For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it?
Parallel translations
- WEB For which of you, desiring to build a tower, doesn’t first sit down and count the cost, to see if he has enough to complete it?
- BSB Which of you, wishing to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost to see if he has the resources to complete it?
- NKJV For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not sit down first and count the cost, whether he has enough to finish it —
- NASB For which one of you, when he wants to build a tower, does not first sit down and calculate the cost, to see if he has enough to complete it?
- NLT “But don’t begin until you count the cost. For who would begin construction of a building without first calculating the cost to see if there is enough money to finish it?
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Jesus asks who builds a tower without first counting the cost. Following Him calls for sober, deliberate commitment.
Overview
The builder who sits down to calculate before building illustrates wise forethought. Jesus urges would-be disciples to consider seriously what allegiance to Him entails. Discipleship is not entered thoughtlessly but with clear-eyed reckoning of its demands.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 10
- Prov 24:27Prepare thy work without, and make it fit for thyself in the field; and afterwards build thine house.
- Matt 10:22And ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved.
- Josh 24:19–24And Joshua said unto the people, Ye cannot serve the LORD: for he is an holy God; he is a jealous God; he will not forgive your transgressions nor your sins.
- Luke 14:33So likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple.
- Matt 20:22–23But Jesus answered and said, Ye know not what ye ask. Are ye able to drink of the cup that I shall drink of, and to be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with? They say unto him, We are able.
- Matt 8:20And Jesus saith unto him, The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head.
- Acts 21:13Then Paul answered, What mean ye to weep and to break mine heart? for I am ready not to be bound only, but also to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.
- 1 Th 3:4–5For verily, when we were with you, we told you before that we should suffer tribulation; even as it came to pass, and ye know.
- Gen 11:4–9And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth.
- 2 Pet 1:13–14Yea, I think it meet, as long as I am in this tabernacle, to stir you up by putting you in remembrance;
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
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Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
Luke shows Jesus the Savior for all — outsiders, the poor, the nations — the one who, on the Emmaus road, opened all the Scriptures to show they were about himself.
How Luke 14:28 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.