Matthew 20

The Parable of the Workers Matthew 20:1–16

¹Verse 1. “For the Kingdom of Heaven is like a man who was the master of a household, who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. ²Verse 2. When he had agreed with the laborers for a denarius a day, he sent them into his vineyard. ³Verse 3. He went out about the third hour, and saw others standing idle in the marketplace. ⁴Verse 4. He said to them, ‘You also go into the vineyard, and whatever is right I will give you.’ So they went their way. ⁵Verse 5. Again he went out about the sixth and the ninth hour, and did likewise. ⁶Verse 6. About the eleventh hour he went out, and found others standing idle. He said to them, ‘Why do you stand here all day idle?’

⁷Verse 7. “They said to him, ‘Because no one has hired us.’ “He said to them, ‘You also go into the vineyard, and you will receive whatever is right.’ ⁸Verse 8. When evening had come, the lord of the vineyard said to his manager, ‘Call the laborers and pay them their wages, beginning from the last to the first.’ ⁹Verse 9. “When those who were hired at about the eleventh hour came, they each received a denarius. ¹⁰Verse 10. When the first came, they supposed that they would receive more; and they likewise each received a denarius. ¹¹Verse 11. When they received it, they murmured against the master of the household,

¹²Verse 12. saying, ‘These last have spent one hour, and you have made them equal to us, who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat!’ ¹³Verse 13. “But he answered one of them, ‘Friend, I am doing you no wrong. Didn’t you agree with me for a denarius? ¹⁴Verse 14. Take that which is yours, and go your way. It is my desire to give to this last just as much as to you. ¹⁵Verse 15. Isn’t it lawful for me to do what I want to with what I own? Or is your eye evil, because I am good?’ ¹⁶Verse 16. So the last will be first, and the first last. For many are called, but few are chosen.”