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Matthew 20:1–9

Laborers in the Vineyard

20 For the kingdom of heaven is like a master of a house who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. After agreeing with the laborers for a denarius1 a day, he sent them into his vineyard. And going out about the third hour he saw others standing idle in the marketplace, and to them he said, ‘You go into the vineyard too, and whatever is right I will give you.’ So they went. Going out again about the sixth hour and the ninth hour, he did the same. And gabout the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing. And he said to them, ‘Why do you stand here idle all day?’ They said to him, ‘Because no one has hired us.’ He said to them, ‘You go into the vineyard too.’ And hwhen evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his iforeman, ‘Call the laborers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last, up to the first.’ And when those hired about the eleventh hour came, each of them received a denarius.

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Matthew 20:1–9 — The New International Version (NIV)

For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard. He agreed to pay them a denarius for the day and sent them into his vineyard.

About nine in the morning he went out and saw others standing in the marketplace doing nothing. He told them, ‘You also go and work in my vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.’ So they went.

He went out again about noon and about three in the afternoon and did the same thing. About five in the afternoon he went out and found still others standing around. He asked them, ‘Why have you been standing here all day long doing nothing?’

“ ‘Because no one has hired us,’ they answered.

He said to them, ‘You also go and work in my vineyard.’

When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, ‘Call the workers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last ones hired and going on to the first.’

The workers who were hired about five in the afternoon came and each received a denarius.

Matthew 20:1–9 — King James Version (KJV 1900)

For the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is an householder, which went out early in the morning to hire labourers into his vineyard. And when he had agreed with the labourers for a penny a day, he sent them into his vineyard. And he went out about the third hour, and saw others standing idle in the marketplace, And said unto them; Go ye also into the vineyard, and whatsoever is right I will give you. And they went their way. Again he went out about the sixth and ninth hour, and did likewise. And about the eleventh hour he went out, and found others standing idle, and saith unto them, Why stand ye here all the day idle? They say unto him, Because no man hath hired us. He saith unto them, Go ye also into the vineyard; and whatsoever is right, that shall ye receive. So when even was come, the lord of the vineyard saith unto his steward, Call the labourers, and give them their hire, beginning from the last unto the first. And when they came that were hired about the eleventh hour, they received every man a penny.

Matthew 20:1–9 — New Living Translation (NLT)

For the Kingdom of Heaven is like the landowner who went out early one morning to hire workers for his vineyard. He agreed to pay the normal daily wage and sent them out to work.

At nine o’clock in the morning he was passing through the marketplace and saw some people standing around doing nothing. So he hired them, telling them he would pay them whatever was right at the end of the day. So they went to work in the vineyard. At noon and again at three o’clock he did the same thing.

At five o’clock that afternoon he was in town again and saw some more people standing around. He asked them, ‘Why haven’t you been working today?’

They replied,Because no one hired us.’

The landowner told them, ‘Then go out and join the others in my vineyard.’

That evening he told the foreman to call the workers in and pay them, beginning with the last workers first. When those hired at five o’clock were paid, each received a full day’s wage.

Matthew 20:1–9 — The New King James Version (NKJV)

For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. Now when he had agreed with the laborers for a denarius a day, he sent them into his vineyard. And he went out about the third hour and saw others standing idle in the marketplace, and said to them, ‘You also go into the vineyard, and whatever is right I will give you.’ So they went. Again he went out about the sixth and the ninth hour, and did likewise. And about the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing idle, and said to them, ‘Why have you been standing here idle all day?’ They said to him, ‘Because no one hired us.’ He said to them, ‘You also go into the vineyard, and whatever is right you will receive.’

So when evening had come, the owner of the vineyard said to his steward, ‘Call the laborers and give them their wages, beginning with the last to the first.’ And when those came who were hired about the eleventh hour, they each received a denarius.

Matthew 20:1–9 — New Century Version (NCV)

“The kingdom of heaven is like a person who owned some land. One morning, he went out very early to hire some people to work in his vineyard. The man agreed to pay the workers one coin for working that day. Then he sent them into the vineyard to work. About nine o’clock the man went to the marketplace and saw some other people standing there, doing nothing. So he said to them, ‘If you go and work in my vineyard, I will pay you what your work is worth.’ So they went to work in the vineyard. The man went out again about twelve o’clock and three o’clock and did the same thing. About five o’clock the man went to the marketplace again and saw others standing there. He asked them, ‘Why did you stand here all day doing nothing?’ They answered, ‘No one gave us a job.’ The man said to them, ‘Then you can go and work in my vineyard.’

“At the end of the day, the owner of the vineyard said to the boss of all the workers, ‘Call the workers and pay them. Start with the last people I hired and end with those I hired first.’

“When the workers who were hired at five o’clock came to get their pay, each received one coin.

Matthew 20:1–9 — American Standard Version (ASV)

For the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that was a householder, who went out early in the morning to hire laborers into his vineyard. And when he had agreed with the laborers for a shilling a day, he sent them into his vineyard. And he went out about the third hour, and saw others standing in the marketplace idle; and to them he said, Go ye also into the vineyard, and whatsoever is right I will give you. And they went their way. Again he went out about the sixth and the ninth hour, and did likewise. And about the eleventh hour he went out, and found others standing; and he saith unto them, Why stand ye here all the day idle? They say unto him, Because no man hath hired us. He saith unto them, Go ye also into the vineyard. And when even was come, the lord of the vineyard saith unto his steward, Call the laborers, and pay them their hire, beginning from the last unto the first. And when they came that were hired about the eleventh hour, they received every man a shilling.

