Matthew 22:1–14

¹Once again, Jesus spoke to them in parables: ²“The kingdom of heaven is like a king who prepared a wedding banquet for his son. ³He sent his servants to call those he had invited to the banquet, but they refused to come.

⁴Again, he sent other servants and said, ‘Tell those who have been invited that I have prepared my dinner. My oxen and fattened cattle have been killed, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding banquet.’

⁵But they paid no attention and went away, one to his field, another to his business. ⁶The rest seized his servants, mistreated them, and killed them.

⁷The king was enraged, and he sent his troops to destroy those murderers and burn their city. ⁸Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding banquet is ready, but those I invited were not worthy. ⁹Go therefore to the crossroads and invite to the banquet as many as you can find.’

¹⁰So the servants went out into the streets and gathered everyone they could find, both evil and good, and the wedding hall was filled with guests.

¹¹But when the king came in to see the guests, he spotted a man who was not dressed in wedding clothes. ¹²‘Friend,’ he asked, ‘how did you get in here without wedding clothes?’

But the man was speechless.

¹³Then the king told the servants, ‘Tie him hand and foot, and throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

¹⁴For many are called, but few are chosen.”