Matthew 20:1–16

THE PARABLE OF THE VINEYARD WORKERS

20“For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard.^{t 2}After agreeing with the workers on one denarius, he sent them into his vineyard for the day. ³When he went out about nine in the morning,^F he saw others standing in the marketplace doing nothing. ⁴He said to them, ‘You also go into my vineyard, and I’ll give you whatever is right.’ So off they went. ⁵About noon and about three,^G he went out again and did the same thing. ⁶Then about five he went and found others standing around^I and said to them, ‘Why have you been standing here all day doing nothing?’

⁷“ ‘Because no one hired us,’ they said to him.

“ ‘You also go into my vineyard,’ he told them.^{J 8}When evening came, the owner of the vineyard told his foreman, ‘Call the workers and give them their pay,^a starting with the last and ending with the first.’

⁹“When those who were hired about five came, they each received one denarius. ¹⁰So when the first ones came, they assumed they would get more, but they also received a denarius each. ¹¹When they received it, they began to complain to the landowner: ¹²‘These last men put in one hour, and you made them equal to us who bore the burden of the day’s work and the burning heat.’^b

¹³“He replied to one of them, ‘Friend, I’m doing you no wrong. Didn’t you agree with me on a denarius?^{c 14}Take what’s yours and go. I want to give this last man the same as I gave you. ¹⁵Don’t I have the right to do what I want with what is mine? Are you jealous^A because I’m generous?’^Bd

¹⁶“So the last will be first, and the first last.”^Ce