This is the hardest instruction in the New Testament, and Jesus gives it without qualification: love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you. Four verbs, all of them active. None of them is feel.
Paul's argument in Romans 12 is not that revenge is wrong because you are better than that. It is that vengeance belongs to someone else — Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord. The prohibition is jurisdictional rather than moral.
What follows is stranger still. Feed your enemy, give him drink, and you will heap coals of fire on his head. Commentators have argued about that image for centuries. What is not disputed is the instruction attached to it.
The verses
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Matthew 5:44But 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;
Open → Luke 6:27But I say unto you which hear, Love your enemies, do good to them which hate you,
Open → Romans 12:19Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.
Open → Romans 12:20Therefore 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.
Open → Romans 12:21Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.
Open → Proverbs 25:21If thine enemy be hungry, give him bread to eat; and if he be thirsty, give him water to drink:
Open → Luke 6:37Judge not, and ye shall not be judged: condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned: forgive, and ye shall be forgiven:
Open → Proverbs 24:17Rejoice not when thine enemy falleth, and let not thine heart be glad when he stumbleth.
Open → 1 Peter 3:9Not rendering evil for evil, or railing for railing: but contrariwise blessing; knowing that ye are thereunto called, that ye should inherit a blessing.
Open → Matthew 5:9Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.
Open → Search this and more on FirstVerseNothing here asks you to stay near someone who is hurting you. Loving an enemy and being alone with one are different things.
Related subjects
Scripture: King James Version, public domain. Last updated August 15, 2026.