In everything, then, do to others as you would have them do to you. For this is the essence of the Law and the Prophets.
Parallel translations
- WEB Therefore whatever you desire for men to do to you, you shall also do to them; for this is the law and the prophets.
- KJV Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets.
- NKJV Therefore, whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.
- NASB “In everything, therefore, treat people the same way you want them to treat you, for this is the Law and the Prophets.
- NLT “Do to others whatever you would like them to do to you. This is the essence of all that is taught in the law and the prophets.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Treat others as you would want to be treated; this sums up the Law and the Prophets. Love for neighbor fulfills God's righteous standard.
Overview
Known as the Golden Rule, this verse distills the ethical heart of the Sermon and of the Old Testament Scriptures into active love for others. It moves beyond merely avoiding harm to positively seeking others' good as we seek our own. As a summary of 'the law and the prophets,' it points toward the love that Christ himself perfectly embodied and enables in his people.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 17
- Luke 6:31Do to others as you would have them do to you.
- Rom 13:8–10Be indebted to no one, except to one another in love. For he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law.
- Gal 5:13–14For you, brothers, were called to freedom; but do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh. Rather, serve one another in love.
- Lev 19:18Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against any of your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the LORD.
- Mark 12:29–34Jesus replied, “This is the most important: ‘Hear O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is One.
- Matt 22:39–40And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’
- Mic 6:8He has shown you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you but to act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?
- Zech 8:16–17These are the things you must do: Speak truth to one another, render true and sound judgments in your gates,
- 1 Tim 1:5The goal of our instruction is the love that comes from a pure heart, a clear conscience, and a sincere faith.
- Amos 5:14–15Seek good, not evil, so that you may live. And the LORD, the God of Hosts, will be with you, as you have claimed.
- Mal 3:5“Then I will draw near to you for judgment. And I will be a swift witness against sorcerers and adulterers and perjurers, against oppressors of the widowed and fatherless, and against those who defraud laborers of their wages and deny justice to the foreigner but do not fear Me,” says the LORD of Hosts.
- Ezek 18:7–8He does not oppress another, but restores the pledge to the debtor. He does not commit robbery, but gives his bread to the hungry and covers the naked with clothing.
- Jer 7:5–6For if you really correct your ways and deeds, if you act justly toward one another,
- Isa 1:17–18Learn to do right; seek justice and correct the oppressor. Defend the fatherless and plead the case of the widow.”
- Zech 7:7–10Are these not the words that the LORD proclaimed through the earlier prophets, when Jerusalem and its surrounding towns were populous and prosperous, and the Negev and the foothills were inhabited?’”
- Jas 2:10–13Whoever keeps the whole law but stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it.
- Ezek 18:21But if the wicked man turns from all the sins he has committed, keeps all My statutes, and does what is just and right, he will surely live; he will not die.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Matthew presents Jesus as the promised King — son of David, son of Abraham — the new Moses and true Israel in whom every prophecy reaches 'that it might be fulfilled.'
How Matthew 7:12 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.