Matthew 22
The full text of Matthew 22 in the Trinity Bible Version — clear modern English, translated from the original Greek. Free to read.
1 Jesus answered them again with parables, saying,
2 "The kingdom of heaven is like a king who prepared a wedding banquet for his son.
3 He sent his servants to call those who had been invited to the banquet, but they refused to come.
4 "Again he sent other servants, saying, 'Tell those who were invited: Look, I have prepared my dinner. My oxen and fattened cattle have been slaughtered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding banquet.'
5 "But they paid no attention and went off, one to his field, another to his business.
6 The rest seized his servants, mistreated them, and killed them.
7 The king was enraged. He sent his army, destroyed those murderers, and burned their city.
8 "Then he said to his servants, 'The wedding banquet is ready, but those who were invited did not deserve to come.
9 So go to the street corners and invite to the banquet anyone you find.'
10 So the servants went out into the streets and gathered everyone they found, both bad and good, and the wedding hall was filled with guests.
11 "But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing wedding clothes.
12 He asked him, 'Friend, how did you get in here without wedding clothes?' The man was speechless.
13 "Then the king told the attendants, 'Tie him hand and foot, and throw him outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and grinding of teeth.'
14 "For many are invited, but few are chosen."
15 Then the Pharisees went and plotted how to trap him in his words.
16 They sent their disciples to him, along with the Herodians. "Teacher," they said, "we know that you are honest and that you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. You are not swayed by anyone, because you pay no attention to who they are.
17 So tell us what you think: Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar or not?"
18 But Jesus, knowing their malice, said, "You hypocrites, why are you testing me?
19 Show me the coin used for the tax." They brought him a denarius,
20 and he asked them, "Whose image is this? And whose inscription?"
21 "Caesar's," they replied. Then he said to them, "So give back to Caesar what is Caesar's, and to God what is God's."
22 When they heard this, they were amazed. So they left him and went away.
23 That same day the Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to him with a question.
24 "Teacher," they said, "Moses told us that if a man dies without children,
his brother must marry the widow
and raise up offspring for his brother.
25 Now there were seven brothers among us. The first married and died, and since he had no children, he left his wife to his brother.
26 The same happened with the second brother, and the third, down to the seventh.
27 Last of all, the woman died.
28 Now then, at the resurrection, whose wife will she be of the seven, since they all had her?"
29 Jesus replied, "You are mistaken because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God.
30 At the resurrection people will neither marry nor be given in marriage; they will be like the angels in heaven.
31 But about the resurrection of the dead — have you not read what God said to you:
32 'I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob'? He is not the God of the dead but of the living."
33 When the crowds heard this, they were astonished at his teaching.
34 When the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they got together.
35 One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with a question:
36 "Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?"
37 He replied,
"'Love the Lord your God with all your heart
and with all your soul
and with all your mind.'
38 This is the first and greatest commandment.
39 And the second is like it:
'Love your neighbor as yourself.'
40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments."
41 While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them,
42 "What do you think about the Messiah? Whose son is he?" "David's," they replied.
43 He said to them, "How is it then that David, speaking by the Spirit, calls him 'Lord'? For he says,
44 "'The Lord said to my Lord:
"Sit at my right hand
until I put your enemies under your feet."'
45 If David calls him 'Lord,' how can he be his son?"
46 No one could answer him a word, and from that day on no one dared to ask him any more questions.
Translation notes (9)
- Matthew 22:12a The Greek word hetaire means 'friend' or 'comrade,' but it is often used (as here) with a tone of disapproval. The phrase 'was speechless' translates the Greek word ephimothe, which literally means 'was muzzled / silenced.'
- Matthew 22:16a The Greek phrase ou blepeis eis prosopon anthropon literally means 'you do not look at people's face.' This is a Semitic idiom, a common expression from the ancient Near East, meaning to show partiality or to be impressed by someone's status.
- Matthew 22:21a The Greek word apodote means 'give back' or 'render what is owed,' not merely 'give.' The verb implies returning something that already belongs to another.
- Matthew 22:24a This is a paraphrase of the levirate-marriage law found in Deuteronomy 25:5-6. The Greek word sperma, which literally means 'seed,' is here translated as 'offspring.'
- Matthew 22:32a This verse is quoting Exodus 3:6. The argument here depends on the present-tense 'I am,' indicating that God still calls himself their God, and therefore the patriarchs are not finally dead to him.
- Matthew 22:37a This verse is quoting Deuteronomy 6:5, known as the Shema. The Greek word dianoia, here translated as 'mind,' is an addition by the Septuagint, the ancient Greek translation of the Old Testament, and by Matthew, alongside the Hebrew words for heart, soul, and strength.
- Matthew 22:39a This verse is quoting Leviticus 19:18.
- Matthew 22:42a The Greek word christos means 'Messiah' or 'the Anointed One' (Hebrew mashiach), and is translated as 'Christ' in many translations.
- Matthew 22:44a This verse is quoting Psalm 110:1. In the Hebrew text, the first 'LORD' is the divine name YHWH, and the second is 'adoni, meaning 'my lord.' The Greek translation uses kyrios for both, which forms the basis of Jesus' question.
About this translation
The Trinity Bible Version (TBV) is Trinity Bible's own modern English translation, worked directly from the original Greek and honest to the earliest manuscripts. It was completed in 2026 — the most modern English Bible translation — and is exclusive to Trinity Bible. Every chapter, including all of Matthew, is free to read here on the web.
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