Discipleship Tested

25 Now 1large crowds were going along with Him; and He turned and said to them,

26 “aIf anyone comes to Me, and does not 1hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple.

27 “Whoever does not acarry his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.

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 observe it begin to ridicule him,

30 saying, ‘This man 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 aconsider whether he is strong enough with ten thousand men to encounter the one coming against him with twenty thousand?

32 “Or else, while the other is still far away, he sends 1a delegation and asks for terms of peace.

33 “So then, none of you can be My disciple who adoes not give up all his own possessions.

34 “Therefore, salt is good; but aif even salt has become tasteless, with what will it be seasoned?

35 “It is useless either for the soil or for the manure pile; it is thrown out. aHe who has ears to hear, 1let him hear.”