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, but they would not come.

⁴ “Again, he sent out other servants, saying, ‘Tell those who are invited: See, I have prepared my supper. My oxen and fattened calves are killed, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding banquet.’

⁵ “But they made light of it and went their ways, one to his farm, another to his business; ⁶ the rest took his servants, treated them spitefully, and killed them. ⁷ When the king heard about it, he was angry. He sent in his army and 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 worthy. ⁹ Go therefore to the streets, and invite to the wedding banquet as many as you find.’ ¹⁰ So those servants went out into the streets and gathered together as many as they found, both bad and good. So the wedding hall was filled with guests.

¹¹ “But when the king came in to see the guests, he saw a man who was not wearing wedding garments. ¹² He said to him, ‘Friend, how did you get in here without wedding garments?’ And he was speechless.

¹³ “Then the king told the attendants, ‘Bind him hand and foot, take him away, and cast him into outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

¹⁴ “For many are called, but few are chosen.”

¹⁶ Then He said to him, “A man prepared a banquet and invited many, ¹⁷ and sent his servant at supper time to say to those who had been invited, ‘Come, for everything is now prepared.’

¹⁸ “But they all with one mind began to make excuses. The first said to him, ‘I have bought a piece of land, and I must go and see it. I ask you to excuse me.’

¹⁹ “Another said, ‘I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I am going to prove them. I ask you to excuse me.’

²⁰ “Still another said, ‘I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.’

²¹ “The servant came and reported this to his master. Then the master of the house in anger said to his servant, ‘Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in here the poor and the maimed and the lame and the blind.’

²² “The servant said, ‘Master, what you commanded has been done, and yet there is room.’

²³ “Then the master said to the servant, ‘Go out to the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, so that my house may be filled. ²⁴ For I tell you, none of those men who were invited shall taste my supper.’ ”