Mark 9:43

Look, if there is something that gets you to go wrong, you have to stop yourself. If you want to do something bad with your hand, you have to stop yourself from doing it. It is like you have to cut off your hand. It is better for you to live with God for ever with only one hand, than for God to send you to hell with 2 hands. That fire in hell never goes out.

Plain English Version

In The King James Version

And if thy hand offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter into life maimed, than having two hands to go into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched:

In Context

42Jesus kept on teaching his followers. He said, “If a little kid trusts me, and if somebody gets that little kid to do something bad, God will properly punish that person. Suppose somebody gets a big stone and ties it to that person’s neck and throws them into the sea and drowns them, that is bad for that person, but it is not as bad as the trouble God will give them for getting that little kid to go wrong.

Read all of Mark 9

Cross References

Matthew 3:12You know the way a farmer gets all the seeds from the plants he grows. He hits the seed heads with a stick and throws them in the air, so that the seeds fall off the plants. Then he gathers all the seeds and puts them in his shed. But he burns all the rest. It is rubbish, and he burns it in a fire. Well, God is like that farmer. He’s got that stick in his hand right now. If you turn around and live God’s way, he will look after you. But if you don’t, he will throw you in the fire that never goes out.”

Matthew 5:29You see, if things in your life push you to go wrong, then you have to get rid of them, even if it is hard to do. Be careful about how you use your eyes. If you see something that gets you to go wrong, then stop looking. That might be hard to do, like you are pulling out your eye and throwing it away. But it is better to lose one eye here on the earth now, than to keep 2 eyes and go to the bad place called hell.

Mark 9:45In the same way, if you want to do something bad with your foot, you have to stop yourself from doing it. It is like you have to cut off your foot. It is better for you to live with God for ever with only one foot, than for God to send you to hell with 2 feet.

Luke 14:21The work-man went back to his boss and told him their stories. Then his boss was very angry. He said to his work-man, ‘Go quickly now to every street in this town, and get the poor people, and bring them here to eat this dinner. Bring the people that are crippled, and the people that are blind, and the people that can’t walk.’

Matthew Henry on Mark 9:42-50

Pain to Be Preferred to Sin. 41 For whosoever shall give you a cup of water to drink in my name, because ye belong to Christ, verily I say unto you, he shall not lose his reward. 42 And whosoever shall offend one of these little ones that believe in me, it is better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and he were cast into the sea. 43 And if thy hand offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter into life maimed, than having two hands to go into hell, into the fire that never shall be… Read the whole commentary →

This Verse In Other Editions

Study Mark 9:43