²³ And He was saying to them all, “^(A)If anyone wants to come after Me, he must deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow Me. ²⁴ For ^(B)whoever wants to save his ^[a]life will lose it, but whoever loses his ^[b]life for My sake, this is the one who will save it.

²⁶ “^(A)If anyone comes to Me and does not ^[a]hate his own father, mother, wife, children, brothers, sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple.

³⁷ “^(A)The one who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; and the one who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me.

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 ^(A)consider whether he is strong enough with ten thousand men to face the one coming against him with twenty thousand?

³³ So then, none of you can be My disciple who ^(A)does not ^[a]give up all his own possessions.