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.”

The Temptation of Jesus

4 ^(A)Now Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, ^(B)returned from the Jordan and was led around ^[a]by the Spirit in the wilderness ² for ^(C)forty days, being tempted by the devil. And He ate nothing during those days, and when they had ended, He was hungry. ³ And the devil said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread.” ⁴ And Jesus answered him, “It is written: ‘^(D)Man shall not live on bread alone.’”

^5 (E)And he led Him up and showed Him all the kingdoms of ^[b](F)the world in a moment of time. ⁶ And the devil said to Him, “I will give You all this domain and ^[c]its glory, ^(G)for it has been handed over to me, and I give it to whomever I want. ⁷ Therefore if You ^[d]worship before me, it shall all be Yours.” ⁸ Jesus replied to him, “It is written: ‘^(H)You shall worship the Lord your God and serve Him only.’”

^9 (I)And he brought Him into Jerusalem and had Him stand on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down from here; ¹⁰ for it is written:

¹¹ and,

¹² And Jesus answered and said to him, “It has been stated, ‘^(L)You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’”

³¹ the son of Melea, the son of Menna, the son of Mattatha, the son of Nathan, the son of David, ^32 (A)the son of Jesse, the son of Obed, the son of Boaz, the son of ^[a]Salmon, the son of ^[b]Nahshon,

¹² And because lawlessness is increased, ^[a]most people’s love will become cold.