Stumbling Blocks

“Woe to the world because of its [a]stumbling blocks! For (A)it is inevitable that [b]stumbling blocks come; but woe to the person through whom the [c]stumbling block comes!

“And (B)if your hand or your foot is causing you to sin, cut it off and throw it away from you; it is better for you to enter life maimed or without a foot, than to have two hands or two feet and be thrown into the eternal fire. And (C)if your eye is causing you to sin, tear it out and throw it away from you. It is better for you to enter life with one eye, than to have two eyes and be thrown into the [d](D)fiery hell.

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Footnotes

  1. Matthew 18:7 I.e., enticements to sin
  2. Matthew 18:7 I.e., enticements to sin
  3. Matthew 18:7 I.e., enticements to sin
  4. Matthew 18:9 Lit Gehenna of fire

6-7 “But if you give them a hard time, bullying or taking advantage of their simple trust, you’ll soon wish you hadn’t. You’d be better off dropped in the middle of the lake with a millstone around your neck. Doom to the world for giving these God-believing children a hard time! Hard times are inevitable, but you don’t have to make it worse—and it’s doomsday to you if you do.

8-9 “If your hand or your foot gets in the way of God, chop it off and throw it away. You’re better off maimed or lame and alive than the proud owners of two hands and two feet, godless in a furnace of eternal fire. And if your eye distracts you from God, pull it out and throw it away. You’re better off one-eyed and alive than exercising your twenty-twenty vision from inside the fire of hell.

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