Exacting Discipleship

^57 (A)As they were going along the road, ^(B)someone said to Him, “I will follow You wherever You go.” ⁵⁸ And Jesus said to him, “The foxes have holes and the birds of the ^[a]air have ^[b]nests, but ^(C)the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.” ⁵⁹ And He said to another, “^(D)Follow Me.” But he said, “Lord, permit me first to go and bury my father.” ⁶⁰ But He said to him, “Allow the dead to bury their own dead; but as for you, go and ^(E)proclaim everywhere the kingdom of God.” ⁶¹ Another also said, “I will follow You, Lord; but ^(F)first permit me to say good-bye to those at home.” ⁶² But Jesus said to him, “^(G)No one, after putting his hand to the plow and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.”

Encouragement of Timothy’s Visit

3 Therefore ^(A)when we could endure it no longer, we thought it best to be left behind at ^(B)Athens alone, ² and we sent ^(C)Timothy, our brother and God’s fellow worker in the gospel of Christ, to strengthen and encourage you as to your faith, ³ so that no one would be ^[a]disturbed by these afflictions; for you yourselves know that ^(D)we have been destined for this. ⁴ For indeed when we were with you, we kept telling you in advance that we were going to suffer affliction; ^[b](E)and so it came to pass, ^[c]as you know. ⁵ For this reason, ^(F)when I could endure it no longer, I also ^(G)sent to ^[d]find out about your faith, for fear that ^(H)the tempter might have tempted you, and ^(I)our labor would be in vain.

⁶ But now that ^(J)Timothy has come to us from you, and has brought us good news of ^(K)your faith and love, and that you always ^(L)think kindly of us, longing to see us just as we also long to see you, ⁷ for this reason, brethren, in all our distress and affliction we were comforted about you through your faith; ⁸ for now we really live, if you ^(M)stand firm in the Lord. ⁹ For ^(N)what thanks can we render to God for you in return for all the joy with which we rejoice before our God on your account, ¹⁰ as we ^(O)night and day keep praying most earnestly that we may ^(P)see your face, and may ^(Q)complete what is lacking in your faith?

^11 (R)Now may ^(S)our God and Father ^(T)Himself and Jesus our Lord ^(U)direct our way to you; ¹² and may the Lord cause you to increase and ^(V)abound in love for one another, and for all people, just as we also do for you; ¹³ so that He may ^(W)establish your hearts ^(X)without blame in holiness before ^(Y)our God and Father at the ^[e](Z)coming of our Lord Jesus ^(AA)with all His ^[f]saints.