^2 (A)“The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave ^(B)a wedding feast for his son,

The Parable of the Weeds

²⁴ He put another parable before them, saying, ^(A)“The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field,

for the fine linen is ^(D)the righteous deeds of the saints.

⁹ And the angel said^[a] to me, “Write this: ^(E)Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.” And he said to me, ^(F)“These are the true words of God.”

²⁴ Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit ^(A)in everything to their husbands.

^25 (B)Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and ^(C)gave himself up for her, ²⁶ that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by ^(D)the washing of water ^(E)with the word, ²⁷ so ^(F)that he might present the church to himself in splendor, ^(G)without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.^{[a] 28} In the same way ^(H)husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. ²⁹ For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, ³⁰ because ^(I)we are members of his body. ^31 (J)“Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and ^(K)the two shall become one flesh.” ³² This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church.

² For I feel a divine jealousy for you, since ^(A)I betrothed you to one husband, ^(B)to present you ^(C)as a pure virgin to Christ.

^29 (A)The one who has the bride is the bridegroom. ^(B)The friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, ^(C)rejoices greatly at the bridegroom's voice. Therefore this joy of mine is now complete. ^30 (D)He must increase, but I must decrease.”^[a]

¹⁶ But he said to him, ^(A)“A man once ^(B)gave a great banquet and invited many. ¹⁷ And at the time for the banquet he ^(C)sent his servant^[a] to say to those who had been invited, ‘Come, for everything is now ready.’ ¹⁸ But they all alike began to make excuses. The first said to him, ‘I have bought a field, and I must go out and see it. Please have me excused.’ ¹⁹ And another said, ‘I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to examine them. Please have me excused.’ ²⁰ And another said, ^(D)‘I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.’ ²¹ So the servant came and reported these things to his master. Then the master of the house became angry and said to his servant, ‘Go out quickly to the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in ^(E)the poor and crippled and blind and lame.’ ²² And the servant said, ‘Sir, what you commanded has been done, and still there is room.’ ²³ And the master said to the servant, ‘Go out to the highways and hedges and compel people to come in, that my house may be filled. ²⁴ For I tell you,^{[b] (F)}none of those men who were invited shall taste my banquet.’”

The Parable of the Ten Virgins

25 “Then the kingdom of heaven will be like ^(A)ten virgins who took their lamps^[a] and went to meet ^(B)the bridegroom.^{[b] 2} Five of them were foolish, and five were ^(C)wise. ³ For when the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them, ⁴ but the wise took flasks of oil with their lamps. ⁵ As the bridegroom ^(D)was delayed, they all became drowsy and slept. ⁶ But ^(E)at midnight there was a cry, ‘Here is the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.’ ⁷ Then all those virgins rose and ^(F)trimmed their lamps. ⁸ And the foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ ⁹ But the wise answered, saying, ‘Since there will not be enough for us and for you, go rather to the dealers and buy for yourselves.’ ¹⁰ And while they were going to buy, the bridegroom came, and ^(G)those who were ready went in with him to ^(H)the marriage feast, and ^(I)the door was shut. ¹¹ Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, ^(J)‘Lord, lord, open to us.’ ^12 (K)But he answered, ‘Truly, I say to you, ^(L)I do not know you.’ ^13 (M)Watch therefore, for you ^(N)know neither the day nor the hour.

The Parable of the Talents

^14 (O)“For ^(P)it will be like a man ^(Q)going on a journey, who called his servants^[c] and entrusted to them his property.

^2 (A)“The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave ^(B)a wedding feast for his son, ³ and ^(C)sent his servants^[a] to call those who were invited to the wedding feast, but they would not come. ^4 (D)Again he sent other servants, saying, ‘Tell those who are invited, “See, I have prepared my ^(E)dinner, ^(F)my oxen and my fat calves have been slaughtered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding feast.”’ ⁵ But ^(G)they paid no attention and went off, one to his farm, another to his business, ⁶ while the rest seized his servants, ^(H)treated them shamefully, and ^(I)killed them. ⁷ The king was angry, and he sent his troops and ^(J)destroyed those murderers and burned their city. ⁸ Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding feast is ready, but those invited were not ^(K)worthy. ⁹ Go therefore to the main roads and invite to the wedding feast as many as you find.’ ¹⁰ And those servants went out into the roads and ^(L)gathered all whom they found, both bad and good. So the wedding hall was filled with guests.

¹¹ “But when the king came in to look at the guests, he saw there ^(M)a man who had no wedding garment. ¹² And he said to him, ^(N)‘Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding garment?’ And he was speechless. ¹³ Then the king said to the attendants, ‘Bind him hand and foot and ^(O)cast him into the outer darkness. In that place ^(P)there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ ¹⁴ For many are ^(Q)called, but few are ^(R)chosen.”