Matthew 22
New King James Version
The Parable of the Wedding Feast(A)
22 And Jesus answered (B)and spoke to them again by parables and said: 2 “The kingdom of heaven is like a certain king who arranged a marriage for his son, 3 and sent out his servants to call those who were invited to the wedding; and they were not willing to come. 4 Again, he sent out other servants, saying, ‘Tell those who are invited, “See, I have prepared my dinner; (C)my oxen and fatted cattle are killed, and all things are ready. Come to the wedding.” ’ 5 But they made light of it and went their ways, one to his own farm, another to his business. 6 And the rest seized his servants, treated them [a]spitefully, and killed them. 7 But when the king heard about it, he was furious. And he sent out (D)his armies, destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city. 8 Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding is ready, but those who were invited were not (E)worthy. 9 Therefore go into the highways, and as many as you find, invite to the wedding.’ 10 So those servants went out into the highways and (F)gathered together all whom they found, both bad and good. And the wedding hall was filled with guests.
11 “But when the king came in to see the guests, he saw a man there (G)who did not have on a wedding garment. 12 So he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you come in here without a wedding garment?’ And he was (H)speechless. 13 Then the king said to the servants, ‘Bind him hand and foot, [b]take him away, and cast him (I)into outer darkness; there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’
14 (J)“For many are called, but few are chosen.”
The Pharisees: Is It Lawful to Pay Taxes to Caesar?(K)
15 (L)Then the Pharisees went and plotted how they might entangle Him in His talk. 16 And they sent to Him their disciples with the (M)Herodians, saying, “Teacher, we know that You are true, and teach the way of God in truth; nor do You care about anyone, for You do not [c]regard the person of men. 17 Tell us, therefore, what do You think? Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?”
18 But Jesus [d]perceived their wickedness, and said, “Why do you test Me, you hypocrites? 19 Show Me the tax money.”
So they brought Him a denarius.
20 And He said to them, “Whose image and inscription is this?”
21 They said to Him, “Caesar’s.”
And He said to them, (N)“Render[e] therefore to Caesar the things that are (O)Caesar’s, and to God the things that are (P)God’s.” 22 When they had heard these words, they marveled, and left Him and went their way.
The Sadducees: What About the Resurrection?(Q)
23 (R)The same day the Sadducees, (S)who say there is no resurrection, came to Him and asked Him, 24 saying: “Teacher, (T)Moses said that if a man dies, having no children, his brother shall marry his wife and raise up offspring for his brother. 25 Now there were with us seven brothers. The first died after he had married, and having no offspring, left his wife to his brother. 26 Likewise the second also, and the third, even to the seventh. 27 Last of all the woman died also. 28 Therefore, in the resurrection, whose wife of the seven will she be? For they all had her.”
29 Jesus answered and said to them, “You are [f]mistaken, (U)not knowing the Scriptures nor the power of God. 30 For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but (V)are like angels [g]of God in heaven. 31 But concerning the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was spoken to you by God, saying, 32 (W)‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? God is not the God of the dead, but of the living.” 33 And when the multitudes heard this, (X)they were astonished at His teaching.
The Scribes: Which Is the First Commandment of All?(Y)
34 (Z)But when the Pharisees heard that He had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together. 35 Then one of them, (AA)a lawyer, asked Him a question, testing Him, and saying, 36 “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?”
37 Jesus said to him, (AB)“‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and great commandment. 39 And the second is like it: (AC)‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 (AD)On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.”
Jesus: How Can David Call His Descendant Lord?(AE)
41 (AF)While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them, 42 saying, “What do you think about the Christ? Whose Son is He?”
They said to Him, “The (AG)Son of David.”
43 He said to them, “How then does David in the Spirit call Him ‘Lord,’ saying:
44 ‘The(AH) Lord said to my Lord,
“Sit at My right hand,
Till I make Your enemies Your footstool” ’?
45 If David then calls Him ‘Lord,’ how is He his Son?” 46 (AI)And no one was able to answer Him a word, (AJ)nor from that day on did anyone dare question Him anymore.
Footnotes
- Matthew 22:6 insolently
- Matthew 22:13 NU omits take him away, and
- Matthew 22:16 Lit. look at the face of
- Matthew 22:18 knew
- Matthew 22:21 Pay
- Matthew 22:29 deceived
- Matthew 22:30 NU omits of God
Matthew 22
The Voice
22 Jesus went on speaking in parables.
Jesus: 2 The kingdom of heaven is like a king whose son was getting married. The king organized a great feast, a huge wedding banquet. 3 He invited everyone he knew. The day of the wedding arrived, and the king sent his servants into town to track down his guests—but when the servants approached them with the king’s message, they refused to come. 4 So the king sent out another batch of servants.
King: Tell those people I’ve invited to come to the wedding banquet! Tell them I have prepared a great feast! Everything is ready! The oxen and fattened cattle have all been butchered, the wine is decanted, and the table is laid out just so.
