Matthew 22:1-14

The Parable of the Wedding Banquet

22:1 Jesus spoke ¹  to them again in parables, saying: 22:2 “The kingdom of heaven can be compared to a king who gave a wedding banquet for his son. 22:3 He sent his slaves ²  to summon those who had been invited to the banquet, but they would not come. 22:4 Again he sent other slaves, saying, ‘Tell those who have been invited, “Look! The feast I have prepared for you is ready. ³  My oxen and fattened cattle have been slaughtered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding banquet.”’ 22:5 But they were indifferent and went away, one to his farm, another to his business. 22:6 The ⁴  rest seized his slaves, insolently mistreated them, and killed them. 22:7 The ⁵  king was furious! He sent his soldiers, and they put those murderers to death ⁶  and set their city ⁷  on fire. 22:8 Then he said to his slaves, ‘The wedding is ready, but the ones who had been invited were not worthy. 22:9 So go into the main streets and invite everyone you find to the wedding banquet.’ 22:10 And those slaves went out into the streets and gathered all they found, both bad and good, and the wedding hall was filled with guests. 22:11 But when the king came in to see the wedding guests, he saw a man there who was not wearing wedding clothes. 22:12 And he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you get in here without wedding clothes?’ But he had nothing to say. ⁸  22:13 Then the king said to his attendants, ‘Tie him up hand and foot and throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth!’ 22:14 For many are called, but few are chosen.”

Matthew 25:1-13

The Parable of the Ten Virgins

25:1 “At that time the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. 25:2 Five ⁹  of the virgins ¹⁰  were foolish, and five were wise. 25:3 When ¹¹  the foolish ones took their lamps, they did not take extra ¹²  olive oil ¹³  with them. 25:4 But the wise ones took flasks of olive oil with their lamps. 25:5 When ¹⁴  the bridegroom was delayed a long time, they all became drowsy and fell asleep. 25:6 But at midnight there was a shout, ‘Look, the bridegroom is here! Come out to meet him.’ ¹⁵  25:7 Then all the virgins woke up and trimmed their lamps. 25:8 The ¹⁶  foolish ones said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, because our lamps are going out.’ 25:9 ‘No,’ they replied. ¹⁷  ‘There won’t be enough for you and for us. Go instead to those who sell oil and buy some for yourselves.’ 25:10 But while they had gone to buy it, the bridegroom arrived, and those who were ready went inside with him to the wedding banquet. Then ¹⁸  the door was shut. 25:11 Later, ¹⁹  the other virgins came too, saying, ‘Lord, lord! Let us in!’ ²⁰  25:12 But he replied, ²¹  ‘I tell you the truth, ²²  I do not know you!’ 25:13 Therefore stay alert, because you do not know the day or the hour. ²³ 

[22:1]  ¹ tn Grk “And answering again, Jesus spoke.” This construction is somewhat redundant in English and has been simplified in the translation.

[22:3]  ² tn See the note on the word “slave” in 8:9.

[22:4]  ³ tn Grk “Behold, I have prepared my dinner.” In some contexts, however, to translate ἄριστον (ariston) as “dinner” somewhat misses the point. L&N 23.22 here suggests, “See now, the feast I have prepared (for you is ready).”

[22:6]  ⁴ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[22:7]  ⁵ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[22:7]  ⁶ tn Grk “he sent his soldiers, destroyed those murderers.” The verb ἀπώλεσεν (apwlesen) is causative, indicating that the king was the one behind the execution of the murderers. In English the causative idea is not expressed naturally here; either a purpose clause (“he sent his soldiers to put those murderers to death”) or a relative clause (“he sent his soldier who put those murderers to death”) is preferred.

[22:7]  ⁷ tn The Greek text reads here πόλις (polis), which could be translated “town” or “city.” The prophetic reference is to the city of Jerusalem, so “city” is more appropriate here.

[22:12]  ⁸ tn Grk “he was silent.”

[25:2]  ⁹ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[25:2]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “Five of them.”

[25:3]  ¹¹ tn Grk “For when.” Here γάρ (gar) has not been translated.

[25:3]  ¹² tn The word “extra” is not in the Greek text but is implied. The point is that the five foolish virgins had only the oil in their lamps, but took along no extra supply from which to replenish them. This is clear from v. 8, where the lamps of the foolish virgins are going out because they are running out of oil.

[25:3]  ¹³ tn On the use of olive oil in lamps, see L&N 6.202.

[25:5]  ¹⁴ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[25:6]  ¹⁵ tc ‡ Most witnesses have αὐτοῦ (autou, “[with] him”) after ἀπάντησιν (apanthsin, “meeting”), a reading which makes explicit what is already implied in the shorter text (as found in א B 700). The translation likewise adds “him” for clarity’s sake even though the word is not considered part of the original text. NA²⁷ has αὐτοῦ in brackets, indicating doubts as to its authenticity.

[25:8]  ¹⁶ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[25:9]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “The wise answered, saying, ‘No.’”

[25:10]  ¹⁸ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[25:11]  ¹⁹ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[25:11]  ²⁰ tn Grk “Open to us.”

[25:12]  ²¹ tn Grk “But answering, he said.” This is somewhat redundant and has been simplified in the translation.

[25:12]  ²² tn Grk “Truly (ἀμήν, amhn), I say to you.”

[25:13]  ²³ tc Most later mss (C³ ˹³ 1424^c Ï) also read here “in which the Son of Man is coming” (ἐν ᾗ ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου ἔρχεται, en |h Jo Juio" tou anqrwpou ercetai), reproducing almost verbatim the last line of Matt 24:44. The longer reading thus appears to be an explanatory expansion and should not be considered authentic. The earlier and better witnesses ({̳⁵ א A B C* D L W Δ Θ Ë¹ 33 565 892 1424* lat co}) lack this phrase.