Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

4 Well then, my dear family—I miss you so much, you’re my joy and crown!—this is how you must stand firm in the Lord, my beloved people.

Celebrate in the Lord!

² I have a special appeal which goes jointly to Euodia and Syntyche: please, please, come to a common mind in the Lord. ³ (And here’s a request for you too, my loyal comrade: please help these women. They have struggled hard in the gospel alongside me, as have Clement and my other fellow workers, whose names are in the book of life.)

⁴ Celebrate joyfully in the Lord, all the time. I’ll say it again: celebrate! ⁵ Let everybody know how gentle and gracious you are. The Lord is near.

⁶ Don’t worry about anything. Rather, in every area of life let God know what you want, as you pray and make requests, and give thanks as well. ⁷ And God’s peace, which is greater than we can ever understand, will keep guard over your hearts and minds in Messiah Jesus.

⁸ For the rest, my dear family, these are the things you should think through: whatever is true, whatever is holy, whatever is upright, whatever is pure, whatever is attractive, whatever has a good reputation; anything virtuous, anything praiseworthy. ⁹ And these are the things you should do: what you learned, received, heard and saw in and through me. And the God of peace will be with you.

The parable of the wedding feast

22 Jesus spoke to them once again in parables.

² “The kingdom of heaven,” he said, “is like a king who made a wedding feast for his son. ³ He sent his slaves to call the invited guests to the wedding, and they didn’t want to come.

⁴ “Again he sent other slaves, with these instructions: ‘Say to the guests, Look! I’ve got my dinner ready; my bulls and fatted calves have been killed; everything is prepared. Come to the wedding!’

⁵ “But they didn’t take any notice. They went off, one to his own farm, another to see to his business. ⁶ The others laid hands on his slaves, abused them and killed them. ⁷ (The king was angry, and sent his soldiers to destroy those murderers and burn down their city.) ⁸ Then he said to his slaves, ‘The wedding is ready, but the guests didn’t deserve it. ⁹ So go to the roads leading out of town, and invite everyone you find to the wedding.’ ¹⁰ The slaves went off into the streets and rounded up everyone they found, bad and good alike. And the wedding was filled with partygoers.

¹¹ “But when the king came in to look at the guests, he saw there a man who wasn’t wearing a wedding suit.

¹² “ ‘My friend,’ he said to him, ‘how did you get in here without a wedding suit?’ And he was speechless. ¹³ Then the king said to the servants, ‘Tie him up, hands and feet, and throw him into the darkness outside, where people weep and grind their teeth.’

¹⁴ “Many are called, you see, but few are chosen.”