Matthew 20

Chapter 20

Laborers in the Vineyard

¹“For ^athe kingdom of heaven is like ¹a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his ^bvineyard.

²“When he had agreed with the laborers for a ¹denarius for the day, he sent them into his vineyard.

³“And he went out about the ¹third hour and saw others standing idle in the market place;

⁴and to those he said, ‘You also go into the vineyard, and whatever is right I will give you.’ And so they went.

⁵“Again he went out about the ¹sixth and the ninth hour, and did ²the same thing.

⁶“And about the ¹eleventh hour he went out and found others standing around; and he ^*said to them, ‘Why have you been standing here idle all day long?’

⁷“They ^*said to him, ‘Because no one hired us.’ He ^*said to them, ‘You go into the vineyard too.’

⁸“When ^aevening came, the ¹owner of the vineyard ^*said to his ^bforeman, ‘Call the laborers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last group to the first.’

⁹“When those hired about the eleventh hour came, each one received a ¹denarius.

¹⁰“When those hired first came, they thought that they would receive more; ¹but each of them also received a denarius.

¹¹“When they received it, they grumbled at the landowner,

¹²saying, ‘These last men have worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden and the ^ascorching heat of the day.’

¹³“But he answered and said to one of them, ‘^aFriend, I am doing you no wrong; did you not agree with me for a denarius?

¹⁴‘Take what is yours and go, but I wish to give to this last man the same as to you.

¹⁵‘Is it not lawful for me to do what I wish with what is my own? Or is your ^aeye ¹envious because I am ²generous?’

¹⁶“So ^athe last shall be first, and the first last.”

Death, Resurrection Foretold

^17aAs Jesus was about to go up to Jerusalem, He took the twelve disciples aside by themselves, and on the way He said to them,

¹⁸“Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem; and the Son of Man ^awill be ¹delivered to the chief priests and scribes, and they will condemn Him to death,

¹⁹and ^awill hand Him over to the Gentiles to mock and scourge and crucify Him, and on ^bthe third day He will be raised up.”

Preferment Asked

^20aThen the mother of ^bthe sons of Zebedee came to ¹Jesus with her sons, ^cbowing down and making a request of Him.

²¹And He said to her, “What do you wish?” She said to Him, “Command that in Your kingdom these two sons of mine ^amay sit one on Your right and one on Your left.”

²²But Jesus answered, “You do not know what you are asking. Are you able ^ato drink the cup that I am about to drink?” They said to Him, “We are able.”

²³He said to them, “^aMy cup you shall drink; but to sit on My right and on My left, this is not Mine to give, ^bbut it is for those for whom it has been ^cprepared by My Father.”

²⁴And hearing this, the ten became indignant with the two brothers.

^25aBut Jesus called them to Himself and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great men exercise authority over them.

²⁶“It is not this way among you, ^abut whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant,

²⁷and whoever wishes to be first among you shall be your slave;

²⁸just as ^athe Son of Man ^bdid not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His ¹life a ransom for many.”

Sight for the Blind

^29aAs they were leaving Jericho, a large crowd followed Him.

³⁰And two blind men sitting by the road, hearing that Jesus was passing by, cried out, “Lord, ^ahave mercy on us, ^bSon of David!”

³¹The crowd sternly told them to be quiet, but they cried out all the more, “Lord, ^aSon of David, have mercy on us!”

³²And Jesus stopped and called them, and said, “What do you want Me to do for you?”

³³They said to Him, “Lord, we want our eyes to be opened.”

³⁴Moved with compassion, Jesus touched their eyes; and immediately they regained their sight and followed Him.