Take Up the Cross and Follow Him^(A)

^23 (B)Then He said to them all, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross ^[a]daily, and follow Me. ^24 (C)For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it. ^25 (D)For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and is himself destroyed or lost? ^26 (E)For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words, of him the Son of Man will be ^(F)ashamed when He comes in His own glory, and in His Father’s, and of the holy angels.

The Cost of Discipleship^(A)

^57 (B)Now it happened as they journeyed on the road, that someone said to Him, “Lord, I will follow You wherever You go.”

⁵⁸ And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man ^(C)has nowhere to lay His head.”

^59 (D)Then He said to another, “Follow Me.”

But he said, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.”

⁶⁰ Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and preach the kingdom of God.”

⁶¹ And another also said, “Lord, ^(E)I will follow You, but let me first go and bid them farewell who are at my house.”

⁶² But Jesus said to him, “No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is ^(F)fit for the kingdom of God.”

Woe to the Impenitent Cities^(A)

^13 (B)“Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! ^(C)For if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes. ¹⁴ But it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the judgment than for you. ^15 (D)And you, Capernaum, ^[a]who are ^(E)exalted to heaven, ^(F)will be brought down to Hades. ^16 (G)He who hears you hears Me, ^(H)he who rejects you rejects Me, and ^(I)he who rejects Me rejects Him who sent Me.”

Keeping the Word

²⁷ And it happened, as He spoke these things, that a certain woman from the crowd raised her voice and said to Him, ^(A)“Blessed is the womb that bore You, and the breasts which nursed You!”

²⁸ But He said, ^(B)“More than that, blessed are those who hear the word of God and keep it!”

Seeking a Sign^(A)

^29 (B)And while the crowds were thickly gathered together, He began to say, “This is an evil generation. It seeks a ^(C)sign, and no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah ^[a]the prophet. ³⁰ For as ^(D)Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites, so also the Son of Man will be to this generation. ^31 (E)The queen of the South will rise up in the judgment with the men of this generation and condemn them, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and indeed a ^(F)greater than Solomon is here. ³² The men of Nineveh will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for ^(G)they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and indeed a greater than Jonah is here.

⁴⁹ Therefore the wisdom of God also said, ^(A)‘I will send them prophets and apostles, and some of them they will kill and persecute,’ ⁵⁰ that the blood of all the prophets which was shed from the foundation of the world may be required of this generation, ^51 (B)from the blood of Abel to ^(C)the blood of Zechariah who perished between the altar and the temple. Yes, I say to you, it shall be required of this generation.

^52 (D)“Woe to you lawyers! For you have taken away the key of knowledge. You did not enter in yourselves, and those who were entering in you hindered.”

Beware of Hypocrisy^(A)

12 In ^(B)the meantime, when an innumerable multitude of people had gathered together, so that they trampled one another, He began to say to His disciples first of all, ^(C)“Beware of the ^[a]leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. ^2 (D)For there is nothing covered that will not be revealed, nor hidden that will not be known. ³ Therefore whatever you have spoken in the dark will be heard in the light, and what you have spoken in the ear in inner rooms will be proclaimed on the housetops.

Jesus Teaches the Fear of God^(E)

^4 (F)“And I say to you, ^(G)My friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do. ⁵ But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear Him who, after He has killed, has power to cast into hell; yes, I say to you, ^(H)fear Him!

Confess Christ Before Men^(A)

^8 (B)“Also I say to you, whoever confesses Me ^(C)before men, him the Son of Man also will confess before the angels of God. ⁹ But he who ^(D)denies Me before men will be denied before the angels of God.

¹⁰ “And ^(E)anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; but to him who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven.

¹⁶ Then He spoke a parable to them, saying: “The ground of a certain rich man yielded plentifully. ¹⁷ And he thought within himself, saying, ‘What shall I do, since I have no room to store my crops?’ ¹⁸ So he said, ‘I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build greater, and there I will store all my crops and my goods. ¹⁹ And I will say to my soul, ^(A)“Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years; take your ease; ^(B)eat, drink, and be merry.” ’ ²⁰ But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night ^(C)your soul will be required of you; ^(D)then whose will those things be which you have provided?’

²¹ “So is he who lays up treasure for himself, ^(E)and is not rich toward God.”