Matthew 7:6 -- Pearls Before Swine

Matthew 7:6 records a rather harsh but practical saying of Jesus: "Do not give what is holy to dogs; and do not throw your pearls before swine, or they will trample them under foot and turn and maul you."  This verse is an interesting example of a "chiasm" in which the clauses are to be read in a mirror-image fashion so that the last phrase really belongs to the first one. It can be diagrammed as below:
          Do not give what is holy to dogs
                    and do not throw your pearls before swine,
                    or they will trample them under foot
          and turn and maul you.

Pearls (2012) (14" x 11")

collage on canvas