The Cost of Discipleship

²⁵ Now great crowds accompanied him, and he turned and said to them, ^26 (A)“If anyone comes to me and ^(B)does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, ^(C)yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. ^27 (D)Whoever does not ^(E)bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple.

²⁶ Then Nebuchadnezzar came near to the door of the burning fiery furnace; he declared, ^(A)“Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, servants of the ^(B)Most High God, come out, and come here!” Then ^(C)Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego came out from the fire. ²⁷ And the ^(D)satraps, the prefects, the governors, and ^(E)the king's counselors gathered together and saw that ^(F)the fire had not had any power over the bodies of those men. The hair of their heads was not singed, their ^(G)cloaks were not harmed, and no smell of fire had come upon them. ²⁸ Nebuchadnezzar answered and said, “Blessed be the God of ^(H)Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who ^(I)has sent his angel and ^(J)delivered his servants, who ^(K)trusted in him, and set aside^[a] the king's command, and yielded up their bodies rather than ^(L)serve and worship any god except their own God. ²⁹ Therefore ^(M)I make a decree: Any ^(N)people, nation, or language that speaks anything against the God of ^(O)Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego ^(P)shall be torn limb from limb, and their houses laid in ruins, for there is no other god who is able to rescue in this way.”