Luke 14:23
New International Version
“Then the master told his servant, ‘Go out to the roads and country lanes and compel them to come in, so that my house will be full.

New Living Translation
So his master said, ‘Go out into the country lanes and behind the hedges and urge anyone you find to come, so that the house will be full.

English Standard Version
And the master said to the servant, ‘Go out to the highways and hedges and compel people to come in, that my house may be filled.

Berean Standard Bible
So the master told his servant, ‘Go out to the highways and hedges and compel them to come in, so that my house will be full.

Berean Literal Bible
And the master said to the servant, 'Go out into the highways and hedges and compel them to come in, so that my house may be filled.

King James Bible
And the lord said unto the servant, Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled.

New King James Version
Then the master said to the servant, ‘Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled.

New American Standard Bible
And the master said to the slave, ‘Go out into the roads and the hedges and press upon them to come in, so that my house will be filled.

NASB 1995
“And the master said to the slave, ‘Go out into the highways and along the hedges, and compel them to come in, so that my house may be filled.

NASB 1977
“And the master said to the slave, ‘Go out into the highways and along the hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled.

Legacy Standard Bible
And the master said to the slave, ‘Go out into the highways and along the fences, and compel them to come in, so that my house may be filled.

Amplified Bible
Then the master told the servant, ‘Go out into the highways and along the hedges, and compel them to come in, so that my house may be filled [with guests].

Christian Standard Bible
“Then the master told the servant, ‘Go out into the highways and hedges and make them come in, so that my house may be filled.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
“Then the master told the slave, Go out into the highways and lanes and make them come in, so that my house may be filled.

American Standard Version
And the lord said unto the servant, Go out into the highways and hedges, and constrain them to come in, that my house may be filled.

Contemporary English Version
His master then told him, "Go out along the back roads and make people come in, so my house will be full.

English Revised Version
And the lord said unto the servant, Go out into the highways and hedges, and constrain them to come in, that my house may be filled.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
"Then the master told his servant, 'Go to the roads and paths! Urge the people to come to my house. I want it to be full.

Good News Translation
So the master said to the servant, 'Go out to the country roads and lanes and make people come in, so that my house will be full.

International Standard Version
Then the master told the servant, 'Go out into the streets and the lanes and make the people come in, so that my house may be full.

Majority Standard Bible
So the master told his servant, ‘Go out to the highways and hedges and compel them to come in, so that my house will be full.

NET Bible
So the master said to his slave, 'Go out to the highways and country roads and urge people to come in, so that my house will be filled.

New Heart English Bible
"The lord said to the servant, 'Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled.

Webster's Bible Translation
And the lord said to the servant, Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled.

Weymouth New Testament
"'Go out,' replied the master, 'to the high roads and hedge-rows, and compel the people to come in, so that my house may be filled.

World English Bible
“The lord said to the servant, ‘Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled.
Literal Translations
Literal Standard Version
And the lord said to the servant, Go forth into the ways and hedges, and constrain to come in, that my house may be filled;

Berean Literal Bible
And the master said to the servant, 'Go out into the highways and hedges and compel them to come in, so that my house may be filled.

Young's Literal Translation
'And the lord said unto the servant, Go forth to the ways and hedges, and constrain to come in, that my house may be filled;

Smith's Literal Translation
And the lord said to the servant, Go out into the ways and hedges, and compel to come in, that my house may be filled up.
Catholic Translations
Douay-Rheims Bible
And the Lord said to the servant: Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled.

Catholic Public Domain Version
And the lord said to the servant: ‘Go out to the highways and hedges, and compel them to enter, so that my house may be filled.

New American Bible
The master then ordered the servant, ‘Go out to the highways and hedgerows and make people come in that my home may be filled.

New Revised Standard Version
Then the master said to the slave, ‘Go out into the roads and lanes, and compel people to come in, so that my house may be filled.
Translations from Aramaic
Lamsa Bible
Then the master said to his servant, Go out to the highways and hedges, and urge them to come in so that my house may be filled.

