A Story About a Wedding Feast^(A)

22 Jesus again used ·stories [parables] to teach them. He said, ² “The kingdom of heaven is like a king who prepared a wedding ·feast [banquet] for his son. ³ When the ·feast [banquet] was ready, the king sent his servants to ·tell [inform; call] the people who had been invited, but they refused to come.

⁴ “Then the king sent other servants, saying, ‘Tell those who have been invited that my ·feast [banquet] is ready. I have killed my best ·bulls [or oxen] and [^Lfattened] calves for the dinner, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding ·feast [banquet].’

⁵ “But the people ·refused to listen [paid no attention] to the servants and ·left to do other things [went their own way]. One went to ·work in his field [his field/farm], and another went to his business. ⁶ ·Some of the other people [or The rest] grabbed the servants, ·beat [mistreated; insulted] them, and killed them. ⁷ The king was furious and sent his army to ·kill [destroy] the murderers and burn their city [^Cprobably an allusion to the destruction of Jerusalam in ad 70].

⁸ “After that, the king said to his servants, ‘The wedding ·feast [banquet] is ready. I invited those people, but they ·were not worthy [do not deserve] to come. ⁹ So go to the ·street corners [crossroads; or main roads] and invite everyone you find to come to my ·feast [banquet].’ ¹⁰ So the servants went into the streets and gathered all the people they could find, both good and ·bad [evil]. And the wedding hall was filled with guests.

¹¹ “[^LBut] When the king came in to see the guests, he saw a man who was not dressed ·for a wedding [in wedding clothes]. ¹² The king said, ‘Friend, how were you allowed to come in here? You are not dressed for a wedding.’ But the man ·said nothing [was speechless/silent]. ¹³ So the king told some servants, ‘Tie this man’s hands and feet. Throw him out into the ·darkness [darkness outside; or outermost darkness], where ·people will cry and grind their teeth with pain [^Lthere will be weeping and gnashing of teeth; ^Csymbols of agony and torment].’

¹⁴ “·Yes [^LFor], many are ·invited [called], but only a few are chosen.”

A Story About a Big Banquet^(A)

¹⁵ One of those ·at the table [^Lreclining; see 5:29] with Jesus heard these things and said to him, “·Blessed [Happy] are the people who will ·share in the meal [^Leat bread] in God’s kingdom [^Can allusion to the messianic banquet at the end of time; see 13:29; Is. 25:6–8].”

¹⁶ Jesus said to him, “A man gave a ·big [great] banquet and invited many people. ¹⁷ When it was time to eat, the man sent his ·servant [slave] to tell the guests [^Cwho had accepted the invitation], ‘Come. Everything is ready.’

¹⁸ “But all the guests [one after another; or in a similar manner] began to make excuses [^Ca great offense in that culture]. The first one said, ‘I have just bought a field, and I must go look at it. Please excuse me.’ ¹⁹ Another said, ‘I have just bought five ·pairs [^Lyoke] of oxen; I must go and try them. Please excuse me.’ ²⁰ A third person said, ‘I just got married; I can’t come [^Cwhile newly married men were exempt from certain duties (Deut. 24:5), that is not a valid excuse for offending the host].’ ²¹ So the ·servant [slave] returned and told his master what had happened. Then the master [^Lof the household] became angry and said, ‘Go at once into the ·streets [squares] and ·alleys [lanes] of the town, and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind, and the lame.’ ²² ·Later [^LAnd] the ·servant [slave] said to him, ‘Master, I did what you commanded, but we still have room.’ ²³ The master said to the servant, ‘Go out to the roads and ·country lanes [hedgerows], and ·urge [compel] the people there to come so my house will be full [^Cthose outside the city may refer to the Gentiles, who will come into the kingdom (see Acts 10—11)]. ²⁴ [^LFor] I tell you, none of ·those [^Lthose men; ^Creferring to the three who refused] whom I invited first will ·eat with me [^Ltaste my banquet/dinner].’”