Luke 14:7-14

The Parable of the Wedding Feast

7 Now he told a parable to those who were invited, when he noticed ¹how they chose the places of honor, saying to them,

8 “When you are invited by someone to a wedding feast, do not sit down in a place of honor, lest someone more distinguished than you be invited by him,

9 and he who invited you both will come and say to you, ‘Give your place to this person, ’ and then you will begin with shame to take the lowest place.

10 But when you are invited, go and sit in the lowest place, ²so that when your host comes he may say to you, ‘Friend, move up higher. ’ Then you will be honored in the presence of all who sit at table with you.

11 For ³everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted. ”

The Parable of the Great Banquet

12 He said also to the man who had invited him, “When you give ⁴a dinner or a banquet, do not invite your friends or your brothers^[a] or your relatives or rich neighbors, ⁵lest they also invite you in return and you be repaid.

13 But when you give a feast, ⁶invite ⁷the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind,

14 and you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you. For you will be repaid ⁸at ⁹the resurrection of the just. ”

Cross References

• 1. 14:7 See ch. 11:43
• 2. 14:10 Prov. 25:6, 7
• 3. 14:11 ch. 18:14; [Prov. 29:23; Ezek. 21:26; Matt. 18:4; James 4:6, 10; 1 Pet. 5:5, 6]
• 4. 14:12 John 21:12 (Gk.)
• 5. 14:12 [ch. 6:34]
• 6. 14:13 [Neh. 8:10, 12; Esth. 9:22]
• 7. 14:13 ver. 21
• 8. 14:14 1 Cor. 15:23; 1 Thess. 4:16; [John 11:24; Rev. 20:4, 5]
• 9. 14:14 Acts 24:15

Footnotes

• [a] 14:12 Or 'your brothers and sisters'. The plural Greek word 'adelphoi' (translated “brothers”) refers to siblings in a family. In New Testament usage, depending on the context, 'adelphoi' may refer either to 'brothers' or to 'brothers and sisters'