Matthew 22:1–14

Parable of the Marriage Feast

¹Jesus 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,

⁶and 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,

¹²and 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 chosen.”