5 And off the servants went, and they carried the king’s message to the errant guests—who still paid not a whit of attention. One guest headed into his field to work; another sat at his desk to attend to his accounts. 6 The rest of the guests actually turned on the servants, brutalizing them and killing them. 7 When he learned of this, the king was furious. He sent his army to kill the murderers and burn their towns. 8 But there was, of course, still a wedding to celebrate.
King (to his remaining servants): The wedding banquet is ready, but those I invited didn’t rise to the occasion. 9 So go into the streets and invite anyone you see; invite everyone you meet.
10 And the servants did just that—they went into the streets and invited everyone they met, rich and poor, good and bad, high and low, sick and well. Everyone who was invited came, and the wedding hall practically burst with guests.
11 The king looked around the wedding party with glee, but he spotted one man who was not dressed appropriately. In fact, he was dressed rather plainly, in clothes not at all fitting for a fine nuptial feast.
King: 12 Kind sir, how did you get in here without a proper suit of wedding clothes?
The man was speechless. He had been invited in off the street, after all! 13 Getting no response, the king told his servants,
King: Tie him up, and throw him out into the outer darkness, where there is weeping and grinding of teeth.
14 For many are invited, but few are chosen.
15 At that, the Pharisees left. They determined to trap this Jesus with His own words—hang Him by His own rope, you might say. 16 They sent a batch of students to Him, along with a group that was loyal to Herod.
Students: Teacher, we know You are a man of integrity and You tell the truth about the way of God. We know You don’t cotton to public opinion. 17 And that is why we trust You and want You to settle something for us: should we, God’s chosen people, pay taxes to Caesar or not?
18 Jesus knew these men were out to trap Him.
Jesus: You hypocrites! Why do you show up here with such a transparent trick? 19 Bring Me a coin you would use to pay tax.
Someone handed Him a denarius.[a] 20 Jesus fingered the coin.
Jesus: Of whom is this a portrait, and who owns this inscription?
Students: 21 Caesar.
Jesus: Well then, render to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s.
22 And those who had come hoping to trick Jesus were confounded and amazed. And they left Him and went away.
23 That same day, a band of Sadducees—a sect of Jewish aristocrats who, among other things, did not expect a resurrection or anticipate any sort of future life at all—put their own question to Jesus.
Sadducees: 24 Teacher, the law of Moses teaches that if a married man dies with no children, then his brother must marry the widow and father children in his brother’s name. 25 Now we knew a family of seven brothers. The eldest brother married and died, and since he had no children, the next brother married his widow. 26 And shortly thereafter, that second brother died and the next until there were seven marriages with the same woman. 27 Eventually the wife died. 28 So now, Teacher, whose wife will she be at the resurrection? Will she have seven husbands, since they were each married to her?
According to Deuteronomy 25:5–6, a family member is supposed to marry a relative’s widow to carry on the deceased’s family name. Each man in this story dies, having fathered no children; that poor widow keeps marrying these brothers, and they keep dying. So in heaven, who is the husband?
Jesus: 29 You know neither God’s Scriptures nor God’s power—and so your assumptions are all wrong. 30 At the resurrection, people will neither marry nor be given in marriage. They will be like the messengers of heaven.
In heaven all will be devoting themselves to praise. It will not be a simple continuation of life on earth.
31 A key to this resurrected life can be found in the words of Moses, which you do claim to read: 32 “I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.”[b] Our God is not the God of the dead. He is the God of the living.
33 And again the crowd was amazed. They were astonished at His teaching.
34 Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, a group of Pharisees met to consider new questions that might trip up Jesus. 35 A legal expert thought of one that would certainly stump Him.
Pharisees: 36 Teacher, of all the laws, which commandment is the greatest?
Jesus (quoting Scripture): 37 “Love the Eternal One your God with all your heart and all your soul and all your mind.”[c] 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is nearly as important, “Love your neighbor as yourself.”[d] 40 The rest of the law, and all the teachings of the prophets, are but variations on these themes.
41 Since the Pharisees were gathered together there, Jesus took the opportunity to pose a question of His own.
Jesus: 42 What do you think about the Anointed One? Whose Son is He?
Pharisees: But, of course, He is the Son of David.
Jesus: 43 Then how is it that David—whose words were surely shaped by the Spirit—calls Him “Lord”? For in his psalms David writes,
44 The Master said to my master
“Sit here at My right hand,
in the place of honor and power,
And I will gather Your enemies together,
lead them in on hands and knees,
and You will rest Your feet on their backs.”[e]
45 How can David call his own Son “Lord”?
46 No one had an answer to Jesus’ question. And from that day forward, no one asked Him anything.
Footnotes
- 22:19 A Roman coin, equivalent to a day’s wage
- 22:32 Exodus 3:6
- 22:37 Deuteronomy 6:5
- 22:39 Leviticus 19:18
- 22:44 Psalm 110:1
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.