Matthew 22:14
“For many are called, but few are chosen.”
King James Version (KJV)
Read this verse in context with translation switching:
Read Full Chapter →Context
Jesus speaks during the final week in Jerusalem, teaching in the temple as opposition mounts. This line closes the parable of the wedding feast, the third of three parables aimed at the religious leaders.
What Does Matthew 22:14 Mean?
This short verse means that God's invitation reaches a great many people, yet only some are finally counted among those who belong to Him -- and the difference lies in how the invitation is answered. The saying caps the parable of the wedding feast (Matthew 22:1-13), where a king sends out a broad summons and yet one guest is removed for refusing the wedding garment provided for the occasion.
The word "called" pictures the wide, generous reach of the summons -- it goes out to highways and hedges, to good and bad alike. "Chosen" describes those who not only hear the call but receive it rightly, clothing themselves as the host requires. The verse holds two truths together without collapsing either: the invitation is genuinely open to all, and the response a person makes truly matters. It refuses both presumption (assuming the call alone is enough) and despair (assuming the door is too narrow to enter). The parable's guest was not excluded by the king's stinginess but by his own refusal of what was freely offered. Jesus leaves the hearer with a searching question -- not merely "have I been invited?" but "have I come as the King asks?"
In the Original Language
The Greek contrasts "klētoi" (called, invited) with "eklektoi" (chosen, selected). The wordplay turns on the shared root kaleō, "to call," so that the chosen are a subset shaped by their response to the calling.
Cross References
“So the last shall be first, and the first last: for many be called, but few chosen.”
- Matthew 20:16
“Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.”
- Matthew 7:21
“Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb.”
- Revelation 19:9
Application
Hearing the gospel call is a gift, but it asks for a real answer; examine whether you have not only heard the invitation but come to the feast on the host's terms.