The Great Banquet

¹⁵One of the guests at the table heard this and said to Jesus, "What a blessing it will be to feast in the kingdom of God!" ¹⁶Jesus replied, "A man once prepared a grand banquet and invited many guests. ¹⁷When everything was ready, he sent his servant to tell those who had been invited, 'Come! Everything is prepared.' ¹⁸But one after another, they all started making excuses. The first one said, 'I just bought a piece of land and I need to go look at it. Please excuse me.' ¹⁹Another said, 'I just bought 5 yoke of oxen and I'm on my way to try them out. Please excuse me.' ²⁰Another said, 'I just got married, so I can't come.' ²¹The servant returned and reported these things to his master. Then the master of the house became angry and said to his servant, “Go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the city and bring in the poor, those with missing or injured limbs, those who cannot walk, and the blind.” ²²The servant returned and said, 'Sir, I've done what you ordered, but there's still room.' ²³The master told him, 'Then go out to the roads and country lanes and urge people to come in, so that my house will be full. ²⁴Because I'm telling you, not one of those people who were originally invited will get even a taste of my banquet.'"