^11 (A)I assure you that many will come from the east and the west and sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob at the feast in the Kingdom of heaven. ^12 (B)But those who should be in the Kingdom will be thrown out into the darkness, where they will cry and gnash their teeth.”

⁴³ “And so I tell you,” added Jesus, “the Kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce the proper fruits.”

The Parable of the Wedding Feast^(A)

22 Jesus again used parables in talking to the people. ² “The Kingdom of heaven is like this. Once there was a king who prepared a wedding feast for his son. ³ He sent his servants to tell the invited guests to come to the feast, but they did not want to come. ⁴ So he sent other servants with this message for the guests: ‘My feast is ready now; my steers and prize calves have been butchered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding feast!’ ⁵ But the invited guests paid no attention and went about their business: one went to his farm, another to his store, ⁶ while others grabbed the servants, beat them, and killed them. ⁷ The king was very angry; so he sent his soldiers, who killed those murderers and burned down their city. ⁸ Then he called his servants and said to them, ‘My wedding feast is ready, but the people I invited did not deserve it. ⁹ Now go to the main streets and invite to the feast as many people as you find.’ ¹⁰ So the servants went out into the streets and gathered all the people they could find, good and bad alike; and the wedding hall was filled with people.

¹¹ “The king went in to look at the guests and saw a man who was not wearing wedding clothes. ¹² ‘Friend, how did you get in here without wedding clothes?’ the king asked him. But the man said nothing. ^13 (B)Then the king told the servants, ‘Tie him up hand and foot, and throw him outside in the dark. There he will cry and gnash his teeth.’”

^14 (C)And Jesus concluded, “Many are invited, but few are chosen.”