Matthew 20:1–9 — 1890 Darby Bible (DARBY)

For the kingdom of the heavens is like a householder who went out with the early morn to hire workmen for his vineyard. And having agreed with the workmen for a denarius the day, he sent them into his vineyard. And having gone out about the third hour, he saw others standing in the market-place idle; and to them he said, Go also ye into the vineyard, and whatsoever may be just I will give you. And they went their way. Again, having gone out about the sixth and ninth hour, he did likewise. But about the eleventh hour, having gone out, he found others standing, and says to them, Why stand ye here all the day idle? They say to him, Because no man has hired us. He says to them, Go also ye into the vineyard and whatsoever may be just ye shall receive. But when the evening was come, the lord of the vineyard says to his steward, Call the workmen and pay them their wages, beginning from the last even to the first. And when they who came to work about the eleventh hour came, they received each a denarius.

Matthew 20:1–9 — GOD’S WORD Translation (GW)

“The kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out at daybreak to hire workers for his vineyard. After agreeing to pay the workers the usual day’s wages, he sent them to work in his vineyard. About 9 a.m. he saw others standing in the marketplace without work. He said to them, ‘Work in my vineyard, and I’ll give you whatever is right.’ So they went. 

“He went out again about noon and 3 p.m. and did the same thing. About 5 p.m. he went out and found some others standing around. He said to them, ‘Why are you standing here all day long without work?’ 

“ ‘No one has hired us,’ they answered him. 

“He said to them, ‘Work in my vineyard.’ 

“When evening came, the owner of the vineyard told the supervisor, ‘Call the workers, and give them their wages. Start with the last, and end with the first.’ 

“Those who started working about 5 p.m. came, and each received a day’s wages.

Matthew 20:1–9 — The Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)

For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard. After agreeing with the workers on one denarius for the day, he sent them into his vineyard. When he went out about nine in the morning, he saw others standing in the marketplace doing nothing. To those men he said, ‘You also go to my vineyard, and I’ll give you whatever is right.’ So off they went. About noon and at three, he went out again and did the same thing. Then about five he went and found others standing around, and said to them, ‘Why have you been standing here all day doing nothing?’

“ ‘Because no one hired us,’ they said to him.

“ ‘You also go to my vineyard,’ he told them. When evening came, the owner of the vineyard told his foreman, ‘Call the workers and give them their pay, starting with the last and ending with the first.’

When those who were hired about five came, they each received one denarius.

Matthew 20:1–9 — The New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. After agreeing with the laborers for the usual daily wage, he sent them into his vineyard. When he went out about nine o’clock, he saw others standing idle in the marketplace; and he said to them, ‘You also go into the vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.’ So they went. When he went out again about noon and about three o’clock, he did the same. And about five o’clock he went out and found others standing around; and he said to them, ‘Why are you standing here idle all day?’ They said to him, ‘Because no one has hired us.’ He said to them, ‘You also go into the vineyard.’ When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his manager, ‘Call the laborers and give them their pay, beginning with the last and then going to the first.’ When those hired about five o’clock came, each of them received the usual daily wage.

Matthew 20:1–9 — The Lexham English Bible (LEB)

“For the kingdom of heaven is like a man—the master of the house—who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard. And after coming to an agreement with the workers for a denarius per day, he sent them into his vineyard. And going out about the third hour, he saw others standing idle in the marketplace. And to those people he said, ‘You also go into the vineyard, and I will give you whatever is right.’ So they went. Going out again about the sixth and ninth hour he did the same thing. And about the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing there and said to them, ‘Why are you standing here the whole day unemployed?’ They said to him, ‘Because no one hired us.’ He said to them, ‘You go also into the vineyard.’ And when evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his manager, ‘Call the workers and pay them their wages, beginning from the last up to the first.’ And when the ones hired about the eleventh hour came, they received a denarius apiece.

Matthew 20:1–9 — New International Reader’s Version (1998) (NIrV)

“The kingdom of heaven is like a man who owned land. He went out early in the morning to hire people to work in his vineyard. He agreed to give them the usual pay for a day’s work. Then he sent them into his vineyard.

“About nine o’clock in the morning he went out again. He saw others standing in the market place doing nothing. He told them, ‘You also go and work in my vineyard. I’ll pay you what is right.’ So they went.

“He went out again about noon and at three o’clock and did the same thing. About five o’clock he went out and found still others standing around. He asked them, ‘Why have you been standing here all day long doing nothing?’

“ ‘Because no one has hired us,’ they answered.

“He said to them, ‘You also go and work in my vineyard.’

“When evening came, the owner of the vineyard spoke to the person who was in charge of the workers. He said, ‘Call the workers and give them their pay. Begin with the last ones I hired. Then go on to the first ones.’

“The workers who were hired about five o’clock came. Each received the usual day’s pay.

Matthew 20:1–9 — New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update (NASB95)

For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard.

When he had agreed with the laborers for a denarius for the day, he sent them into his vineyard.

And he went out about the third hour and saw others standing idle in the market place;

and to those he said, ‘You also go into the vineyard, and whatever is right I will give you.’ And so they went.

Again he went out about the sixth and the ninth hour, and did the same thing.

And about the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing around; and he said to them, ‘Why have you been standing here idle all day long?’

They said to him, ‘Because no one hired us.’ He said to them, ‘You go into the vineyard too.’

When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, ‘Call the laborers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last group to the first.’

When those hired about the eleventh hour came, each one received a denarius.


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