Matthew 21:28–22:14

Parable of Two Sons

28 “But what do you think? A man had two 1sons, and he came to the first and said, ‘2Son, go work today in the avineyard.’

29 “And he answered, ‘I will not’; but afterward he regretted it and went.

30 “The man came to the second and said the same thing; and he answered, ‘I will, sir’; but he did not go.

31 “Which of the two did the will of his father?” They * said, “The first.” Jesus * said to them, “Truly I say to you that athe tax collectors and prostitutes 1will get into the kingdom of God before you.

32 “For John came to you in the way of righteousness and you did not believe him; but athe tax collectors and prostitutes did believe him; and you, seeing this, did not even feel remorse afterward so as to believe him.

Parable of the Landowner

33 “Listen to another parable. aThere was a 1landowner who bplanted a cvineyard and put a wall around it and dug a wine press in it, and built a tower, and rented it out to 2vine-growers and dwent on a journey.

34 “When the 1harvest time approached, he asent his slaves to the vine-growers to receive his produce.

35 “The vine-growers took his slaves and beat one, and killed another, and stoned a third.

36 “Again he asent another group of slaves larger than the first; and they did the same thing to them.

37 “But afterward he sent his son to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’

38 “But when the vine-growers saw the son, they said among themselves, ‘This is the heir; come, let us kill him and seize his inheritance.’

39 “They took him, and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him.

40 “Therefore when the 1owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those vine-growers?”

41 They * said to Him, “He will bring those wretches to a wretched end, and awill rent out the vineyard to other vine-growers who will pay him the proceeds at the proper seasons.”

42 Jesus * said to them, “Did you never read in the Scriptures,

‘aThe stone which the builders rejected,

This became the chief corner stone;

This came about from the Lord,

And it is marvelous in our eyes’?

43 “Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a 1people, producing the fruit of it.

44 “And ahe who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; but on whomever it falls, it will scatter him like dust.”

45 When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard His parables, they understood that He was speaking about them.

46 When they sought to seize Him, they afeared the 1people, because they considered Him to be a bprophet.

Chapter 22

Parable of the Marriage Feast

1 Jesus spoke to them again in parables, saying,

2 “aThe kingdom of heaven 1may be compared to 2a king who 3gave a bwedding feast for his son.

3 “And he asent out his slaves to call those who had been invited to the wedding feast, and they were unwilling to come.

4 “Again he asent out other slaves saying, ‘Tell those who have been invited, “Behold, I have prepared my dinner; my oxen and my fattened livestock are all butchered and everything is ready; come to the wedding feast.” ’

5 “But they paid no attention and went their way, one to his own 1farm, another to his business,

6 and the rest seized his slaves and mistreated them and killed them.

7 “But the king was enraged, and he sent his armies and destroyed those murderers and set their city on fire.

8 “Then he * said to his slaves, ‘The wedding is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy.

9 ‘Go therefore to athe main highways, and as many as you find there, invite to the wedding feast.’

10 “Those slaves went out into the streets and gathered together all they found, both evil and good; and the wedding hall was filled with 1dinner guests.

11 “But when the king came in to look over the dinner guests, he saw aa man there who was not dressed in wedding clothes,

12 and he * said to him, ‘aFriend, how did you come in here without wedding clothes?’ And the man was speechless.

13 “Then the king said to the servants, ‘Bind him hand and foot, and throw him into athe outer darkness; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

14 “For many are 1acalled, but few are achosen.”