Pearson Edexcel Level 3 Advanced GCE in Religious Studies – Anthology
74“But he will answer, ‘I don’t know you or where you c ome from.’
(^26) “Then you will say, ‘We ate and drank with you, and you taught in our streets.’
(^27) “But he will reply, ‘I don’t know you or where you come from. Away from me, all
you evildoers!’
(^28) “There will be weeping there, and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham,
Isaac and Jac ob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, but you yourselves
thrown out. 29 People will come from east and west and north and south, and will
ta ke their places at the feast in the kingdom of God. 30 Indeed there are those who
are last who will be first , and first who will be last .”
The Parable of the Great Banquet
14 15 When one of those at the table with him heard this, he said to Jesus, “Blessed
is the one who will eat at the feast in the kingdom of God.”
(^16) Jesus replied: “A certain man was preparing a great banquet and invited many
guests. 17 At the time of the banquet he sent his servant to tell those who had been
invited, ‘Come, for everything is now ready.’
(^18) “But they all alike began to make exc uses. The first said, ‘I have just bought a
field, and I must go and see it. Please excuse me.’
(^19) “Another said, ‘I have just bought five yoke of oxen, and I’m on my way to try
them out. Please excuse me.’
(^20) “St ill anot her said, ‘I just got married, so I c an’t c ome.’
(^21) “The servant c ame bac k and reported this to his master. Then the owner of the
house bec ame angry and ordered his servant, ‘Go out quic kly into the streets and
alleys of the town and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame.’
(^22) “‘Sir,’ the servant said, ‘what you ordered has been done, but there is still room.’
(^23) “Then the master told his servant, ‘Go out to the roads and c ountry lanes and
compel them to come in, so that my house will be full. 24 I tell you, not one of those
who were invited will get a taste of my banquet.’”
The Coming of the Kingdom of God
17 20 Onc e, on being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would
c o me , Jesus replied, “The c oming of the kingdom of God is not something that c an
be observed, 21 nor will people say, ‘Here it is,’ or ‘T here it is,’ bec ause the kingdom
of God is in your midst .”
(^22) T hen he said t o his disc iples, “T he t ime is c oming when you will long t o see one
of the days of the Son of Man, but you will not see it. 23 People will t ell you, ‘T here
he is!’ or ‘Here he is!’ Do not go running off after them. 24 For the Son of Man in his
day will be like t he light ning, whic h flashes and lights up the sky from one end to
the other. 25 But first he must suffer many things and be rejected by t his
generation.