Matthew 20
20
A Story About Vineyard Workers
1“The kingdom of heaven is like a man 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 silver coin# A Roman denarius. One coin was the average pay for one day’s work. 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 again at three o’clock. Both times he hired people to work in his vineyard. 6About five o’clock the man went to the marketplace again. He 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 by paying the last people I hired. Then pay all of them, ending with the workers I hired first.’
9“The workers who were hired at five o’clock came to get their pay. Each worker received one silver coin. 10Then 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 silver coin. 11When they got their silver 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. And we 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 silver 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
17Jesus was going to Jerusalem. His 12 followers were with him. While they were on the way, Jesus gathered the followers together and spoke to them privately. He said to them, 18“We are going to Jerusalem. The Son of Man will be turned over to the leading priests and the teachers of the law. They will say that he must die. 19They will give the Son of Man to the non-Jewish people. They will laugh at him and beat him with whips, and then they will kill him on a cross. But on the third day after his death, he will be raised to life again.”
A Mother Asks Jesus a Favor
20Then the wife of Zebedee came to Jesus. Her sons were with her. The mother bowed before Jesus 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 in your kingdom. And promise that the other son will sit at your left side.”
22But Jesus said, “You don’t understand what you are asking. Can you accept the kind of suffering that I must suffer?”# Literally, “drink the cup that I must drink.” Jesus used the idea of drinking from a cup to mean accepting the terrible things that would happen to him.
The sons answered, “Yes, we can!”
23Jesus said to them, “Truly you will suffer the same things that I will suffer. But I cannot choose who will sit at my right side or my left side. Those places belong to those for whom my Father has prepared them.”
24The other ten followers heard this and were angry with the two brothers.
25Jesus called all the followers together. He 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. If one of you wants to become great, then he must serve the rest of you like a servant. 27If one of you wants to become first, then he must serve the rest of you like a slave. 28So it is with the Son of Man. The Son of Man did not come for other people to serve him. He came to serve others. The Son of Man came to give his life to save many people.”
Jesus Heals Two Blind Men
29When Jesus and his followers were leaving Jericho, a great many people followed Jesus. 30There were two blind men sitting by the road. The blind men heard that Jesus was going by, so they shouted, “Lord, Son of David, please help us!”
31All the people criticized the blind men. They told them to be quiet. But the blind men shouted more and more, “Lord, Son of David, please help us!”
32Jesus stopped and said to the blind men, “What do you want me to do for you?”
33They answered, “Lord, we want to be able to see.”
34Jesus felt sorry for the blind men. He touched their eyes, and at once they were able to see. Then the men followed Jesus.
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Matthew 20: ICB
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Copyright © 2015 by Tommy Nelson™, a Division of Thomas Nelson, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission.
Matthew 20
20
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. 2When he had agreed with the laborers for a denarius#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. a day, he sent them into his vineyard. 3He went out about the third hour,#20:3 Time was measured from sunrise to sunset, so the third hour would be about 9:00 a.m. and saw others standing idle in the marketplace. 4He said to them, ‘You also go into the vineyard, and whatever is right I will give you.’ So they went their way. 5Again he went out about the sixth and the ninth hour,#20:5 noon and 3:00 p.m. and did likewise. 6About the eleventh hour#20:6 5:00 p.m. 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.’ 9“When those who were hired at about the eleventh hour came, they each received a denarius. 10When the first came, they supposed that they would receive more; and they likewise each received a denarius. 11When they received it, they murmured against the master of the household, 12saying, ‘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? 14Take that which is yours, and go your way. It is my desire to give to this last just as much as to you. 15Isn’t it lawful for me to do what I want to with what I own? Or is your eye evil, because I am good?’ 16So the last will be first, and the first last. For many are called, but few are chosen.”
17 As Yeshua 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, 19and will hand him over to the Gentiles to mock, to scourge, and to crucify; and the third day he will be raised up.”
20 Then the mother of the sons of Zebedee came to him with her sons, kneeling and asking a certain thing of him. 21He said to her, “What do you want?”
She said to him, “Command that these, my two sons, may sit, one on your right hand and one on your left hand, in your Kingdom.”
22 But Yeshua answered, “You don’t know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I am about to drink, and be immersed with the immersion that I am immersed with?”
They said to him, “We are able.”
23 He said to them, “You will indeed drink my cup, and be immersed with the immersion that I am immersed 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.
25 But Yeshua summoned them, and said, “You know that the rulers of the nations lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. 26It shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you shall be#20:26 TR reads “let him be” instead of “shall be” your servant. 27Whoever desires to be first among you shall be your bondservant, 28even as the Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
29 As they went out from Jericho, a great multitude followed him. 30Behold, two blind men sitting by the road, when they heard that Yeshua was passing by, cried out, “Lord, have mercy on us, you son of David!” 31The 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!”
32Yeshua 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.”
34Yeshua, being moved with compassion, touched their eyes; and immediately their eyes received their sight, and they followed him.
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