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
“And the owner said to his servant, 'Go out to the streets and to the place of hedges and compel them to enter, that my house may be filled.'
NT Translations
Anderson New Testament
And the lord said to his servant, Go out into the roads, and among the hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be full.

Godbey New Testament
And the lord said to the servant, Go out into the roads and hedges, and compel them to come in, in order that my house may be filled:

Haweis New Testament
And the master said to the servant, Go out into the highways and hedges, and urge them to come in, that my house may be filled.

Mace New Testament
the master reply'd, go then to the high-ways and by-paths, and compel them to come in, that my house may be full.

Weymouth New Testament
"'Go out,' replied the master, 'to the high roads and hedge-rows, and compel the people to come in, so that my house may be filled.

Worrell New Testament
And the lord said to the servant, 'Go forth into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled;

Worsley New Testament
And the lord said to the servant, Go out into the high-ways and hedges, and press them to come in, that my house may be filled:

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
The Parable of the Banquet
22‘Sir,’ the servant replied, ‘what you ordered has been done, and there is still room.’ 23So the master told his servant, ‘Go out to the highways and hedges and compel them to come in, so that my house will be full. 24For I tell you, not one of those men who were invited will taste my banquet.’ ”…

Cross References
Matthew 22:9-10
Go therefore to the crossroads and invite to the banquet as many as you can find.’ / So the servants went out into the streets and gathered everyone they could find, both evil and good, and the wedding hall was filled with guests.

Matthew 28:19
Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,

Acts 1:8
But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be My witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

Romans 10:14-15
How then can they call on the One in whom they have not believed? And how can they believe in the One of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone to preach? / And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!”

Revelation 22:17
The 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.

Isaiah 55:1
“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!

Proverbs 9:1-6
Wisdom has built her house; she has carved out her seven pillars. / She has prepared her meat and mixed her wine; she has also set her table. / She has sent out her maidservants; she calls out from the heights of the city. ...

Matthew 9:37-38
Then He said to His disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. / Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into His harvest.”

John 4:35
Do you not say, ‘There are still four months until the harvest’? I tell you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are ripe for harvest.

2 Corinthians 5:20
Therefore we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making His appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ: Be reconciled to God.

Isaiah 45:22
Turn to Me and be saved, all the ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is no other.

Ezekiel 34:16
I will seek the lost, bring back the strays, bind up the broken, and strengthen the weak; but the sleek and strong I will destroy. I will shepherd them with justice.’

Matthew 11:28
Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.

John 7:37
On the last and greatest day of the feast, Jesus stood up and called out in a loud voice, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink.

Acts 13:47
For 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.’”


Treasury of Scripture

And the lord said to the servant, Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled.

Go.

Psalm 98:3
He hath remembered his mercy and his truth toward the house of Israel: all the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.

Isaiah 11:10
And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of the people; to it shall the Gentiles seek: and his rest shall be glorious.

Isaiah 19:24,25
In that day shall Israel be the third with Egypt and with Assyria, even a blessing in the midst of the land: …

compel.

Luke 24:29
But they constrained him, saying, Abide with us: for it is toward evening, and the day is far spent. And he went in to tarry with them.

Genesis 19:2,3
And he said, Behold now, my lords, turn in, I pray you, into your servant's house, and tarry all night, and wash your feet, and ye shall rise up early, and go on your ways. And they said, Nay; but we will abide in the street all night…

Psalm 110:3
Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power, in the beauties of holiness from the womb of the morning: thou hast the dew of thy youth.

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Bondman Compel Country Fences Fields Filled Forth Hedges High Highways House Lanes Master Roads Servant Slave Ways
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Bondman Compel Country Fences Fields Filled Forth Hedges High Highways House Lanes Master Roads Servant Slave Ways
Luke 14
1. Jesus heals the dropsy on the Sabbath;
7. teaches humility;
12. to feast the poor;
15. under the parable of the great supper,
23. shows how worldly minded men shall be shut out of heaven.
25. Those who will be his disciples, to bear their cross must make their accounts beforehand,
31. lest with shame they revolt from him afterward;
34. and become altogether unprofitable, like salt that has lost its flavor.














