Matthew 20–22

The Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard

20“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. ²And after^* coming to an agreement with the workers for a denarius per day, he sent them into his vineyard. ³And going out about the third hour, he saw others standing idle in the marketplace. ⁴And to those people he said, ‘You also go into the vineyard, and I will give you whatever is right.’ ⁵So they went. Going out^a again about the sixth and ninth hour he did the same thing. ⁶And 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?’ ⁷They said to him, ‘Because no one hired us.’ He said to them, ‘You go also into the vineyard.’ ⁸And when^* evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his manager, ‘Call the workers and pay them their^b wages, beginning from the last up to the first.’ ⁹And when the ones hired about the eleventh hour came, they received a denarius apiece. ¹⁰And when^* the first came, they thought that they would receive more, and they also received a denarius apiece. ¹¹And when they^* received it,^* they began to complain^c against the master of the house, ¹²saying, ‘These last people worked one hour and you made them equal to us who have endured the burden of the day and the burning heat!’ ¹³But he answered one of them and^* said, ‘Friend, I am not doing you wrong. Did you not come to an agreement with me for a denarius? ¹⁴Take what is yours and go! But I want to give to this last person the same as I gave^d to you also. ¹⁵Is it not^e permitted for me to do whatever I want with what is mine? Or is your eye evil because I am generous?’ ¹⁶Thus the last will be first and the first last.”

Jesus Predicts His Death and Resurrection a Third Time

¹⁷And as^* Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, he took the twelve disciples by themselves and said to them on the way, ¹⁸“Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be handed over to the chief priests and scribes, and they will condemn him to death, ¹⁹and will hand him over to the Gentiles to mock him^* and flog him^* and crucify him,^* and on the third day he will be raised.”

A Request by the Mother of James and John

²⁰Then the mother of the sons of Zebedee came up to him with her sons, and^* kneeling down she asked^* something from him. ²¹And he said to her, “What do you want?” She said to him, “Say that these two sons of mine may sit one at your right hand and one at your left in your kingdom.” ²²But Jesus answered and^* said, “You do not know what you are asking! Are you able to drink the cup that I am about to drink?” They said to him, “We are able.” ²³He said to them, “You will indeed drink my cup, but to sit at my right hand and at my left is not mine^f to grant, but is for those for whom it has been prepared by my Father.”

²⁴And when^* the ten heard this,^* they were indignant concerning the two brothers. ²⁵But Jesus called them to himself and^* said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those in high positions exercise authority over them. ²⁶It will not be like this among you! But whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, ²⁷and whoever wants to be most prominent among you must be your slave—²⁸just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

Two Blind Men Healed at Jericho

²⁹And as^* they were going out of Jericho, a large crowd followed him. ³⁰And behold, there were two blind men sitting beside the road. When they^* heard that Jesus was passing by, they called out, saying, “Lord, have mercy on us,^g Son of David!” ³¹And the crowd rebuked them so that they would be quiet. But they called out all the more, saying, “Lord, have mercy on us,^h Son of David!” ³²And Jesus stopped,^* called them, and said, “What do you want me to do for you?” ³³They said to him, “Lord, that our eyes be opened!” ³⁴And having compassion, Jesus touched their eyes, and immediately they received their sight and followed him.

The Triumphal Entry

21And when they drew near to Jerusalem and came to Bethphage at the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples, ²saying to them, “Go into the village before you, and right away you will find a donkey tied and a colt with her. Untie them^* and^* bring them^* to me. ³And if anyone says anything to you, you will say, ‘The Lord needs them,’^a and he will send them at once.” ⁴Now this took place so that what was spoken through the prophet would be fulfilled, saying,

⁵“Say to the daughter of Zion,

‘Behold, your king is coming to you,

humble and mounted on a donkey,

and^b on a colt, the foal of a pack animal.’ ”^c

⁶So the disciples went^* and did^* just as Jesus directed them, ⁷and^* brought the donkey and the colt and put their^* cloaks on them, and he sat on them. ⁸And a very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others were cutting branches from the trees and spreading them^* on the road. ⁹And the crowds who went ahead of him and the ones who followed were shouting, saying,

“Hosanna to the Son of David!

Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord!^d

Hosanna in the highest heaven!”^*

¹⁰And when^* he entered into Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred up, saying, “Who is this?” ¹¹And the crowds were saying, “This is the prophet Jesus from Nazareth of Galilee!”

The Cleansing of the Temple

¹²And Jesus entered the temple courts^* and drove out all those who were selling and buying in the temple, and overturned the tables of the money changers and the chairs of those who were selling doves. ¹³And he said to them, “It is written, ‘My house will be called a house of prayer,’^e but you have made it a cave of robbers!”

¹⁴And the blind and the lame came up to him in the temple courts^* and he healed them. ¹⁵But when^* the chief priests and the scribes saw the wonderful things that he did, and the children shouting in the temple courts^* and saying, “Hosanna to the Son of David!” they were indignant. ¹⁶And they said to him, “Do you hear what these children^* are saying?” So Jesus said to them, “Yes, have you never read, ‘Out of the mouths of children and nursing babies you have prepared for yourself praise’?”^{f 17}And leaving them, he went outside of the city to Bethany and spent the night there.

A Barren Fig Tree Cursed

¹⁸Now early in the morning, as he^* was returning to the city, he was hungry. ¹⁹And seeing a single fig tree by the road, he went to it and found nothing on it except leaves only. And he said to it, “May there be no more fruit from you forever,^g and the fig tree withered at once. ²⁰And when they^* saw it,^* the disciples were astonished, saying, “How did the fig tree wither at once?” ²¹And Jesus answered and^* said to them, “Truly I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will do not only what was done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, ‘Be lifted up and thrown into the sea,” it will happen! ²²And whatever you ask in prayer, if you^* believe, you will receive.”

Jesus’ Authority Challenged

²³And after^* he arrived at the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came up to him while he^* was teaching, saying, “By what authority are you doing these things? And who gave you this authority?” ²⁴And Jesus answered and^* said to them, “I also will ask you one question. If you tell the answer^* to me, I also will tell you by what authority I am doing these things. ²⁵From where was the baptism of John—from heaven or from men?” And they began to discuss^* this^* among themselves, saying, “If we say ‘From heaven,’ he will say to us, ‘Why then did you not believe him?’ ²⁶But if we say, ‘From men,’ we are afraid of the crowd, because they all look upon John as a prophet.” ²⁷And they answered and^* said to Jesus, “We do not know.” And he said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.

The Parable of the Two Sons

²⁸“Now what do you think? A man had two sons. He approached^h the first and^* said, ‘Son, go work in the vineyard today.’ ²⁹And he answered and^* said, ‘I do not want to!’ But later he changed his mind and^* went. ³⁰And he approached the secondⁱ and^* said the same thing. So he answered and^* said, ‘I will, sir,’ and he did not go. ³¹Which of the two did the will of his^j father?” They said, “The first.” Jesus said to them, “Truly I say to you that the tax collectors and the prostitutes are going ahead of you into the kingdom of God! ³²For John came to you in the way of righteousness and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes did believe him. And when^* you saw it,^* you did not even change your minds later so as to believe in him.

The Parable of the Tenant Farmers in the Vineyard

³³“Listen to another parable: There was a man—a master of a house—who planted a vineyard, and put a fence around it, and dug a winepress in it, and built a watchtower, and leased it to tenant farmers, and went on a journey. ³⁴And when the season of fruit drew near, he sent his slaves to the tenant farmers to collect his fruit. ³⁵And the tenant farmers seized his slaves, one of whom they beat, and one of whom they killed, and one of whom they stoned. ³⁶Again, he sent other slaves, more than the first ones, and they did the same thing to them. ³⁷So finally he sent his son to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ ³⁸But when^* the tenant farmers saw the son, they said among themselves, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him and have his inheritance!’ ³⁹And they seized him and^* threw him^* out of the vineyard and killed him.^{* 40}Now when the master of the vineyard arrives, what will he do to those tenant farmers?” ⁴¹They said to him, “He will destroy those evil men completely and lease the vineyard to other tenant farmers who will give him the fruits in their season.” ⁴²Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the scriptures,

‘The stone which the builders…