Matthew 20–22

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. ²After agreeing with the laborers for a denarius¹ a day, he sent them into his vineyard. ³And going out about the third hour he saw others standing idle in the marketplace, ⁴and to them he said, ‘You go into the vineyard too, and whatever is right I will give you.’ ⁵So they went. Going out again about the sixth hour and the ninth hour, he did the same. ⁶And ^gabout the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing. And he said to them, ‘Why do you stand here idle all day?’ ⁷They said to him, ‘Because no one has hired us.’ He said to them, ‘You go into the vineyard too.’ ⁸And ^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.’ ⁹And when those hired about the eleventh hour came, each of them received a denarius. ¹⁰Now when those hired first came, they thought they would receive more, but each of them also received a denarius. ¹¹And on receiving it they grumbled at the master of the house, ¹²saying, ‘These last worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the day and ^jthe scorching heat.’ ¹³But he replied to one of them, ^k‘Friend, I am doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me for a denarius? ¹⁴Take ^lwhat belongs to you and go. I choose to give to this last worker as I give to you. ^15mAm I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or ⁿdo you begrudge my generosity?’^{2 16}So ^othe last will be first, and the first last.”

Jesus Foretells His Death a Third Time

^17pAnd as Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, he took the twelve disciples aside, and on the way he said to them, ¹⁸“See, ^qwe are going up to Jerusalem. And the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and scribes, and they will ^rcondemn him to death ¹⁹and ^sdeliver him over to the Gentiles ^tto be mocked and flogged and ^ucrucified, and he will be raised on ^vthe third day.”

A Mother’s Request

^20wThen ^xthe mother of the sons of Zebedee came up to him with her sons, and ^ykneeling before him she asked him for something. ²¹And he said to her, “What do you want?” She said to him, “Say that these two sons of mine ^zare to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, ^ain your kingdom.” ²²Jesus answered, ^b“You do not know what you are asking. Are you able ^cto drink the cup that I am to drink?” They said to him, “We are able.” ²³He said to them, ^d“You will drink ^emy cup, but to sit at my right hand and at my left is not mine to grant, ^fbut it is for those for whom it has been ^gprepared by my Father.” ²⁴And when the ten heard it, they were indignant at the two brothers. ²⁵But Jesus called them to him and said, ^h“You know that the rulers of the Gentiles ⁱlord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. ^26jIt shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant,^{3 27}and whoever would be first among you must be your slave,^{4 28}even as the Son of Man came not to be served but ^kto serve, and ^lto give his life as a ransom for ^mmany.”

Jesus Heals Two Blind Men

²⁹ⁿAnd as they went out of Jericho, a great crowd followed him. ³⁰And behold, there were two blind men sitting by the roadside, and when they heard that Jesus was passing by, they cried out, “Lord,⁵ have mercy on us, ^oSon of David!” ³¹The crowd ^prebuked them, telling them to be silent, but they cried out all the more, “Lord, have mercy on us, Son of David!” ³²And stopping, Jesus called them and said, “What do you want me to do for you?” ³³They said to him, “Lord, let our eyes be opened.” ³⁴And Jesus in pity touched their eyes, and immediately they recovered their sight and followed him.

The Triumphal Entry

21^qNow when they drew near to Jerusalem and came to Bethphage, to ^rthe Mount of Olives, then Jesus ^ssent two disciples, ²saying to them, “Go into the village in front of you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her. Untie them and bring them to me. ³If anyone says anything to you, you shall say, ‘The Lord needs them,’ and he will send them at once.” ⁴This took place ^tto fulfill what was spoken by the prophet, saying,

^5u“Say to the daughter of Zion,

‘Behold, your king is coming to you,

^vhumble, and mounted on a donkey,

on a colt,¹ the foal of a beast of burden.’ ”

⁶The disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them. ⁷They brought the donkey and the colt and put on them their cloaks, and he sat on them. ⁸Most of the crowd ^wspread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. ⁹And the crowds that went before him and that followed him were shouting, ^x“Hosanna to ^ythe Son of David! ^zBlessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna ^ain the highest!” ¹⁰And ^bwhen he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred up, saying, “Who is this?” ¹¹And the crowds said, “This is ^cthe prophet Jesus, ^dfrom Nazareth of Galilee.”

