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. ^27 (G)But I tell you truly, there are some standing here who shall not taste death till they see the kingdom of God.”

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.”