Then the master told his servant
In this phrase, the "master" represents God, and the "servant" symbolizes the followers of Christ, tasked with carrying out God's will. The Greek word for "master" is "κύριος" (kyrios), often used in the New Testament to denote authority and lordship. This highlights God's sovereign authority over His creation and His right to command His servants. The historical context of a master-servant relationship in ancient times was one of respect and obedience, reflecting the expected response of believers to God's directives.

Go out to the highways and hedges
The command to "go out" signifies an active, intentional effort to reach beyond the immediate community. The Greek word "ἐξέρχομαι" (exerchomai) means to go forth or depart, emphasizing the proactive nature of evangelism. "Highways and hedges" represent the places outside the city, often inhabited by the marginalized or those not initially invited. This imagery suggests the inclusivity of the Gospel, extending beyond the Jewish community to the Gentiles and all nations, aligning with the Great Commission in Matthew 28:19.

and compel them to come in
The word "compel" is translated from the Greek "ἀναγκάζω" (anankazō), which means to necessitate or constrain. This does not imply force but rather a strong persuasion or earnest invitation. The historical context of hospitality in the ancient Near East involved a persistent invitation, reflecting God's earnest desire for all to enter His kingdom. This phrase underscores the urgency and importance of the Gospel message, encouraging believers to passionately share their faith.

so that my house will be full
The "house" symbolizes the kingdom of God, and the desire for it to be "full" reflects God's longing for all to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth (1 Timothy 2:4). The Greek word "οἶκος" (oikos) for "house" can also mean household or family, indicating the relational aspect of God's kingdom. This phrase assures believers of God's abundant grace and the vastness of His invitation, encouraging them to participate in the mission of filling His house with those who accept His invitation.

(23) The highways and hedges.--In the frame-work of the parable, this points to a yet lower class of the population of an Eastern country--to the tramps and the squatters who had no home, and who were content to sleep under the shelter of a hedge or fence. For the most part, these were low walls or palisades, rather than hedges in the English sense of the word. In the application of the parable, the men thus brought in can hardly be any other than the wanderers of the outlying Gentile world.

Compel them to come in.--It would have seemed all but incredible, had it not been too painfully and conspicuously true, that men could have seen in these words a sanction to the employment of force and pains and penalties as means of converting men to the faith of Christ. To us it seems almost a truism to say that such means may produce proselytes and hypocrites, but cannot possibly produce converts. There is, of course, something that answers to this "compulsion" in the work of Christian preachers, but the weapons of their warfare are not carnal (2Corinthians 10:4), and the constraint which they bring to bear on men is that of "the love of Christ" (2Corinthians 5:14) The only instances of the other kind of compulsion in the Apostolic age are when Saul "compelled" men and women to blaspheme (Acts 26:11), or the Judaisers "compelled" Gentile converts to be circumcised (Galatians 2:14; Galatians 6:12). . . .

Verse 23. - And the lord said unto the servant, Go out into the highways and hedges. Hitherto the parable-story has been dealing with the past and the present of Israel; it now becomes prophetic, and speaks of a state of things to be. The third series of invitations is not addressed to inhabitants of a city. No walls hem in these far-scattered dwellers among the highways and hedges of the world. This time the master of the house asks to his great banquet those who live in the isles of the Gentiles. And compel them to some in. A greater pressure is put on this class of outsiders than was tried upon the favoured first invited. The indifferent ones were left to themselves. They knew, or professed to know and to appreciate, the nature of that feast in heaven, the invitation to which they treated apparently with so much honour, and really with such contempt. But these outsiders the Divine Host would treat differently. To them the notion of a pitying, loving God was quite a strange thought; these must be compelled - must be brought to him with the gentle force which the angels used when they laid hold of the hand of lingering Lot, and brought him out of the doomed city of the plain. Thus faithful men, intensely convinced of the truth of their message, compel others, by the bright earnestness of their words and life, to join the company of those who are going up to the feast above. Anselm thinks that God may be also said to compel men to come in when he drives them by calamities to seek and find refuge with him and in his Church. That my house may be filled. In ver. 22 the servant, who knew well his master's mind and his master's house too, and its capabilities, tells his lord how, after many had accepted the invitation and were gone in to the banquet, "yet there was room." The master of the house, approving his servant's words, confirms them by repeating, "Bring in more andyet more, that my house may be filled." Bengel comments here with his quaint grace in words to which no translation can do justice: "Nee natura nec gratis patitur vacuum." Our God, with his burning love for souls, will never bear to contemplate a half-empty heaven. "Messiah will see of the travail of his soul, and be satisfied." "The love of God," says Godet, "is great; it requires a multitude of guests; it will not have a seat empty. The number of the elect is, as it were, determined beforehand by the riches of the Divine glory, which cannot find complete reflection without a certain number of human beings. The invitation will, therefore, be continued, and consequently the history of our race prolonged, until that number be reached."

