Matthew 22:1–10

THE PARABLE OF THE WEDDING BANQUET

22Once more Jesus spoke to them in parables: ²“The kingdom of heaven^f is like a king who gave a wedding banquet for his son.^{g 3}He sent his servants to summon those invited to the banquet,^h but they didn’t want to come. ⁴Again, he sent out other servants and said, ‘Tell those who are invited: See, I’ve prepared my dinner; my oxen and fattened cattle have been slaughtered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding banquet.’ⁱ

⁵“But they paid no attention and went away, one to his own farm, another to his business, ⁶while the rest seized his servants, mistreated them, and killed them. ⁷The king^D was enraged, and he sent out his troops, killed those murderers, and burned down their city.

⁸“Then he told his servants, ‘The banquet is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy.^{j 9}Go then to where the roads exit the city and invite everyone you find to the banquet.’^{k 10}So those servants went out on the roads and gathered everyone they found, both evil and good. The wedding banquet^E was filled with guests.^F