²³ And the master said to the slave, ‘Go out into the roads and the hedges and press upon them to come in, so that my house will be filled. ²⁴ For I tell you, none of those men who were invited shall taste my dinner.’”

Discipleship Tested

²⁵ Now ^[a]large crowds were going along with Him, and He turned and said to them, ²⁶ “^(A)If anyone comes to Me and does not ^[b]hate his own father, mother, wife, children, brothers, sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple. ²⁷ Whoever does not ^(B)carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple. ²⁸ For which one of you, when he wants to build a tower, does not first sit down and calculate the cost, to see if he has enough to complete it? ²⁹ Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who are watching it will begin to ridicule him, ³⁰ saying, ‘This person began to build, and was not able to finish!’ ³¹ Or what king, when he sets out to meet another king in battle, will not first sit down and ^(C)consider whether he is strong enough with ten thousand men to face the one coming against him with twenty thousand? ³² Otherwise, while the other is still far away, he sends a delegation and requests terms of peace. ³³ So then, none of you can be My disciple who ^(D)does not ^[c]give up all his own possessions.

³⁴ “Therefore, salt is good; but ^(E)if even salt has become tasteless, with what will it be ^[d]seasoned? ³⁵ It is useless either for the soil or the manure pile, so it is thrown out. ^(F)The one who has ears to hear, ^[e]let him hear.”