⁵ And from the throne came a voice saying,

⁶ Then I heard what seemed to be the voice of a great multitude, like the sound of many waters and like the sound of mighty thunder-peals, crying out,

for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints.

⁹ And the angel said^[b] to me, ‘Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.’ And he said to me, ‘These are true words of God.’

The Parable of the Great Dinner

¹⁵ One of the dinner guests, on hearing this, said to him, ‘Blessed is anyone who will eat bread in the kingdom of God!’ ¹⁶ Then Jesus^[a] said to him, ‘Someone gave a great dinner and invited many. ¹⁷ At the time for the dinner he sent his slave to say to those who had been invited, “Come; for everything is ready now.” ¹⁸ But they all alike began to make excuses. The first said to him, “I have bought a piece of land, and I must go out and see it; please accept my apologies.” ¹⁹ Another said, “I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I am going to try them out; please accept my apologies.” ²⁰ Another said, “I have just been married, and therefore I cannot come.” ²¹ So the slave returned and reported this to his master. Then the owner of the house became angry and said to his slave, “Go out at once into the streets and lanes of the town and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind, and the lame.” ²² And the slave said, “Sir, what you ordered has been done, and there is still room.” ²³ Then the master said to the slave, “Go out into the roads and lanes, and compel people to come in, so that my house may be filled. ²⁴ For I tell you,^[b] none of those who were invited will taste my dinner.”’