Luke 14:16

But Jesus ¹  said to him, “A man once gave a great banquet ²  and invited ³  many guests. ⁴ 

Jesus replied: "A certain man was preparing a great banquet and invited many guests.

But He said to him, "A man was giving a big dinner, and he invited many;

Jesus replied with this illustration: "A man prepared a great feast and sent out many invitations.

Jesus followed up. "Yes. For there was once a man who threw a great dinner party and invited many.

And he said to them, A certain man gave a great feast, and sent word of it to a number of people.

Then Jesus said to him, "Someone gave a great dinner and invited many.

Then He said to him, "A certain man gave a great supper and invited many,

But Jesus ¹  said to him, “A man once gave a great banquet ²  and invited ³  many guests. ⁴ 

¹ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

² tn Or “dinner.”

³ sn Presumably those invited would have sent a reply with the invitation stating their desire to attend, much like a modern R.S.V.P. Then they waited for the servant to announce the beginning of the celebration (D. L. Bock, Luke [BECNT], 2:1272).

⁴ tn The word “guests” is not in the Greek text but is implied.