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.”
17As 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, 19and will hand him over to the Gentiles to mock, to scourge, and to crucify; and the third day he will be raised up.”
20Then 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.”
22But Jesus answered, “You don’t know what you are asking. 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.”
23He 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.”
24When the ten heard it, they were indignant with the two brothers.
25But 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. 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.”
29As they went out from Jericho, a great multitude followed him. 30Behold, 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!” 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!”
32Jesus stood still and called them, and asked, “What do you want me to do for you?”
33They told him, “Lord, that our eyes may be opened.”
34Jesus, being moved with compassion, touched their eyes; and immediately their eyes received their sight, and they followed him.
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Matthew 20: WEBUS
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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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