The Parable about a Banquet^(A)

22 Again Jesus spoke to them in parables. He said, ² “The kingdom from^[a] heaven may be compared to a king who gave a wedding banquet for his son. ³ He sent his servants to call those who had been invited to the wedding, but they refused to come. ⁴ So^[b] he sent other servants after saying, ‘Tell those who have been invited, “Look! I’ve prepared my dinner. My oxen and fattened calves have been slaughtered. Everything is ready. Come to the wedding!”’ ⁵ But they paid no attention to this and went away, one to his farm, another to his business. ⁶ The rest grabbed the king’s^[c] servants, treated them brutally, and then killed them. ⁷ Then the king became outraged. He sent his troops, and they destroyed those murderers and burned their city.

⁸ “Then he told his servants, ‘The wedding is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy. ⁹ So go into the roads leading out of town and invite as many people as you can find to the wedding.’ ¹⁰ Those servants went out into the streets and brought in everyone they found, evil and good alike, and the wedding hall was packed with guests.

¹¹ “When the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing wedding clothes. ¹² He asked him, ‘Friend, how did you get in here without wedding clothes?’ But the man^[d] was speechless. ¹³ Then the king told his servants, ‘Tie his hands and feet, and throw him into the darkness outside!’ In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth,^{[e] 14} because many are invited, but few are chosen.”