for better times, when he should be well again.
At length the morning came, and the traveller was obliged to proceed on his journey. So he called the Master of the Inn and gave him some money, and told him to take care of the stranger, and promised to repay the Innkeeper, when he returned, whatever he had spent in caring for the sick man.
* * * * *
Nov when the Lord Jesus told this story to the lawyer who had been questioning him, He turned to him and asked him, "Which do you think was a neighbour to this man that fell among the thieves?"
So the lawyer answered him, "The one who shewed mercy on him!"
And Jesus said to him words like this, "Then you go and do the same."