Matthew 20
20
Chapter 20
Jesus tells a story about some workers in a field
1Jesus said, ‘I will tell you a story to show what the kingdom of heaven is like. There was an important man who had a field where he grew grapes. He went out early in the morning. He wanted to find some people who would work in his field. 2The master agreed with the workers that he would pay them one silver coin for a day's work. #20:2 A person usually received one small silver coin when he worked for one day. Then he sent them to work in the field.
3The master went out again about three hours later. He saw some other men standing in the market place. They had no work to do. 4So the master said to these men, “You also go and work in my field. I will pay you the right amount of money.” 5So the workers went to the master's field and started to work.
The master went out again at noon, and he went again three hours after that. Both times he sent men to his field to work. 6Two hours later, at five o'clock, he went out again. He found more men who were standing there. And they had no work to do. The master asked them, “Why are you standing here all day and you are not working?”
7The men said to the master, “Nobody has asked us to work for him.”
So the master said to them, “You also go now and work in my field.”
8Then the evening came. The master of the field spoke to the man who had authority over the workers. He said to him, “Tell the workers to come here. Pay them their money. Begin with the workers who started to work at the end of the day. Finish with the workers who started first.”
9The workers who had come to work at five o'clock in the evening received one silver coin each. 10The workers who had come to work first thought that they would receive more than the other workers. But each of them also received one silver coin. 11When they received their money, they were not happy. They told the master that he had not been fair to them. 12They said to him, “Some of these other workers came last and only worked for one hour. But you have paid them the same money as you paid us. And we have worked all day in the hot sun.”
13Then the master said to one of the workers, “My friend, I am being fair to you. You agreed to work for one day and to receive one silver coin. 14Take your money and go home. I choose to give this last man the same amount of money as I gave to you. 15It is my money. I can choose what to do with it. I want to be kind to people and give them more than we agreed. Does that make you upset?” ’
16Jesus then said, ‘So, one day, those people who are not important now will become the most important. Those people who are very important now will become the least important.’
Jesus talks again about how he will die
17Jesus and his disciples were going towards Jerusalem. As they walked along, Jesus took his 12 disciples away from the other people where he could speak to them alone. 18‘Listen!’ he said to them. ‘We are going to Jerusalem. There, someone will deliver the Son of Man to the leaders of the priests and the teachers of God's Law. These Jewish leaders will decide that I must die. 19Then they will take me and they will deliver me to people who are not Jews. They will laugh at me. They will hit me with whips. Then they will kill me on a cross. #20:19 At this time, the ruler's soldiers would kill bad people on a cross. Soldiers fixed them to a big cross made from wood. They remained on the cross until they died. But after three days, I will become alive again.’
The mother of James and John asks Jesus for something
20Then the mother of James and John took them to see Jesus. (Their father was Zebedee.) She went down on her knees in front of Jesus. She asked him to do something good for her.
21‘What do you want me to do?’ Jesus asked her.
She said, ‘One day, you will be king. Then I want my two sons to rule with you. One may sit at your right side and the other one at your left side. Please will you do this?’
22Jesus said to them, ‘You do not understand what you are asking for. I will have much pain and trouble. Are you ready to have the same pain?’
James and John replied, ‘Yes, we can do that.’
23Jesus said to them, ‘Yes, that is true. You will have pain and trouble like mine. But I cannot promise that you will sit at my right side or at my left side. My Father God has chosen the people who will sit there. He has prepared the places for those people.’
24When the other ten disciples heard about this, they were angry with the two brothers. 25Then Jesus told all the 12 disciples to come to him. He said to them, ‘You know the things that rulers of other countries do. They show that they have great power over their people. The leaders of those countries use great authority over their people. 26But you should not be like that. The person who wants to be great among you must become your servant. 27The person who wants to be the most important person among you must work hard for everyone else. 28Even the Son of Man himself came to earth to be a servant to other people. He did not come here to have servants who must work for him. No, he came to die so that many people can be free.’
Jesus causes two men to see near Jericho
29Later, Jesus and his disciples were leaving Jericho. A large crowd of people followed him. 30Two men were sitting at the side of the road. They were blind. But they heard that Jesus was walking past them. So they shouted, ‘Master! Son of David! #20:30 ‘Son of David’ is another name for the special person, the Christ, that God would send to save his people. It is another name for Jesus. Please be kind to us and help us.’
31The people who were in the crowd were angry with them. They told them that they should be quiet. But the men shouted even louder, ‘Master! Son of David! Please help us!’
32Jesus stopped there. He asked the two men, ‘What do you want me to do for you?’
33‘Sir,’ the men replied, ‘we want to see again.’
34Jesus felt sorry for the two men. He touched their eyes and immediately the men could see again. So they followed Jesus along the road.
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Matthew 20: EASY
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MissionAssist 2018
Matthew 20
20
The Workers in the Vineyard
1 “The Kingdom of heaven is like this. Once there was a man who went out early in the morning to hire some men to work in his vineyard. 2He agreed to pay them the regular wage, a silver coin a day, and sent them to work in his vineyard. 3He went out again to the market place at nine o'clock and saw some men standing there doing nothing, 4so he told them, ‘You also go and work in the vineyard, and I will pay you a fair wage.’ 5So they went. Then at twelve o'clock and again at three o'clock he did the same thing. 6It was nearly five o'clock when he went to the market place and saw some other men still standing there. ‘Why are you wasting the whole day here doing nothing?’ he asked them. 7‘No one hired us,’ they answered. ‘Well, then, you also go and work in the vineyard,’ he told them.
8 #
Lev 19.13; Deut 24.15 “When evening came, the owner told his foreman, ‘Call the workers and pay them their wages, starting with those who were hired last and ending with those who were hired first.’ 9The men who had begun to work at five o'clock were paid a silver coin each. 10So when the men who were the first to be hired came to be paid, they thought they would get more; but they too were given a silver coin each. 11They took their money and started grumbling against the employer. 12‘These men who were hired last worked only one hour,’ they said, ‘while we put up with a whole day's work in the hot sun — yet you paid them the same as you paid us!’
13 “ ‘Listen, friend,’ the owner answered one of them, ‘I have not cheated you. After all, you agreed to do a day's work for one silver coin. 14Now take your pay and go home. I want to give this man who was hired last as much as I have given you. 15Don't I have the right to do as I wish with my own money? Or are you jealous because I am generous?’ ”
16 #
Mt 19.30; Mk 10.31; Lk 13.30 And Jesus concluded, “So those who are last will be first, and those who are first will be last.”
Jesus Speaks a Third Time about his Death
(Mk 10.32–34; Lk 18.31–34)
17As Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, he took the twelve disciples aside and spoke to them privately, as they walked along. 18“Listen,” he told them, “we are going up to Jerusalem, where the Son of Man will be handed over to the chief priests and the teachers of the Law. They will condemn him to death 19and then hand him over to the Gentiles, who will mock him, whip him, and crucify him; but three days later he will be raised to life.”
A Mother's Request
(Mk 10.35–45)
20Then the wife of Zebedee came to Jesus with her two sons, bowed before him, and asked him a favour.
21 “What do you want?” Jesus asked her.
She answered, “Promise me that these two sons of mine will sit at your right and your left when you are King.”
22 “You don't know what you are asking for,” Jesus answered the sons. “Can you drink the cup of suffering that I am about to drink?”
“We can,” they answered.
23 “You will indeed drink from my cup,” Jesus told them, “but I do not have the right to choose who will sit at my right and my left. These places belong to those for whom my Father has prepared them.”
24When the other ten disciples heard about this, they became angry with the two brothers. 25#Lk 22.25–26So Jesus called them all together and said, “You know that the rulers of the heathen have power over them, and the leaders have complete authority. 26#Mt 23.11; Mk 9.35; Lk 22.26This, however, is not the way it shall be among you. If one of you wants to be great, he must be the servant of the rest; 27and if one of you wants to be first, he must be your slave — 28like the Son of Man, who did not come to be served, but to serve and to give his life to redeem many people.”
Jesus Heals Two Blind Men
(Mk 10.46–52; Lk 18.35–43)
29As Jesus and his disciples were leaving Jericho, a large crowd was following. 30Two blind men who were sitting by the road heard that Jesus was passing by, so they began to shout, “Son of David! Take pity on us, sir!”
31The crowd scolded them and told them to be quiet. But they shouted even more loudly, “Son of David! Take pity on us, sir!”
32Jesus stopped and called them. “What do you want me to do for you?” he asked them.
33“Sir,” they answered, “we want you to give us our sight!”
34Jesus had pity on them and touched their eyes; at once they were able to see, and they followed him.
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Good News Bible. Scripture taken from the Good News Bible (r) (Today's English Version Second Edition, UK/British Edition). Copyright © 1992 British & Foreign Bible Society. Used by permission.