18. “But one by one they all began making excuses. The first said to him, ‘I have bought a field, and I need to go and see it. I ask you to have me excused.’
19. “And another said, ‘I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I am going to try them out. I ask you to have me excused.’
20. “And another said, ‘I have married a wife, and because of this I am unable to come.’
21. “And that servant came and reported this to his master. Then the master of the house, being wroth, said to his servant, ‘Hurry out into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in here the poor, and crippled, and lame, and blind.’
22. “And the servant said, ‘Master, it is done as you commanded, and still there is room.’
23. “And the master said to the servant, ‘Go out into the street corners and hedges, and compel them to come in, so that my house is filled.
24. ‘For I say to you that none of those men who were invited shall taste my supper.’ ”
25. And large crowds were going with Him, and turning, He said to them,
26. “If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, and wife, and children, and brothers, and sisters, and his own life too, he is unable to be My taught one.
27. “And whoever does not bear his stake and come after Me is unable to be My taught one.
28. “For who of you, wishing to build a tower, does not sit down first and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it?
29. “Otherwise, when he has laid the foundation, and is unable to finish it, all who see it begin to mock him,
30. saying, ‘This man began to build and was unable to finish.’
31. “Or what sovereign, going to fight against another sovereign, does not sit down first and take counsel whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand?