Go therefore to the crossroads and invite to the banquet as many as you can find.’
Parallel translations
- WEB Go therefore to the intersections of the highways, and as many as you may find, invite to the marriage feast.’
- KJV Go ye therefore into the highways, and as many as ye shall find, bid to the marriage.
- NKJV Therefore go into the highways, and as many as you find, invite to the wedding.’
- NASB So go to the main roads, and invite whomever you find there to the wedding feast.’
- NLT Now go out to the street corners and invite everyone you see.’
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
The king sends servants to invite anyone they find on the highways. This pictures the gospel going out widely, including to the outsiders.
Overview
With the original guests having refused, the king extends the invitation broadly to all who can be found. This anticipates the gospel reaching beyond the religious establishment to tax collectors, sinners, and ultimately the Gentiles. The scene magnifies the breadth of God's grace, which fills His feast with unlikely guests.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 12
- Luke 14:21–24The servant returned and reported all this to his master. Then the owner 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, the crippled, the blind, and the lame.’
- Mark 16:15–16And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.
- Prov 1:20–23Wisdom calls out in the street, she lifts her voice in the square;
- Prov 9:4–6“Whoever is simple, let him turn in here!” she says to him who lacks judgment.
- Ezek 21:21For the king of Babylon stands at the fork in the road, at the junction of the two roads, to seek an omen: He shakes the arrows, he consults the idols, he examines the liver.
- Luke 24:47and in His name repentance and forgiveness of sins will be proclaimed to all nations, beginning in Jerusalem.
- Rev 22:17The Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” Let the one who hears say, “Come!” And let the one who is thirsty come, and the one who desires the water of life drink freely.
- Eph 3:8Though I am less than the least of all the saints, this grace was given me: to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ,
- Prov 8:1–5Does not wisdom call out, and understanding raise her voice?
- Isa 55:1–3“Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you without money, come, buy, and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost!
- Acts 13:47For this is what the Lord has commanded us: ‘I have made you a light for the Gentiles, to bring salvation to the ends of the earth.’”
- Isa 55:6–7Seek the LORD while He may be found; call on Him while He is near.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Matthew presents Jesus as the promised King — son of David, son of Abraham — the new Moses and true Israel in whom every prophecy reaches 'that it might be fulfilled.'
How Matthew 22:9 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.