These Bible Verses For The Good Samaritan are for people who want to follow his example, whether you volunteer, work in a caring role, or simply want to notice the neighbour in need. Each one encourages kindness that shows up in action, from sharing a meal to sitting with someone who is hurting.
But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was: and when he saw him, he had compassion on him, And went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him.
Luke 10:33-34 (KJV)
The Samaritan’s compassion moved him to stop, bandage wounds and care for a stranger, a model for everyday kindness.
Which now of these three, thinkest thou, was neighbour unto him that fell among the thieves? And he said, He that shewed mercy on him. Then said Jesus unto him, Go, and do thou likewise.
Luke 10:36-37 (KJV)
Jesus ends the parable with a clear charge to anyone who wants to help: go, and do thou likewise.
As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith.
Galatians 6:10 (KJV)
As we have opportunity, we are to do good to all people, starting wherever we are.
Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.
Galatians 6:2 (KJV)
Bearing one another’s burdens is how Paul says we fulfil the law of Christ.
Withhold not good from them to whom it is due, when it is in the power of thine hand to do it.
Proverbs 3:27 (KJV)
Do not withhold good from those who need it when it is in your power to help.
For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.
Matthew 25:35-36 (KJV)
Feeding the hungry, welcoming strangers and visiting the sick are the works Jesus names as serving him.
And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.
Matthew 25:40 (KJV)
Whatever is done for the least of these, Jesus counts as done for him.
Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.
Hebrews 13:2 (KJV)
Showing hospitality to strangers is encouraged, for some have entertained angels unawares.
But to do good and to communicate forget not: for with such sacrifices God is well pleased.
Hebrews 13:16 (KJV)
Doing good and sharing with others are sacrifices that please God.
But whoso hath this world’s good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him? My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth.
1 John 3:17-18 (KJV)
Love that sees a brother in need must act, loving in deed and in truth, not only in word.
If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food, And one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit?
James 2:15-16 (KJV)
Kind words without practical help do nothing for someone who lacks food or clothing.
And if thou draw out thy soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul; then shall thy light rise in obscurity, and thy darkness be as the noonday:
Isaiah 58:10 (KJV)
Giving yourself to the hungry and afflicted brings light rising in obscurity.
He that hath pity upon the poor lendeth unto the Lord; and that which he hath given will he pay him again.
Proverbs 19:17 (KJV)
Showing pity to the poor is like lending to the Lord, who will repay.
Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.
Matthew 5:7 (KJV)
Jesus blesses the merciful, promising that they shall obtain mercy.
And as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise.
Luke 6:31 (KJV)
The golden rule, treat others as you would want to be treated, sums up the Samaritan’s actions.
And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.
Ephesians 4:32 (KJV)
Kindness, tenderheartedness and forgiveness mark people who have themselves been forgiven in Christ.
Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering;
Colossians 3:12 (KJV)
Believers are told to put on mercy, kindness, humbleness and patience like a set of clothes.
The Samaritan’s kindness began with seeing. Before he did anything, he noticed the wounded man and had compassion on him (Luke 10:33). Try praying through one verse from this page each morning, such as Proverbs 3:27 or Galatians 6:10, and ask God to help you notice who needs help that day. The need may be as simple as a meal, a ride or a phone call.
These verses also suit volunteers, nurses, carers, first responders and church outreach teams. Matthew 25:35-36 and Hebrews 13:16 make fitting readings before a serving project, and 1 John 3:17-18 is a helpful reminder that love is shown in deed and in truth, not only in words.
Serving others can be tiring, so remember that bearing one another’s burdens (Galatians 6:2) is shared work, not a load for one person to carry alone. If you want to thank someone who helped you, a card with Matthew 25:40 or Ephesians 4:32 can honour their kindness while pointing to the Lord who sees every act of mercy.
