22Jesus told them more stories. He said, ²“Here is what the kingdom of heaven is like. A king prepared a wedding dinner for his son. ³He sent his servants to those who had been invited to the dinner. The servants told them to come. But they refused.

⁴“Then he sent some more servants. He said, ‘Tell those who were invited that I have prepared my dinner. I have killed my oxen and my fattest cattle. Everything is ready. Come to the wedding dinner.’

⁵“But the people paid no attention. One went away to his field. Another went away to his business. ⁶The rest grabbed his servants. They treated them badly and then killed them.

⁷“The king became very angry. He sent his army to destroy them. They killed those murderers and burned their city.

⁸“Then the king said to his servants, ‘The wedding dinner is ready. But those I invited were not fit to come. ⁹Go to the street corners. Invite to the dinner anyone you can find.’ ¹⁰So the servants went out into the streets. They gathered all the people they could find, both good and bad. Soon the wedding hall was filled with guests.

¹¹“The king came in to see the guests. He noticed a man there who was not wearing wedding clothes. ¹²‘Friend,’ he asked, ‘how did you get in here without wedding clothes?’ The man couldn’t think of anything to say.

¹³“Then the king told his servants, ‘Tie up his hands and feet. Throw him outside into the darkness. Out there people will sob and grind their teeth.’

¹⁴“Many are invited, but few are chosen.”

Is It Right to Pay Taxes to Caesar?

¹⁵The Pharisees went out. They made plans to trap Jesus with his own words. ¹⁶They sent their followers to him. They sent the Herodians with them.

“Teacher,” they said, “we know you are a man of honor. You teach the way of God truthfully. You don’t let others tell you what to do or say. You don’t care how important they are. ¹⁷Tell us then, what do you think? Is it right to pay taxes to Caesar or not?”

¹⁸But Jesus knew their evil plans. He said, “You pretenders! Why are you trying to trap me? ¹⁹Show me the coin people use for paying the tax.”

They brought him a silver coin.

²⁰He asked them, “Whose picture is this? And whose words?”

²¹“Caesar’s,” they replied.

Then he said to them, “Give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar. And give to God what belongs to God.”

²²When they heard this, they were amazed. So they left him and went away.

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