16. Jesus said to him, “A man gave a big dinner. He invited many people.
17. When it was time to eat, he sent his servant to tell the guests, ‘Come. The food is ready.’
18. But all the guests said they could not come. Each one made an excuse. The first one said, ‘I have just bought a field, so I must go look at it. Please excuse me.’
19. Another man said, ‘I have just bought five pairs of work animals; I must go and try them out. Please excuse me.’
20. A third man said, ‘I just got married; I can’t come.’
21. “So the servant returned and told his master what happened. The master was angry. He said, ‘Hurry! Go into the streets and alleys of the town. Bring me the poor, the crippled, the blind, and the lame.’
22. “Later, the servant said to him, ‘Master, I did what you told me to do, but we still have places for more people.’
23. The master said to the servant, ‘Go out to the highways and country roads. Tell the people there to come. I want my house to be full!
24. I tell you, not one of those people I invited first will eat any of this food I prepared.’”
25. Many people were traveling with Jesus. He said to them,
26. “If you come to me but will not leave your family, you cannot be my follower. You must love me more than your father, mother, wife, children, brothers, and sisters—even more than your own life!
27. Whoever will not carry the cross that is given to them when they follow me cannot be my follower.
28. “If you wanted to build a building, you would first sit down and decide how much it would cost. You must see if you have enough money to finish the job.
29. If you don’t do that, you might begin the work, but you would not be able to finish. And if you could not finish it, everyone would laugh at you.
30. They would say, ‘This man began to build, but he was not able to finish.’
31. “If a king is going to fight against another king, first he will sit down and plan. If he has only 10,000 men, he will try to decide if he is able to defeat the other king who has 20,000 men.
32. If he thinks he cannot defeat the other king, he will send some men to ask for peace while that king’s army is still far away.
33. “It is the same for each of you. You must leave everything you have to follow me. If not, you cannot be my follower.
34. “Salt is a good thing. But if the salt loses its salty taste, you can’t make it salty again.