Parallel Commentaries ...


Greek
[So]
Καὶ (Kai)
Conjunction
Strong's 2532: And, even, also, namely.

the
(ho)
Article - Nominative Masculine Singular
Strong's 3588: The, the definite article. Including the feminine he, and the neuter to in all their inflections; the definite article; the.

master
κύριος (kyrios)
Noun - Nominative Masculine Singular
Strong's 2962: Lord, master, sir; the Lord. From kuros; supreme in authority, i.e. controller; by implication, Master.

told
εἶπεν (eipen)
Verb - Aorist Indicative Active - 3rd Person Singular
Strong's 2036: Answer, bid, bring word, command. A primary verb; to speak or say.

[his]
τὸν (ton)
Article - Accusative Masculine Singular
Strong's 3588: The, the definite article. Including the feminine he, and the neuter to in all their inflections; the definite article; the.

servant,
δοῦλον (doulon)
Noun - Accusative Masculine Singular
Strong's 1401: (a) (as adj.) enslaved, (b) (as noun) a (male) slave. From deo; a slave.

‘Go out
Ἔξελθε (Exelthe)
Verb - Aorist Imperative Active - 2nd Person Singular
Strong's 1831: To go out, come out. From ek and erchomai; to issue.

to
εἰς (eis)
Preposition
Strong's 1519: A primary preposition; to or into, of place, time, or purpose; also in adverbial phrases.

the
τὰς (tas)
Article - Accusative Feminine Plural
Strong's 3588: The, the definite article. Including the feminine he, and the neuter to in all their inflections; the definite article; the.

highways
ὁδοὺς (hodous)
Noun - Accusative Feminine Plural
Strong's 3598: A way, road, journey, path. Apparently a primary word; a road; by implication, a progress; figuratively, a mode or means.

and
καὶ (kai)
Conjunction
Strong's 2532: And, even, also, namely.

[the] hedges
φραγμοὺς (phragmous)
Noun - Accusative Masculine Plural
Strong's 5418: A hedge, fence, partition. From phrasso; a fence, or inclosing barrier.

and
καὶ (kai)
Conjunction
Strong's 2532: And, even, also, namely.

compel [them]
ἀνάγκασον (anankason)
Verb - Aorist Imperative Active - 2nd Person Singular
Strong's 315: To force, compel, constrain, urge. From anagke; to necessitate.

to come in,
εἰσελθεῖν (eiselthein)
Verb - Aorist Infinitive Active
Strong's 1525: To go in, come in, enter. From eis and erchomai; to enter.

so that
ἵνα (hina)
Conjunction
Strong's 2443: In order that, so that. Probably from the same as the former part of heautou; in order that.

my
μου (mou)
Personal / Possessive Pronoun - Genitive 1st Person Singular
Strong's 1473: I, the first-person pronoun. A primary pronoun of the first person I.

house
οἶκος (oikos)
Noun - Nominative Masculine Singular
Strong's 3624: A dwelling; by implication, a family.

will be full.
γεμισθῇ (gemisthē)
Verb - Aorist Subjunctive Passive - 3rd Person Singular
Strong's 1072: To fill, load. Transitive from gemo; to fill entirely.


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NT Gospels: Luke 14:23 The lord said to the servant 'Go (Luke Lu Lk)
Luke 14:22
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