Matthew 20
20
1For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard. 2He agreed to pay the workers one denarius for the day, and sent them to work in his vineyard.
3Around 9 a.m. he went out and saw others without work standing in the marketplace.
4‘Go and work in the vineyard too, and I'll pay you what's right,’ he told them. 5So they went to work. Around noon and 3 p.m. he went out and did the same thing. 6At 5 p.m. he went out and found others standing there. ‘Why are you standing around all day doing nothing?’ he asked them. 7‘Because nobody has hired us,’ they replied. ‘Go and work in the vineyard too,’ he told them.
8When evening came, the owner of the vineyard told his manager, ‘Call the workers in, and pay them their wages. Begin with the workers hired last and then move on to those hired first.’ 9When those who were hired at 5 p.m. came in, they each received one denarius. 10So when those who were hired first came in, they thought they would get more, but they also received one denarius. 11When they received their pay, they complained to the owner. 12‘Those who were hired last only worked for an hour, and you've paid them the same as us who worked the whole day in the burning heat,’ they grumbled.
13The owner answered one of them, ‘My friend, I haven't treated you unfairly. Didn't you agree with me to work for one denarius? 14Take your pay and go. I want to pay those who were hired last the same as I paid you. 15Can't I choose to do what I want with my own money? Why should you give me evil looks because I want to do good?’ 16In this way the last shall be first and the first shall be last.”
17On the way to Jerusalem, Jesus took the twelve disciples aside as they walked along and told them, 18“Look, we're going to Jerusalem, and the Son of man will be betrayed to the chief priests and religious teachers. They will condemn him to death 19and hand him over to the foreigners#20:19. Here referring to the Romans. to mock him, whip him, and crucify him. But on the third day he will be raised from the dead.”
20Then the mother of the sons of Zebedee came with her two sons to Jesus. She kneeled down before him to make a request.
21“What is it you are asking me for?” Jesus said to her.
“Please appoint my sons to sit beside you in your kingdom, one on your right and the other on your left,” she asked.
22“You don't know what you're asking,” Jesus told them. “Are you able to drink the cup#20:22. Meaning the cup of suffering. I'm about to drink?”
“Yes, we are able to do that,” they told him.
23“You will certainly drink from my cup,” he said to them, “but the privilege to sit on my right or on my left isn't mine to give. My Father is the one who has decided who that will be.#20:23. Or “it is for those for whom it has been prepared by my Father.””
24When the other ten disciples heard what they had asked, they were annoyed with the two brothers. 25Jesus called them together and told them, “You know that foreign rulers lord it over their subjects, and powerful leaders oppress them. 26It shall not be like that for you. Whoever among you wants to be the most important will be your servant. 27Whoever among you wants to be first will be like a slave. 28In the same way, the Son of man didn't come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
29As they left Jericho, a huge crowd followed Jesus. 30Two blind men were sitting at the side of the road. When they heard that Jesus was passing by, they called out, “Have mercy on us, Lord, son of David!” 31The crowd told them to be quiet, but they shouted even louder, “Have mercy on us, Lord, son of David!”
32Jesus stopped. He called them over, asking, “What do you want me to do for you?”
33“Lord, please make us able to see,” they replied.
34Jesus had pity on them and touched their eyes. Immediately they could see, and they followed him.
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Matthew 20: FBV
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Dr. Jonathan Gallagher. Released under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 Unported License. Version 4.3. For corrections send email to jonathangallagherfbv@gmail.com
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.
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The Holy Bible, New Century Version, Copyright © 2005 Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved.