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Matthew 22:1–6

Parable of the Marriage Feast

22 And Jesus answered aand spoke to them again by parables and said: The kingdom of heaven is like a certain king who arranged a marriage for his son, and sent out his servants to call those who were invited to the wedding; and they were not willing to come. Again, he sent out other servants, saying, ‘Tell those who are invited, “See, I have prepared my dinner; bmy oxen and fatted cattle are killed, and all things are ready. Come to the wedding.” ’ But they made light of it and went their ways, one to his own farm, another to his business. And the rest seized his servants, treated them 1spitefully, and killed them.

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Matthew 22:1–6 — The New International Version (NIV)

Jesus spoke to them again in parables, saying: The kingdom of heaven is like a king who prepared a wedding banquet for his son. He sent his servants to those who had been invited to the banquet to tell them to come, but they refused to come.

Then he sent some more servants and said, ‘Tell those who have been invited that I have prepared my dinner: My oxen and fattened cattle have been butchered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding banquet.’

But they paid no attention and went offone to his field, another to his business. The rest seized his servants, mistreated them and killed them.

Matthew 22:1–6 — English Standard Version (ESV)

And again Jesus spoke to them in parables, saying, The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a wedding feast for his son, and sent his servants to call those who were invited to the wedding feast, but they would not come. Again he sent other servants, saying, ‘Tell those who are invited, “See, I have prepared my dinner, my oxen and my fat calves have been slaughtered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding feast.” ’ But they paid no attention and went off, one to his farm, another to his business, while the rest seized his servants, treated them shamefully, and killed them.

Matthew 22:1–6 — King James Version (KJV 1900)

And Jesus answered and spake unto them again by parables, and said, The kingdom of heaven is like unto a certain king, which made a marriage for his son, And sent forth his servants to call them that were bidden to the wedding: and they would not come. Again, he sent forth other servants, saying, Tell them which are bidden, Behold, I have prepared my dinner: my oxen and my fatlings are killed, and all things are ready: come unto the marriage. But they made light of it, and went their ways, one to his farm, another to his merchandise: And the remnant took his servants, and entreated them spitefully, and slew them.

Matthew 22:1–6 — New Living Translation (NLT)

Jesus also told them other parables. He said, The Kingdom of Heaven can be illustrated by the story of a king who prepared a great wedding feast for his son. When the banquet was ready, he sent his servants to notify those who were invited. But they all refused to come!

So he sent other servants to tell them, ‘The feast has been prepared. The bulls and fattened cattle have been killed, and everything is ready. Come to the banquet!’ But the guests he had invited ignored them and went their own way, one to his farm, another to his business. Others seized his messengers and insulted them and killed them.

Matthew 22:1–6 — New Century Version (NCV)

Jesus again used stories to teach them. He said, The kingdom of heaven is like a king who prepared a wedding feast for his son. The king invited some people to the feast. When the feast was ready, the king sent his servants to tell the people, but they refused to come.

Then the king sent other servants, saying, ‘Tell those who have been invited that my feast is ready. I have killed my best bulls and calves for the dinner, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding feast.’

But the people refused to listen to the servants and left to do other things. One went to work in his field, and another went to his business. Some of the other people grabbed the servants, beat them, and killed them.

Matthew 22:1–6 — American Standard Version (ASV)

And Jesus answered and spake again in parables unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a certain king, who made a marriage feast for his son, and sent forth his servants to call them that were bidden to the marriage feast: and they would not come. Again he sent forth other servants, saying, Tell them that are bidden, Behold, I have made ready my dinner; my oxen and my fatlings are killed, and all things are ready: come to the marriage feast. But they made light of it, and went their ways, one to his own farm, another to his merchandise; and the rest laid hold on his servants, and treated them shamefully, and killed them.

Matthew 22:1–6 — 1890 Darby Bible (DARBY)

And Jesus answering spoke to them again in parables, saying, The kingdom of the heavens has become like a king who made a wedding feast for his son, and sent his bondmen to call the persons invited to the wedding feast, and they would not come. Again he sent other bondmen, saying, Say to the persons invited, Behold, I have prepared my dinner; my oxen and my fatted beasts are killed, and all things ready; come to the wedding feast. But they made light of it, and went, one to his own land, and another to his commerce. And the rest, laying hold of his bondmen, ill-treated and slew them.

Matthew 22:1–6 — GOD’S WORD Translation (GW)

Again Jesus used stories as illustrations when he spoke to them. He said, “The kingdom of heaven is like a king who planned a wedding for his son. He sent his servants to those who had been invited to the wedding, but they refused to come. He sent other servants to tell the people who had been invited, ‘I’ve prepared dinner. My bulls and fattened calves have been butchered. Everything is ready. Come to the wedding!’ 

“But they paid no attention and went away. Some went to work in their own fields, and others went to their businesses. The rest grabbed the king’s servants, mistreated them, and then killed them. 

Matthew 22:1–6 — The Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)

Once more Jesus spoke to them in parables: The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a wedding banquet for his son. He sent out his slaves to summon those invited to the banquet, but they didn’t want to come. 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.’

But they paid no attention and went away, one to his own farm, another to his business. And the others seized his slaves, treated them outrageously and killed them.

Matthew 22:1–6 — The New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

Once more Jesus spoke to them in parables, saying: The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a wedding banquet for his son. He sent his slaves to call those who had been invited to the wedding banquet, but they would not come. Again he sent other slaves, saying, ‘Tell those who have been invited: Look, I have prepared my dinner, my oxen and my fat calves have been slaughtered, and everything is ready; come to the wedding banquet.’ But they made light of it and went away, one to his farm, another to his business, while the rest seized his slaves, mistreated them, and killed them.

Matthew 22:1–6 — The Lexham English Bible (LEB)

And continuing, Jesus spoke to them again in parables, saying, “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man—a king—who gave a wedding celebration for his son. And he sent his slaves to summon those who had been invited to the wedding celebration, and they did not want to come. Again he sent other slaves, saying, ‘Tell those who have been invited, “Behold, I have prepared my dinner; my oxen and fattened cattle have been slaughtered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding celebration!” ’ But they paid no attention and went away—this one to his own field, that one to his business. And the others, seizing his slaves, mistreated them and killed them.

Matthew 22:1–6 — New International Reader’s Version (1998) (NIrV)

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

“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.’

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

Matthew 22:1–6 — New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update (NASB95)

Jesus spoke to them again in parables, saying,

The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a wedding feast for his son.

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

Again he sent 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.” ’

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

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


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