The Parable of the Wedding Banquet

22 Once more Jesus spoke to them in parables: 2 “The kingdom of heaven l may be compared to a king who gave a wedding banquet for his son. m 3 He sent out his * slaves to summon those invited to the banquet, n but they didn’t want to come. 4 Again, he sent out other slaves, and said, ‘Tell those who are invited: Look, I’ve prepared my dinner; my oxen and fattened cattle have been slaughtered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding banquet.’ o

5 “But they paid no attention and went away, one to his own farm, another to his business. 6 And the others seized his slaves, treated them outrageously and killed them. 7 The king p was enraged, so he sent out his troops, destroyed those murderers, and burned down their city.

8 “Then he told his slaves, ‘The banquet is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy. q 9 Therefore go to where the roads exit the city and invite everyone you find to the banquet.’ r 10 So those slaves went out on the roads and gathered everyone they found, both evil and good. The wedding banquet was filled with guests. s 11 But when the king came in to view the guests, he saw a man there who was not dressed for a wedding. t 12 So he said to him, ‘Friend, u 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, v 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.” w