²⁵Once when large crowds of people were going along with Jesus, he turned and said to them, ²⁶^*“Those who come to me cannot be my disciples unless they love me more than they love father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, and themselves as well. ²⁷^*Those who do not carry their own cross and come after me cannot be my disciples.

²⁸“If one of you is planning to build a tower, you sit down first and work out what it will cost, to see if you have enough money to finish the job. ²⁹If you don’t, you will not be able to finish the tower after laying the foundation; and all who see what happened will laugh at you. ³⁰‘This man began to build but can’t finish the job!’ they will say.

³¹“If a king goes out with ten thousand men to fight another king who comes against him with twenty thousand men, he will sit down first and decide if he is strong enough to face that other king. ³²If he isn’t, he will send messengers to meet the other king, to ask for terms of peace while he is still a long way off. ³³In the same way,” concluded Jesus, “none of you can be my disciple unless you give up everything you have.

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Cross references

*14.26: Mt 10:37
*14.27: Mt 10:38; 16:24; Mk 8:34; Lk 9:23