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Gospel Reading - Concerning Anger

²¹“Under the laws of Moses the rule was, ‘If you murder, you must die.’ ²²But I have added to that rule and tell you^a that if you are only angry, even in your own home, you are in danger of judgment! If you call your friend an idiot, you are in danger of being brought before the court. And if you curse him, you are in danger of the fires of hell.

²³“So if you are standing before the altar in the Temple, offering a sacrifice to God, and suddenly remember that a friend has something against you, ²⁴leave your sacrifice there beside the altar and go and apologize and be reconciled to him, and then come and offer your sacrifice to God. ²⁵Come to terms quickly with your enemy before it is too late and he drags you into court and you are thrown into a debtor’s cell, ²⁶for you will stay there until you have paid the last penny.

²⁷“The laws of Moses said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ 28 But I say: Anyone who even looks at a woman with lust in his eye has already committed adultery with her in his heart. ²⁹So if your eye — even if it is your best eye!^b — causes you to lust, gouge it out and throw it away. Better for part of you to be destroyed than for all of you to be cast into hell. ³⁰And if your hand — even your right hand — causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. Better that than find yourself in hell.