Luke 10:33 says the Samaritan saw the wounded man and had compassion, and everything else in the story follows from that. It is worth noticing how much of practical kindness begins with attention. Most of us do not refuse to help; we simply do not register the need because we are hurrying, looking at a screen or assuming someone else has it covered. The Bible Verses For The Good Samaritan collected on this page work best when read as training in noticing. Try spending one day with a single question in mind: who is in my path today that I might normally pass? It might be a colleague who has gone quiet, a neighbour carrying heavy bags, or a family member who is struggling but says they are fine. Compassion, in the way the parable describes it, is a gut-level response that turns into movement, and the first step is simply lifting your eyes.
The Samaritan was on a journey of his own, and the man in the ditch was an interruption. He still stopped. Luke 10:36-37 closes the story with the instruction to go and do likewise, and for most of us the practical form of that instruction is a change in how we treat inconvenient moments. Galatians 6:10 uses the phrase ‘as we have opportunity,’ which suggests that opportunities for good are regularly arriving and that they are easy to miss. Proverbs 3:27 is a blunt companion verse, warning us not to withhold good from those to whom it is due when it is in the power of our hand to do it. Here is a modest experiment. For one week, treat the first unplanned request for help as something that may be meant for you. You will not be able to say yes to everything, but you will learn quickly which excuses you reach for.
Galatians 6:2 says to bear one another’s burdens and so fulfil the law of Christ. The Samaritan did exactly this when he put the man on his own animal and walked beside him. Burden bearing is rarely dramatic. It looks like driving a friend to appointments, bringing food to a family after a loss, helping someone move or sitting with them in a waiting room. It also requires humility, since being helped can feel exposing. Colossians 3:12 and Ephesians 4:32 describe the temperament that makes this sustainable, with kindness, tenderheartedness, humility and forgiveness toward one another. If you find that helping others tends to leave you resentful, these verses are worth reading slowly, because they suggest that compassion is a character formed over time rather than a burst of effort. Small, regular acts usually do more good than occasional heroic ones.
Hebrews 13:2 reminds us not to forget to entertain strangers, for by doing so some have entertained angels without knowing it, and Matthew 25:35-36 lists feeding the hungry, welcoming the stranger, clothing the naked and visiting the sick and imprisoned among the signs of true discipleship. Matthew 25:40 gives the reason, that whatever is done for the least of these is done for Christ himself. The Samaritan treated a stranger as though he mattered that much. In everyday life, welcoming looks like a seat at the table for a new neighbour, a friendly word to the person who sits alone at church, or time given to someone at a food pantry or shelter. It does not need to be elaborate. A warm greeting, a shared meal and a genuine question about someone’s life can make a lasting difference for a person who has felt invisible. Be sensible about your own safety, but let the default be openness.
First John 3:17-18 asks how the love of God can dwell in someone who sees a brother in need and shuts up his compassion, and it concludes that love should be shown in deed and truth rather than only in word or tongue. James 2:15-16 gives a pointed example of wishing someone well while doing nothing for their cold and hunger. These verses echo the Samaritan’s practical generosity. He did not say a blessing and walk on; he paid. Used with the Bible Verses For The Good Samaritan, they make a useful self-check. Ask what you have actually done lately for someone in need, as opposed to what you have felt or prayed. Prayer remains essential, but these passages push it toward action. If money is tight, time, skills, a ride, a phone call or help with paperwork may be the way you can give. The aim is not guilt but alignment between what you say you believe and how your week looks.
The Samaritan paid two pence and promised more, so his mercy had a price tag. Proverbs 19:17 teaches that whoever is kind to the poor lends to the Lord and will be repaid, and Isaiah 58:10 speaks of drawing out your soul to the hungry and satisfying the afflicted, with light rising in darkness as a result. Hebrews 13:16 adds that to do good and to share is not to be forgotten, because God is pleased with such sacrifices. Practical generosity usually works best when it is planned rather than left to mood. You might set aside a regular amount for giving, keep a few meal gift cards in the car, or choose a local charity and support it consistently. Look for ways to give that respect the dignity of the person, as the Samaritan did when he arranged proper care. Giving wisely means asking what the person actually needs and who is already helping.
Matthew 5:7 promises that the merciful will obtain mercy, and Luke 6:31 gives the simple standard of treating others as you would like to be treated. Both can be tested against the parable. If you were lying injured on a lonely road, you would hope that someone would stop, and the Samaritan did what a wounded person would most want. This standard works well in smaller settings too. How would you want a stressed coworker, an anxious neighbour or a difficult relative to treat you on a bad day? Asking that question before reacting often changes the response. It also helps to practise kindness in private places, such as online comments and family conversations, where nobody is watching. The Bible Verses For The Good Samaritan point toward a life in which mercy is not an occasional event but a regular habit that shapes tone, time and priorities.
To use this page in a week, choose one verse per day and attach one small action to it. On Monday, read Luke 10:33-34 and pay attention to who you notice. Tuesday, read Galatians 6:2 and ask a friend how you can help carry something. Wednesday, read Hebrews 13:2 and greet someone you would usually ignore. Thursday, read 1 John 3:17-18 and do something concrete for a person in need. Friday, read Proverbs 19:17 and give to a cause or person. Saturday, read Luke 6:31 and write down one place where you can treat someone better than you have lately. Sunday, read Luke 10:36-37 again and thank God for the times others were neighbours to you. If you are using these Bible Verses For The Good Samaritan with a family or group, take turns sharing what you did and what surprised you. Small, repeated acts tend to shape character more than occasional large ones.
Jesus did not pick a quiet country lane for this story. The road from Jerusalem down to Jericho drops sharply through dry, broken hills, and in His day it had a name for danger. A traveller could be hidden from view by a single outcrop of rock. Luke 10:30 says, ‘A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, which stripped him of his raiment, and wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead.’ Anyone listening in that crowd had either walked that road or knew somebody who had been frightened on it.
That setting matters when we read the Bible Verses For The Good Samaritan today. The story does not begin in a church or a classroom. It begins in the exact kind of place where help is least likely to arrive: remote, risky and nearly empty. The wounded man had no way to ask for anything. He could not even speak up, since he was left half dead. Mercy in this story has to start with the person who happens to come along, because nobody else is there.
It also explains why the priest and the Levite are mentioned at all. Both were headed away from Jerusalem, perhaps home from service at the temple. They were not villains in a cartoon. They were tired, careful, and likely afraid that the man was dead or that robbers were still close. Jesus lets us feel those reasons, and then He shows what the Samaritan did anyway.
Look closely at Luke 10:34: ‘And went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him.’ Every piece of that sentence is a small act with a cost. Oil and wine were things a traveller carried for his own use, so he gave up supplies he might have needed later. Bandages had to come from somewhere, probably his own clothing or cargo. And putting an injured stranger on his animal meant the Samaritan walked.
Care in this story is slow. It is hands-on and a bit messy. He did not toss a coin and hurry off, and he did not call out a blessing from the far side of the road. He knelt in the dust and dealt with open wounds. If you have ever sat beside a relative who could not clean himself, you know how much patience that takes, and how much of it nobody sees.
Then comes the inn. The Samaritan hands over two pence and says he will repay any extra on his return (Luke 10:35). He built a plan that outlasted his own presence. Real help often needs that second stage: somebody who can keep going when you have to leave. Among the Bible Verses For The Good Samaritan, this detail guards against the idea that one dramatic rescue is enough. Good neighbours arrange for what happens tomorrow.
The first mistake is to treat it as a story about being nice. Jesus told it in answer to a lawyer who wanted to define who counted as a neighbour, and the answer cuts right through his categories. Kindness here crosses a line of hostility that everyone present understood. If we shrink it to a vague lesson about politeness, we lose the sting.
