Matthew 20
20
1For the kingdom of the heavens is like a householder who went out with the early morn to hire workmen for his vineyard. 2And having agreed with the workmen for a denarius the day, he sent them into his vineyard. 3And having gone out about the third hour, he saw others standing in the market-place idle; 4and to them he said, Go also ye into the vineyard, and whatsoever may be just I will give you. And they went their way. 5Again, having gone out about the sixth and ninth hour, he did likewise. 6But about the eleventh hour, having gone out, he found others standing, and says to them, Why stand ye here all the day idle? 7They say to him, Because no man has hired us. He says to them, Go also ye into the vineyard and whatsoever may be just ye shall receive. 8But when the evening was come, the lord of the vineyard says to his steward, Call the workmen and pay them their wages, beginning from the last even to the first. 9And when they who came to work about the eleventh hour came, they received each a denarius. 10And when the first came, they supposed that they would receive more, and they received also themselves each a denarius. 11And on receiving it they murmured against the master of the house, 12saying, These last have worked one hour, and thou hast made them equal to us, who have borne the burden of the day and the heat. 13But he answering said to one of them, My friend, I do not wrong thee. Didst thou not agree with me for a denarius? 14Take what is thine and go. But it is my will to give to this last even as to thee: 15is it not lawful for me to do what I will in my own affairs? Is thine eye evil because I am good? 16Thus shall the last be first, and the first last; for many are called ones, but few chosen ones.
17And Jesus, going up to Jerusalem, took the twelve disciples with him apart in the way, and said to them, 18Behold we go up to Jerusalem, and the Son of man will be delivered up to the chief priests and scribes, and they will condemn him to death; 19and they will deliver him up to the nations to mock and to scourge and to crucify, and the third day he shall rise again.
20Then came to him the mother of the sons of Zebedee, with her sons, doing homage, and asking something of him. 21And he said to her, What wilt thou? She says to him, Speak the word that these my two sons may sit, one on thy right hand and one on thy left in thy kingdom. 22And Jesus answering said, Ye know not what ye ask. Can ye drink the cup which I am about to drink? They say to him, We are able. 23And he says to them, Ye shall drink indeed my cup, but to sit on my right hand and on my left, is not mine to give, but to those for whom it is prepared of my Father. 24And the ten, having heard of it, were indignant about the two brothers. 25But Jesus having called them to him, said, Ye know that the rulers of the nations exercise lordship over them, and the great exercise authority over them. 26It shall not be thus amongst you, but whosoever will be great among you, shall be your servant; 27and whosoever will be first among you, let him be your bondman; 28as indeed the Son of man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many.
29And as they went out from Jericho a great crowd followed him. 30And lo, two blind men, sitting by the wayside, having heard that Jesus was passing by, cried out saying, Have mercy on us, Lord, Son of David. 31But the crowd rebuked them, that they might be silent. But they cried out the more, saying, Have mercy on us, Lord, Son of David. 32And Jesus, having stopped, called them and said, What will ye that I shall do to you? 33They say to him, Lord, that our eyes may be opened. 34And Jesus, moved with compassion, touched their eyes; and immediately their eyes had sight restored to them, and they followed him.
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Matthew 20: DARBY
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First published in 1890. This edition is maintained by the British and Foreign Bible Society.
Matthew 20
20
A Story About Workers
1-2“God’s kingdom is like an estate manager who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard. They agreed on a wage of a dollar a day, and went to work.
3-5a “Later, about nine o’clock, the manager saw some other men hanging around the town square unemployed. He told them to go to work in his vineyard and he would pay them a fair wage. They went.
5b-6 “He did the same thing at noon, and again at three o’clock. At five o’clock he went back and found still others standing around. He said, ‘Why are you standing around all day doing nothing?’
7“They said, ‘Because no one hired us.’
“He told them to go to work in his vineyard.
8“When the day’s work was over, the owner of the vineyard instructed his foreman, ‘Call the workers in and pay them their wages. Start with the last hired and go on to the first.’
9-12“Those hired at five o’clock came up and were each given a dollar. When those who were hired first saw that, they assumed they would get far more. But they got the same, each of them one dollar. Taking the dollar, they groused angrily to the manager, ‘These last workers put in only one easy hour, and you just made them equal to us, who slaved all day under a scorching sun.’
13-15“He replied to the one speaking for the rest, ‘Friend, I haven’t been unfair. We agreed on the wage of a dollar, didn’t we? So take it and go. I decided to give to the one who came last the same as you. Can’t I do what I want with my own money? Are you going to get stingy because I am generous?’
16“Here it is again, the Great Reversal: many of the first ending up last, and the last first.”
To Drink from the Cup
17-19Jesus, now well on the way up to Jerusalem, took the Twelve off to the side of the road and said, “Listen to me carefully. We are on our way up to Jerusalem. When we get there, the Son of Man will be betrayed to the religious leaders and scholars. They will sentence him to death. They will then hand him over to the Romans for mockery and torture and crucifixion. On the third day he will be raised up alive.”
20It was about that time that the mother of the Zebedee brothers came with her two sons and knelt before Jesus with a request.
21“What do you want?” Jesus asked.
She said, “Give your word that these two sons of mine will be awarded the highest places of honor in your kingdom, one at your right hand, one at your left hand.”
22Jesus responded, “You have no idea what you’re asking.” And he said to James and John, “Are you capable of drinking the cup that I’m about to drink?”
They said, “Sure, why not?”
23Jesus said, “Come to think of it, you are going to drink my cup. But as to awarding places of honor, that’s not my business. My Father is taking care of that.”
24-28When the ten others heard about this, they lost their tempers, thoroughly disgusted with the two brothers. So Jesus got them together to settle things down. He said, “You’ve observed how godless rulers throw their weight around, how quickly a little power goes to their heads. It’s not going to be that way with you. Whoever wants to be great must become a servant. Whoever wants to be first among you must be your slave. That is what the Son of Man has done: He came to serve, not be served—and then to give away his life in exchange for the many who are held hostage.”
* * *
29-31As they were leaving Jericho, a huge crowd followed. Suddenly they came upon two blind men sitting alongside the road. When they heard it was Jesus passing, they cried out, “Master, have mercy on us! Mercy, Son of David!” The crowd tried to hush them up, but they got all the louder, crying, “Master, have mercy on us! Mercy, Son of David!”
32Jesus stopped and called over, “What do you want from me?”
33They said, “Master, we want our eyes opened. We want to see!”
34Deeply moved, Jesus touched their eyes. They had their sight back that very instant, and joined the procession.
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THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson. All rights reserved. Used by permission of NavPress. Represented by Tyndale House Publishers.