Matthew 5:43-44

Love for Enemies

5:43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor’ ¹  and ‘hate your enemy.’ 5:44 But I say to you, love your enemy and ²  pray for those who persecute you,

---

¹ sn A quotation from Lev 19:18.

² tc Most mss ([D] L [W] Θ Ë¹³ 33 Ï lat) read “bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who mistreat you,” before “those who persecute you.” But this is surely a motivated reading, importing the longer form of this aphorism from Luke 6:27-28. The shorter text is found in א B ˹ pc sa, as well as several fathers and versional witnesses.