⁴² “If someone causes one of these little children who believes in me to ·sin [lose faith; stumble], it would be better for that person to have a ·large stone [large millstone; ^Lmillstone of a donkey] tied around his neck and be ·drowned [^Lthrown] in the sea. ⁴³ If your hand causes you ·to sin [lose faith; stumble], cut it off. It is better for you ·to lose part of your body and live forever [^Lto enter life maimed] than to have two hands and go to ·hell [^LGehenna; ^Ca valley outside of Jerusalem where in the OT period children were sacrificed to a pagan god; later used as a burning trash heap; a metaphor for hell], where the fire never goes out. |⁴⁴ In hell the worm does not die; the fire is never put out.|^{[a] 45} If your foot causes you to ·sin [lose faith; stumble], cut it off. It is better for you ·to lose part of your body and to live forever [^Lto enter life crippled] than to have two feet and be thrown into ·hell [Gehenna; v. 43]. |⁴⁶ In hell the worm does not die; the fire is never put out.|^{[b] 47} If your eye causes you to ·sin [lose faith; stumble], take it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with only one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into ·hell [Gehenna; v. 43]. ⁴⁸ In hell the worm does not die; the fire is never put out. ⁴⁹ Every person will be salted with fire. [^CThe meaning of this proverb is uncertain; it may mean that the testing of believers purifies (fire) and preserves (salt); or it may refer to believers as God’s covenant people, since salt and fire were part of the OT sacrificial system; see Lev. 2:3; Num. 18:9.]

⁵⁰ “Salt is good, but if the salt loses its salty taste, you cannot make it salty again. So, ·be full of salt [^Lhave salt in/among yourselves; ^Csalt here may symbolize fellowship within the covenant], and have peace with each other.”