Matthew 20
20
A Story About Workers
1“The kingdom of heaven is like a person who owned some land. One morning, he went out very early to hire some people to work in his vineyard. 2The man agreed to pay the workers one coin for working that day. Then he sent them into the vineyard to work. 3About nine o’clock the man went to the marketplace and saw some other people standing there, doing nothing. 4So he said to them, ‘If you go and work in my vineyard, I will pay you what your work is worth.’ 5So they went to work in the vineyard. The man went out again about twelve o’clock and three o’clock and did the same thing. 6About five o’clock the man went to the marketplace again and saw others standing there. He asked them, ‘Why did you stand here all day doing nothing?’ 7They answered, ‘No one gave us a job.’ The man said to them, ‘Then you can go and work in my vineyard.’
8“At the end of the day, the owner of the vineyard said to the boss of all the workers, ‘Call the workers and pay them. Start with the last people I hired and end with those I hired first.’
9“When the workers who were hired at five o’clock came to get their pay, each received one coin. 10When the workers who were hired first came to get their pay, they thought they would be paid more than the others. But each one of them also received one coin. 11When they got their coin, they complained to the man who owned the land. 12They said, ‘Those people were hired last and worked only one hour. But you paid them the same as you paid us who worked hard all day in the hot sun.’ 13But the man who owned the vineyard said to one of those workers, ‘Friend, I am being fair to you. You agreed to work for one coin. 14So take your pay and go. I want to give the man who was hired last the same pay that I gave you. 15I can do what I want with my own money. Are you jealous because I am good to those people?’
16“So those who are last now will someday be first, and those who are first now will someday be last.”
Jesus Talks About His Own Death
17While Jesus was going to Jerusalem, he took his twelve followers aside privately and said to them, 18“Look, we are going to Jerusalem. The Son of Man will be turned over to the leading priests and the teachers of the law, and they will say that he must die. 19They will give the Son of Man to the non-Jewish people to laugh at him and beat him with whips and crucify him. But on the third day, he will be raised to life again.”
A Mother Asks Jesus a Favor
20Then the wife of Zebedee came to Jesus with her sons. She bowed before him and asked him to do something for her.
21Jesus asked, “What do you want?”
She said, “Promise that one of my sons will sit at your right side and the other will sit at your left side in your kingdom.”
22But Jesus said, “You don’t understand what you are asking. Can you drink the cup that I am about to drink?”
The sons answered, “Yes, we can.”
23Jesus said to them, “You will drink from my cup. But I cannot choose who will sit at my right or my left; those places belong to those for whom my Father has prepared them.”
24When the other ten followers heard this, they were angry with the two brothers.
25Jesus called all the followers together and said, “You know that the rulers of the non-Jewish people love to show their power over the people. And their important leaders love to use all their authority. 26But it should not be that way among you. Whoever wants to become great among you must serve the rest of you like a servant. 27Whoever wants to become first among you must serve the rest of you like a slave. 28In the same way, the Son of Man did not come to be served. He came to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many people.”
Jesus Heals Two Blind Men
29When Jesus and his followers were leaving Jericho, a great many people followed him. 30Two blind men sitting by the road heard that Jesus was going by, so they shouted, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us!”
31The people warned the blind men to be quiet, but they shouted even more, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us!”
32Jesus stopped and said to the blind men, “What do you want me to do for you?”
33They answered, “Lord, we want to see.”
34Jesus felt sorry for the blind men and touched their eyes, and at once they could see. Then they followed Jesus.
Currently Selected:
Matthew 20: NCV
Highlight
Share
Copy
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
The Holy Bible, New Century Version, Copyright © 2005 Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved.
Matthew 20
20
Jesus told a story about work-men in a garden
1Jesus said to his followers, “This picture story is about the people that will be in God’s family. There was a man that owned a garden, and he wanted some work-men to get a job finished in one day. So he went out early in the morning, to the place in the town where men waited around looking for a job. 2He talked to the men there, and they agreed to work for him. He agreed to give them the right pay, the pay that men always get for a day’s work. Then he sent them to work in his garden.
3At 9 o’clock in the morning he went again to that place in the town, and he saw some other men standing around doing nothing. 4So he gave each of them a job too. He told them, ‘Come and work in my garden today, and I will pay you the right money at the end of the day.’ 5So they went to work in his garden.
Then, in the middle of the day, the boss went to that place in the town again. And he found some more men there, and he did the same for them. He gave them jobs. At 3 o’clock in the afternoon, he did the same thing. He found some more men and gave them jobs too.
6Then, at 5 o’clock in the afternoon, he went into town again, and he saw some more men standing around. He asked them, ‘Why haven’t you been working today?’
7They said, ‘Because nobody gave us a job.’
The boss said to them, ‘All right, I’ll give each of you a job. Go and work in my garden.’
8At the end of the day, he told his manager, ‘Tell all the work-men to come here, and we will pay them their money. Tell the last work-men to come first.’#Leviticus 19:13; Deuteronomy 24:15 9So he paid the men that started their job at 5 o’clock, and he gave each of them a full day’s pay. Then he kept on paying the other men, and he gave each man a full day’s pay. 10Last of all, he paid the men that started their job early in the morning. They thought they were going to get more money, but they didn’t. Each of them got a full day’s pay, just like the other men. 11When they got their money, they complained to the boss. They said, 12‘Those men only worked for one hour, and you paid them just as much money as you paid us. That’s not fair. We worked all day in the hot sun.’
13The boss said to one of them, ‘My friend, I’m not cheating you. You agreed to work all day for one day’s pay, right? 14Well, take your money and go home. You see, I wanted to pay these last work-men the same as you. 15It’s all right for me to do what I want with my own money, right? If I’m good to somebody, don’t get upset with me.’ ”
16Then Jesus told them what that story means. He said, “One day, those people that are the last ones now, they will be the first ones. And those people that are the first ones now, they will be the last ones.”#Matthew 19:30; Mark 10:31; Luke 13:30
(We have not yet translated 20:17—21:27. You can read that story and those messages in Mark 10:32—11:33.)
Currently Selected:
:
Highlight
Share
Copy
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
© 2021, Wycliffe Bible Translators, Inc. All rights reserved.