Luke 6:35 (DRB)

Passage

But love ye your enemies: do good, and lend, hoping for nothing thereby: and your reward shall be great, and you shall be the sons of the Highest. For he is kind to the unthankful and to the evil.

Nearby Context

Luke 6:33 And if you do good to them who do good to you, what thanks are to you? For sinners also do this.

Luke 6:34 And if you lend to them of whom you hope to receive, what thanks are to you? For sinners also lend to sinners, for to receive as much.

Luke 6:35 But love ye your enemies: do good, and lend, hoping for nothing thereby: and your reward shall be great, and you shall be the sons of the Highest. For he is kind to the unthankful and to the evil.

Luke 6:36 Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful.

Luke 6:37 Judge not: and you shall not be judged. Condemn not: and you shall not be condemned. Forgive: and you shall be forgiven.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "love", "enemies", "good", "lend", "hoping", "nothing", "thereby", and "reward". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "love" and "enemies", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 34's "And if you lend to them of..." into verse 36's "Be ye therefore merciful as your Father...", so "love" and "enemies" belong inside that flow. In Luke context, the local focus is Christ, faith, and discipleship.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "love" and "enemies" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.