If thou see the ass of him that hateth thee lying under his burden, and wouldest forbear to help him, thou shalt surely help with him.
This command comes from the laws God gave the Israelites through Moses after they escaped slavery in Egypt. These laws governed not just worship but the texture of everyday life — how to treat workers, strangers, animals, and even enemies. The scenario here is very concrete: you are on a road and you see the donkey belonging to someone who actively hates you — a person you are in real conflict with — collapsed under the weight of its load. The law does not allow you to walk past. You must stop and help. The care of a suffering animal becomes the hinge point of a radical command: do good even to those who have wronged you. This was countercultural in ancient times, and it remains so today.
Lord, You know exactly who I would rather walk past. Give me the courage to stop anyway — not because the hurt wasn't real, but because You have called me to something better than keeping score. Help me act like I believe that today. Amen.
A fallen donkey is not a dramatic moment. Nobody writes songs about it. There are no thunderclaps, no burning bush — just a groaning animal, a heavy pack, and a man standing in the road deciding whether to keep walking. And yet God chose this completely unremarkable image to say something enormous: you do not get to let someone suffer simply because they have hurt you. The animal didn't choose its owner. And maybe that is exactly the point — this command is not asking you to feel warmly toward your enemy. It is asking you to act decently toward someone who happens to be connected to them. Who is the person in your life whose donkey you would be tempted to walk right past? The coworker who took credit for your work. The family member who said the unforgivable thing at the worst possible moment. The neighbor who made your life difficult for no reason you ever understood. This law does not erase what happened — it just refuses to let the hurt have the last word in who you become. Helping someone who has wronged you is not pretending the wrong didn't happen. It just means choosing not to let the score define your character.
Why do you think God used such a specific, ordinary image — a fallen donkey — rather than a sweeping moral principle? What does that level of specificity tell you about how God thinks about ethics?
Who in your life represents the "enemy" in this story, and what would helping their "donkey" actually, concretely look like in your situation?
Is there a meaningful difference between acting decently toward someone who has hurt you and pretending the conflict doesn't exist? How do you hold those two things at the same time without using one to avoid the other?
If you stopped to help someone you were in conflict with, how do you think it might change the relationship — or at minimum, how might it change you?
What is one small, specific act of help or decency you could offer this week to someone you are currently in tension with?
Thou 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.
Leviticus 19:18
See that none render evil for evil unto any man; but ever follow that which is good, both among yourselves, and to all men.
1 Thessalonians 5:15
But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;
Matthew 5:44
But I say unto you which hear, Love your enemies, do good to them which hate you,
Luke 6:27
Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.
Galatians 6:2
If thine enemy be hungry, give him bread to eat; and if he be thirsty, give him water to drink:
Proverbs 25:21
Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head.
Romans 12:20
If you see the donkey of one who hates you lying helpless under its load, you shall not leave the man to deal with it [alone]; you must help him release the animal [from its burden].
AMP
If you see the donkey of one who hates you lying down under its burden, you shall refrain from leaving him with it; you shall rescue it with him.
ESV
'If you see the donkey of one who hates you lying [helpless] under its load, you shall refrain from leaving it to him, you shall surely release [it] with him.
NASB
If you see the donkey of someone who hates you fallen down under its load, do not leave it there; be sure you help him with it.
NIV
If you see the donkey of one who hates you lying under its burden, and you would refrain from helping it, you shall surely help him with it.
NKJV
If you see that the donkey of someone who hates you has collapsed under its load, do not walk by. Instead, stop and help.
NLT
If you see the donkey of someone who hates you lying helpless under its load, don't walk off and leave it. Help it up.
MSG