- The Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard
- The Eleventh Hour
- Jesus Predicts His Death a Third Time
- James and John’s Mother makes Request to Jesus
- Whoever wants to be Great among You, must be their Servant
- Two Blind Men Receive Sight
- Jesus Moved with Compassion
The Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard
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. 2 When he had agreed with the laborers for a denarius [a] a day, he sent them into his vineyard. 3 He went out about the third hour, [b] and saw others standing idle in the marketplace. 4 He said to them, ‘You also go into the vineyard, and whatever is right I will give you.’ So they went their way. 5 Again he went out about the sixth and the ninth hour, [c] and did likewise. 6 About the eleventh hour [d] he went out, and found others standing idle. He said to them, ‘Why do you stand here all day idle?’
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.’ 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.’
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The Eleventh Hour
9 “When those who were hired at about the eleventh hour came, they each received a denarius. 10 When the first came, they supposed that they would receive more; and they likewise each received a denarius. 11 When they received it, they murmured against the master of the household, 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!’
13 “But he answered one of them, ‘Friend, I am doing you no wrong. Didn’t you agree with me for a denarius? 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. 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?’ 16 So the last will be first, and the first last. For many are called, but few are chosen.”
Jesus Predicts His Death a Third Time
17 As Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, he took the twelve disciples aside, and on the way he said to them, 18 “Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered to the chief priests and scribes, and they will condemn him to death, 19 and will hand him over to the Gentiles to mock, to scourge, and to crucify; and the third day he will be raised up.”
James and John’s Mother make Request to Jesus
20 Then the mother of the sons of Zebedee [f] came to Him with her sons, kneeling and asking a certain thing of Him. 21 He said to her, “What do you want?”
She said to him, “Command that these, my two sons [g], may sit, one on your right hand, and one on your left hand, in your Kingdom.”
22 But Jesus answered, “You don’t know what you are asking for. Are you able to drink the cup that I am about to drink, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?”
They said to him, “We are able.”
23 He said to them, “You will indeed drink my cup, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with, but to sit on my right hand and on my left hand is not mine to give; but it is for whom it has been prepared by my Father.”
24 When the ten heard it, they were indignant with the two brothers.
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Whoever wants to be Great among You, must be their Servant
25 But Jesus summoned them, and said, “You know that the rulers of the nations lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. 26 It shall not be so among you, but whoever desires to become great among you shall be [e] your servant. 27 Whoever desires to be first among you shall be your bondservant, 28 even as the Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
Two Blind Men Receive Sight
29 As they went out from Jericho, a great multitude followed him. 30 Behold, two blind men sitting by the road, when they heard that Jesus was passing by, cried out, “Lord, have mercy on us, you son of David!” 31 The multitude rebuked them, telling them that they should be quiet, but they cried out even more, “Lord, have mercy on us, you son of David!”
32 Jesus stood still, and called them, and asked, “What do you want me to do for you?”
33 They told him, “Lord, that our eyes may be opened.”
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Jesus Moved with Compassion
34 Jesus, being moved with compassion, touched their eyes; and immediately their eyes received their sight, and they followed him.
Footnotes:
- [a] Matthew 20:2 A denarius is a silver Roman coin worth 1/25th of a Roman aureus. This was a common wage for a day of farm labor.
- [b] Matthew 20:3 Time was measured from sunrise to sunset, so the third hour would be about 9:00 AM.
- [c] Matthew 20:5 noon and 3:00 P. M.
- [d] Matthew 20:6 5:00 PM
- [e] Matthew 20:26 TR reads “let him be” instead of “shall be”
- [f] Matthew 20:20 Zebedee is mentioned often in the New Testament, there is very little known about the man himself. His name is mentioned almost entirely in connection with his two famous sons, James and John, disciples of Jesus Christ and two of the inner three disciples.We do know that Zebedee was a fisherman by trade. When Jesus was walking by the Sea of Galilee, He called to James and John, who were “in a boat with their father Zebedee, preparing their nets” (Matthew 4:21). James and John immediately left their father to follow Jesus.
- [g] Matthew 20:21 Sons, James and John, disciples of Jesus Christ
Gods Might Version®
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- Revised and adapted from the World English Bible (WEB)