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.
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.
- BSB 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.
- 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 6:31And as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise.
- Rom 13:8–10Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law.
- Gal 5:13–14For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another.
- Lev 19:18Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself: I am the LORD.
- Mark 12:29–34And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord:
- Matt 22:39–40And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
- Mic 6:8He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?
- Zech 8:16–17These are the things that ye shall do; Speak ye every man the truth to his neighbour; execute the judgment of truth and peace in your gates:
- 1 Tim 1:5Now the end of the commandment is charity out of a pure heart, and of a good conscience, and of faith unfeigned:
- Amos 5:14–15Seek good, and not evil, that ye may live: and so the LORD, the God of hosts, shall be with you, as ye have spoken.
- Mal 3:5And I will come near to you to judgment; and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, and against the adulterers, and against false swearers, and against those that oppress the hireling in his wages, the widow, and the fatherless, and that turn aside the stranger from his right, and fear not me, saith the LORD of hosts.
- Ezek 18:7–8And hath not oppressed any, but hath restored to the debtor his pledge, hath spoiled none by violence, hath given his bread to the hungry, and hath covered the naked with a garment;
- Jer 7:5–6For if ye throughly amend your ways and your doings; if ye throughly execute judgment between a man and his neighbour;
- Isa 1:17–18Learn to do well; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow.
- Zech 7:7–10Should ye not hear the words which the LORD hath cried by the former prophets, when Jerusalem was inhabited and in prosperity, and the cities thereof round about her, when men inhabited the south and the plain?
- Jas 2:10–13For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.
- Ezek 18:21But if the wicked will turn from all his sins that he hath committed, and keep all my statutes, and do that which is lawful and right, he shall surely live, he shall 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.