Matthew 18:5–14

⁵“Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me; ⁶but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin,^z it would be better for him to have a great millstone fastened round his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea.

⁷“Woe to the world for temptations to sin! For it is necessary that temptations come, but woe to the man by whom the temptation comes! ⁸And if your hand or your foot causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away; it is better for you to enter life maimed or lame than with two hands or two feet to be thrown into the eternal fire. ⁹And if your eye causes you to sin,^a pluck it out and throw it away; it is better for you to enter life with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into the hell^b of fire.

¹⁰“See that you do not despise one of these little ones; for I tell you that in heaven their angels always behold the face of my Father who is in heaven.¹²What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go in search of the one that went astray? ¹³And if he finds it, truly, I say to you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine that never went astray. ¹⁴So it is not the will of my^d Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish.