And if your eye causes you to sin, gouge it out. It’s better to enter the Kingdom of God with only one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell,
Parallel translations
- WEB If your eye causes you to stumble, cast it out. It is better for you to enter into God’s Kingdom with one eye, rather than having two eyes to be cast into the Gehenna of fire,
- KJV And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out: it is better for thee to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye, than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire:
- BSB And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell,
- NKJV And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye, rather than having two eyes, to be cast into hell fire—
- NASB And if your eye is causing you to sin, throw it away; it is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye, than, having two eyes, to be thrown into hell,
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Better to enter God's kingdom with one eye than to keep both and be thrown into hell. Even the dearest things must go if they lead us to sin.
Overview
The eye, like the hand and foot, represents anything cherished that becomes an occasion for sin. Entering the kingdom is so surpassingly valuable that no sacrifice is too great to secure it. Jesus' contrast between the kingdom and Gehenna presses each hearer to choose decisively for God's reign.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 11
- Matt 18:9If your eye causes you to stumble, pluck it out, and cast it from you. It is better for you to enter into life with one eye, rather than having two eyes to be cast into the Gehenna of fire.
- Matt 5:22But I tell you, that everyone who is angry with his brother without a cause will be in danger of the judgment; and whoever says to his brother, ‘Raca!’ will be in danger of the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of Gehenna.
- Matt 5:28–29but I tell you that everyone who gazes at a woman to lust after her has committed adultery with her already in his heart.
- Mark 9:43If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off. It is better for you to enter into life maimed, rather than having your two hands to go into Gehenna, into the unquenchable fire,
- Phil 3:7–8However, I consider those things that were gain to me as a loss for Christ.
- Ps 119:37Turn my eyes away from looking at worthless things. Revive me in your ways.
- Gal 4:15What was the blessing you enjoyed? For I testify to you that, if possible, you would have plucked out your eyes and given them to me.
- Job 31:1“I made a covenant with my eyes, how then should I look lustfully at a young woman?
- Gen 3:6When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took some of its fruit, and ate; and she gave some to her husband with her, and he ate it, too.
- Matt 10:37–39He who loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; and he who loves son or daughter more than me isn’t worthy of me.
- Luke 14:26“If anyone comes to me, and doesn’t disregard his own father, mother, wife, children, brothers, and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he can’t be my disciple.
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Christ at the center
Mark drives urgently to the cross, showing Jesus the Son of God as the suffering Servant who 'came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.'
How Mark 9:47 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.