Jesus Cleanses the Temple

^12eAnd Jesus entered the temple² and drove out all who sold and bought in the temple, and he overturned the tables of ^fthe money-changers and the seats of those who sold ^gpigeons. ¹³He said to them, “It is written, ^h‘My house shall be called a house of prayer,’ but ⁱyou make it a den of robbers.”

^14jAnd the blind and the lame came to him in the temple, and he healed them. ^15kBut when the chief priests and the scribes saw the wonderful things that he did, and the children crying out in the temple, ^x“Hosanna to the Son of David!” they were indignant, ¹⁶and they said to him, “Do you hear what these are saying?” And Jesus said to them, “Yes; ^lhave you never read,

^m“ ‘Out of the mouth of ⁿinfants and nursing babies

you have prepared praise’?”

¹⁷And ^oleaving them, he ^pwent out of the city to ^qBethany and lodged there.

Jesus Curses the Fig Tree

^18rIn the morning, as he was returning to the city, ^she became hungry. ^19tAnd seeing a fig tree by the wayside, he went to it and found nothing on it but only leaves. And he said to it, “May no fruit ever come from you again!” And the fig tree withered at once.

²⁰When the disciples saw it, they marveled, saying, “How did the fig tree wither at once?” ²¹And Jesus answered them, ^u“Truly, I say to you, ^vif you have faith and ^wdo not doubt, you will not only do what has been done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, ^x‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ it will happen. ²²And ^vwhatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, ^yif you have faith.”

The Authority of Jesus Challenged

^23zAnd when he entered the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came up to him ^aas he was teaching, and said, ^b“By what authority are you doing these things, and who gave you this authority?” ²⁴Jesus answered them, “I also will ask you one question, and if you tell me the answer, then I also will tell you by what authority I do these things. ²⁵The baptism of John, ^cfrom where did it come? ^dFrom heaven or from man?” And they discussed it among themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say to us, ^e‘Why then did you not believe him?’ ²⁶But if we say, ‘From man,’ ^fwe are afraid of the crowd, for they all hold that John was ^ga prophet.” ²⁷So they answered Jesus, “We do not know.” And he said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.

The Parable of the Two Sons

^28h“What do you think? A man had two sons. And he went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work in ⁱthe vineyard today.’ ²⁹And he answered, ‘I will not,’ but afterward he ^jchanged his mind and went. ³⁰And he went to the other son and said the same. And he answered, ‘I will, sir,’ but did not go. ³¹Which of the two did the will of his father?” They said, “The first.” Jesus said to them, “Truly, I say to you, ^kthe tax collectors and ^lthe prostitutes go into ^mthe kingdom of God before you. ³²For John came to you ⁿin the way of righteousness, and ^oyou did not believe him, but ^pthe tax collectors and the prostitutes believed him. And even when you saw it, you did not afterward ^jchange your minds and believe him.

The Parable of the Tenants

^33q“Hear another parable. There was a master of a house who planted ^ra vineyard ^sand put a fence around it and dug a winepress in it and built a tower and ^tleased it to tenants, and ^uwent into another country. ³⁴When the season for fruit drew near, he sent his servants³ to the tenants ^tto get his fruit. ^35vAnd the tenants took his servants and beat one, killed another, and ^wstoned another. ^36xAgain he sent other servants, more than the first. And they did the same to them. ³⁷Finally he sent his son to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ ³⁸But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, ^y‘This is the heir. Come, ^zlet us kill him and have his inheritance.’ ³⁹And they took him and ^athrew him out of the vineyard and killed him. ^40bWhen therefore the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?” ⁴¹They said to him, ^c“He will put those wretches to a miserable death and ^dlet out the vineyard to other tenants who will give him the fruits in their seasons.”

⁴²Jesus said to them, ^e“Have you never read in the Scriptures:

^f“ ‘The stone that the builders rejected

has become the cornerstone;⁴

this was the Lord’s doing,

and it is marvelous in our eyes’?

⁴³Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God ^gwill be taken away from you and given to a people ^hproducing its fruits. ⁴⁴And ⁱthe one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; and ^jwhen it falls on anyone, it will crush him.”⁵

⁴⁵When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they perceived that he was speaking about them. ⁴⁶And ^lalthough they were seeking to arrest him, ^mthey feared the crowds, because they held him to be ⁿa prophet.

The Parable of the Wedding Feast

22And again Jesus ^ospoke to them in parables,…