14:25 Now large crowds ¹  were accompanying Jesus, ²  and turning to them he said, 14:26 “If anyone comes to me and does not hate ³  his own father and mother, and wife and children, and brothers and sisters, and even his own life, ⁴  he cannot be my disciple. 14:27 Whoever does not carry his own cross ⁵  and follow ⁶  me cannot be my disciple. 14:28 For which of you, wanting to build a tower, doesn’t sit down ⁷  first and compute the cost ⁸  to see if he has enough money to complete it? 14:29 Otherwise, ⁹  when he has laid ¹⁰  a foundation and is not able to finish the tower, ¹¹  all who see it ¹²  will begin to make fun of ¹³  him. 14:30 They will say, ¹⁴  ‘This man ¹⁵  began to build and was not able to finish!’ ¹⁶  14:31 Or what king, going out to confront another king in battle, will not sit down ¹⁷  first and determine whether he is able with ten thousand to oppose ¹⁸  the one coming against him with twenty thousand? 14:32 If he cannot succeed, ¹⁹  he will send a representative ²⁰  while the other is still a long way off and ask for terms of peace. ²¹  14:33 In the same way therefore not one of you can be my disciple if he does not renounce all his own possessions. ²² 

14:34 “Salt ²³  is good, but if salt loses its flavor, ²⁴  how can its flavor be restored? 14:35 It is of no value ²⁵  for the soil or for the manure pile; it is to be thrown out. ²⁶  The one who has ears to hear had better listen!” ²⁷