Parable of the Dinner

¹⁶ But Jesus said to him, “A man was giving a big dinner, and he invited many guests; ¹⁷ and at the dinner hour he sent his servant to tell those who had been invited, ‘Come, because everything is ready now.’ ¹⁸ But they all alike began to make excuses. The first one said to him, ‘I have purchased a piece of land and I have to go out and see it; please consider me excused.’ ¹⁹ Another one said, ‘I have purchased five yoke of oxen, and I am going to try them out; please consider me excused.’ ²⁰ And another said, ‘I have [recently] married a wife, and for that reason I am unable to come.’^{(A) 21} So the servant came back and reported this to his master. Then [his master,] the head of the household, became angry [at the rejections of his invitation] and said to his servant, ‘Go out quickly into the streets and the lanes of the city and bring in here the poor and the disabled and the blind and the lame.’ ²² And the servant [after returning] said, ‘Sir, what you commanded has been done, and still there is room.’ ²³ Then the master told the servant, ‘Go out into the highways and along the hedges, and compel them to come in, so that my house may be filled [with guests]. ²⁴ For I tell you, not one of those who were invited [and declined] will taste my dinner.’”