The Cost of Following Jesus

¹⁸ Now ^(A)when Jesus saw a crowd around him, ^(B)he gave orders to go over to the other side. ^19 (C)And a scribe came up and said to him, “Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.” ²⁰ And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.” ²¹ Another of the disciples said to him, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.” ²² And Jesus said to him, “Follow me, and leave ^(D)the dead to bury their own dead.”

Jesus Calms a Storm

^23 (E)And when he got into the boat, his disciples followed him. ²⁴ And behold, there arose a great storm on the sea, so that the boat was being swamped by the waves; but ^(F)he was asleep. ²⁵ And they went and woke him, saying, ^(G)“Save us, Lord; we are perishing.” ²⁶ And he said to them, “Why are you ^(H)afraid, ^(I)O you of little faith?” Then he rose and ^(J)rebuked the winds and the sea, and ^(K)there was a great calm. ²⁷ And the men ^(L)marveled, saying, “What sort of man is this, that even ^(M)winds and sea obey him?”

Jesus Calls Matthew

^9 (A)As Jesus passed on from there, he saw a man called ^(B)Matthew sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him, “Follow me.” And he rose and followed him.

¹⁰ And as Jesus^[a] reclined at table in the house, behold, many ^(C)tax collectors and sinners came and were reclining with Jesus and his disciples. ¹¹ And when the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, ^(D)“Why does your teacher eat with ^(E)tax collectors and sinners?” ¹² But when he heard it, he said, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. ¹³ Go and learn ^(F)what this means: ^(G)‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.’ For ^(H)I came not to call the righteous, ^(I)but sinners.”

The Harvest Is Plentiful, the Laborers Few

^35 (A)And Jesus went throughout all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction. ^36 (B)When he saw the crowds, ^(C)he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, ^(D)like sheep without a shepherd. ^37 (E)Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; ³⁸ therefore ^(F)pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to ^(G)send out laborers into his harvest.”