22Once more Jesus spoke to them in parables: ²“The kingdom of heaven ^lmay be compared to a king who gave a wedding banquet for his son. ^m³He sent out his ^•slaves to summon those invited to the banquet, ⁿbut they didn’t want to come. ⁴Again, 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. ⁶And the others seized his slaves, treated them outrageously and killed them. ⁷The king ^pwas 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. ^q⁹Therefore go to where the roads exit the city and invite everyone you find to the banquet.’ ^r¹⁰So those slaves went out on the roads and gathered everyone they found, both evil and good. The wedding banquet was filled with guests. ^s

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Footnotes

•The strong Greek word doulos cannot be accurately translated in English as servant or bond servant; the HCSB translates this word as slave, not out of insensitivity to the legitimate concerns of modern English speakers, but out of a commitment to accurately convey the brutal reality of the Roman empire’s inhumane institution as well as the ownership called for by Christ.
p22:7 Other read But when the (that) king heard about it he
s22:10 those reclining (to eat)

Cross references

l22:2–14 Lk 14:16–24
m22:2 Mt 13:24; Lk 12:36; Jn 2:2; Rv 19:7
n22:3 Est 6:14; Pr 9:3, 5
o22:4 Pr 9:2; Mt 21:36
q22:8 Mt 10:11; Ac 13:46
r22:9 Ezk 21:21; Ob 14