New Testament in a Year

Telling Parables Along the Road

²⁵ Now great crowds were traveling with Yeshua; and He turned and said to them, ²⁶ “If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his own father, mother, wife, children, brothers, and sisters—and yes, even his own life—he cannot be My disciple. ²⁷ Whoever does not carry his own cross and follow Me cannot be My disciple.

²⁸ “For which of you, wanting to build a tower, doesn’t first sit down and figure out the cost, to see if he has enough to finish it? ²⁹ Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and isn’t able to finish everything, all who see it begin to mock him, ³⁰ saying, ‘This man began to build and wasn’t able to finish!’

³¹ “Or what king, going to make war against another king, won’t first sit down to consider whether he is able with ten thousand to confront the one coming against him with twenty thousand? ^{[a] 32} If not, while the other is still far away, he sends an ambassador and asks for peace. ³³ So in the same way, whoever does not renounce all that he has, cannot be My disciple.

³⁴ “Therefore, salt is good; but if the salt should lose its flavor, how shall it be made salty again? ³⁵ It is not suitable for the soil or for a manure heap—it is thrown out. The one who has ears to hear, let him hear.”