Matthew 20
20
The Parable of the Vineyard Workers
1 “For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard. #
Mt 13:24; 21:28,33 2After agreeing with the workers on one denarius,#20:2 A denarius = one day’s wage, also in vv. 9,10,13 he sent them into his vineyard for the day. 3When he went out about nine in the morning,#20:3 Lit about the third hour he saw others standing in the marketplace doing nothing. 4He said to them, ‘You also go into my vineyard, and I’ll give you whatever is right.’ So off they went. 5About noon and about three,#20:5 Lit about the sixth hour and the ninth hour he went out again and did the same thing. 6Then about five#20:6 Lit about the eleventh hour, also in v. 9 he went and found others standing around#20:6 Other mss add doing nothing and said to them, ‘Why have you been standing here all day doing nothing?’
7 “‘Because no one hired us,’ they said to him.
“‘You also go into my vineyard,’ he told them. # 20:7 Other mss add ‘and you’ll get whatever is right.’ 8When evening came, the owner of the vineyard told his foreman, ‘Call the workers and give them their pay,#Lv 19:13; Dt 24:15 starting with the last and ending with the first.’
9 “When those who were hired about five came, they each received one denarius. 10So when the first ones came, they assumed they would get more, but they also received a denarius each. 11When they received it, they began to complain to the landowner: 12‘These last men put in one hour, and you made them equal to us who bore the burden of the day’s work and the burning heat.’#Jnh 4:8; Lk 12:55; Jms 1:11
13 “He replied to one of them, ‘Friend, I’m doing you no wrong. Didn’t you agree with me on a denarius? #
Mt 22:12; 26:50 14Take what’s yours and go. I want to give this last man the same as I gave you. 15Don’t I have the right to do what I want with what is mine? Are you jealous#20:15 Lit Is your eye evil; an idiom for jealousy or stinginess because I’m generous?’ #20:15 Lit good#Dt 15:9; Pr 23:6; Mt 6:23; Mk 7:22
16 “So the last will be first, and the first last.” # 20:16 Other mss add “For many are called, but few are chosen.” #
Mt 19:30; Mk 10:31; Lk 13:30
The Third Prediction of His Death
17While going up to Jerusalem,#Mk 10:32–34; Lk 18:31–33 Jesus took the twelve disciples aside privately and said to them on the way, 18“See, we are going up to Jerusalem. The Son of Man will be handed over to the chief priests and scribes, and they will condemn him to death.#Mt 16:21; 26:66; Jn 19:7 19They will hand him over to the Gentiles#Mt 27:2; Ac 2:23; 3:13; 4:27; 21:11 to be mocked, flogged,#20:19 Or scourged and crucified, and on the third day he will be raised.” #20:19 Other mss read will rise again
Suffering and Service
20Then the mother of Zebedee’s sons approached him with her sons.#Mk 10:35–45; Lk 22:24–27 She knelt down to ask him for something.#Mt 4:21; 8:2 21“What do you want?” he asked her.
“Promise,”#20:21 Lit Say she said to him, “that these two sons of mine may sit, one on your right and the other on your left, in your kingdom.”#Mt 16:28; 19:28; 25:31,34; Lk 23:42
22Jesus answered, “You don’t know what you’re asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I am about to drink?” #20:22 Other mss add and (or) to be baptized with the baptism which I am baptized?”#Is 51:22; Jr 49:12; Mk 14:36
“We are able,” they said to him.
23He told them, “You will indeed drink my cup,#20:23 Other mss add and be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized. but to sit at my right and left is not mine to give; instead, it is for those for whom it has been prepared by my Father.”#Ac 12:2; Rv 1:9
24When the ten disciples heard this, they became indignant with the two brothers. 25Jesus called them over and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those in high positions act as tyrants over them. 26It must not be like that among you. On the contrary, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant,#Mt 23:11; Mk 9:35 27and whoever wants to be first among you must be your slave; 28just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve,#Lk 22:27; Jn 13:13–15; 2Co 8:9; Php 2:7 and to give his life as a ransom for many.”#Mt 26:28; 1Tm 2:6; Ti 2:14; Heb 9:28
Two Blind Men Healed
29As they were leaving Jericho, a large crowd followed him.#Mk 10:46–52; Lk 18:35–43 30There were two blind men sitting by the road. When they heard that Jesus was passing by, they cried out, “Lord, have mercy on us, Son of David!” 31The crowd demanded that they keep quiet, but they cried out all the more, “Lord, have mercy on us, Son of David!” #Mt 9:27; 21:9; 22:42
32Jesus stopped, called them, and said, “What do you want me to do for you?”
33“Lord,” they said to him, “open our eyes.” 34Moved with compassion, Jesus touched their eyes. Immediately they could see, and they followed him.
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Matthew 20: CSB
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© 2017 Holman Bible Publishers
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.)
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