The second mistake runs the other way: assuming the story orders us to stop every time we see a need, whatever the danger. Scripture elsewhere praises wisdom and caution (Proverbs 22:3). The Samaritan did not lack sense. He took the man to a safe place rather than lingering on a robber-infested road. Compassion and prudence can walk together, and sometimes the wise form of help is calling the right people rather than playing hero.
The third mistake is to read it as a debt we pay once and then forget. Proverbs 3:27 says, ‘Withhold not good from them to whom it is due, when it is in the power of thine hand to do it.’ The phrase about the power of your hand is quietly practical. It points to what you can actually do, not to everything that could be done. A person with a car can offer a ride. A person with an hour can sit with a lonely neighbour. Nobody is asked to carry every wounded traveller in the world, only the one in front of them.
Picture a hospital corridor late at night. A man in a thin jacket sits alone near the vending machines, waiting to hear about a wife he cannot afford to stay beside. Staff walk past with quick, polite nods. Another visitor glances at him and looks at her phone. It is not cruelty. It is the same hurry that carried the priest down the road.
Now imagine one person stopping. She asks if he has eaten, finds a blanket, sits down for a while. Jesus said in Matthew 25:35-36, ‘For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me.’ The wording is plain and domestic. Meat, drink, clothing, a visit. Those are not heroic tasks; they are the ordinary materials of mercy.
Galatians 6:10 puts the same call in a sentence we can carry into a week: ‘As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith.’ Notice the word opportunity. The Samaritan did not go hunting for a crisis. An opportunity landed on his road, and he treated it as his. Most of us will meet a handful of such moments this month, and they rarely announce themselves.
A story like this can leave a tender-hearted person feeling guilty for every need they cannot meet. That is not the aim. The Samaritan used his own resources, set a limit by handing money to the innkeeper, and then went on with his journey. He did not move into the inn. Honest helpers know their own capacity, and they ask others to share the load, which is exactly what Galatians 6:2 describes when it speaks of bearing one another’s burdens.
If you are a carer or a nurse, or the one everyone calls in a crisis, take that seriously. Rest is not disloyalty. Jesus Himself withdrew to quiet places to pray (Luke 5:16). Sustainable kindness needs sleep, honest friends, and sometimes a counsellor or pastor who can help you sort out what is yours to carry and what is not. If your own heart is heavy, seek that help without shame.
A short prayer in plain words might help as you close this page. Lord, open my eyes to the person you place on my road this week. Give me enough courage to stop, enough sense to help wisely, and enough humility to let others join me. Forgive the times I walked past, and teach me to stay near those who are hurting, the way you stayed near me. Amen. Then go and do likewise, as Luke 10:37 ends, with whatever is in your hand today.
Other collections you may find useful: Bible Verses For Motivation, Bible Verses For Overcoming Fear, Bible Verses About Being Thankful, Bible Verses About God's Faithfulness, Bible Verses For Good Friends, Bible Verses For Courage and Faith, Bible Verses About Provision, Bible Verses For Trusting God, Bible Verses About Finances, Bible Verses For Protection from Evil and Bible Verses For Husbands.
To study these verses in more depth, try Bible Gateway, Bible Hub and Bible Study Tools.
The Bible tells the Good Samaritan story in Luke 10:25-37, and this page pairs it with 15 further KJV passages on mercy, hospitality and practical love from Galatians, Proverbs, Matthew, Hebrews, 1 John, James, Isaiah, Ephesians and Colossians.
This page brings together 17 King James Version references about the Good Samaritan, drawn from 10 different books of the Bible.
Yes, the verses referenced on this page, including Luke 10:33, are quoted according to the King James Version (KJV), and are suitable for daily reading, memorization, or devotional use.
Beyond the references highlighted on this page, the Good Samaritan appears throughout Scripture in books such as Luke, Proverbs, Galatians, Matthew, Hebrews; this collection focuses on some of the clearest examples.
These Good Samaritan verses are drawn from Luke, Galatians, Proverbs, Matthew, Hebrews, 1 John, James, Isaiah, Ephesians and Colossians.
