Matthew 22:1–22

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 11}When the king came in to see the guests, he saw a man there who was not dressed for a wedding.^{l 12}So he said to him, ‘Friend,^m how did you get in here without wedding clothes?’ The man was speechless.

¹³“Then the king told the attendants, ‘Tie him up hand and foot,^G and throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

¹⁴“For many are invited, but few are chosen.”ⁿ

GOD AND CAESAR

¹⁵Then the Pharisees went and plotted how to trap him by what he said.^{Go 16}So they sent their disciples to him, along with the Herodians.^p “Teacher,” they said, “we know that you are truthful and teach truthfully the way of God. You don’t care what anyone thinks nor do you show partiality.^{Hq 17}Tell us, then, what you think. Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar^r or not?”

¹⁸Perceiving their malicious intent, Jesus said, “Why are you testing me, hypocrites? ¹⁹Show me the coin used for the tax.” They brought him a denarius.^{A 20}“Whose image and inscription is this?” he asked them.

²¹“Caesar’s,” they said to him.

Then he said to them, “Give, then, to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.”^{s 22}When they heard this, they were amazed. So they left him and went away.