Matthew 20:1-16 (Lexham English Bible)

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The Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard

1 "For the kingdom of heaven is like a man--the master of the house--who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard. 2 And [after]^a coming to an agreement with the workers for a denarius per day, he sent them into his vineyard. 3 And going out about the third hour, he saw others standing idle in the marketplace. 4 And to those [people] he said, 'You also go into the vineyard, and I will give you whatever is right.' 5 So they went. Going out^b again about the sixth and ninth hour he did the same [thing]. 6 And about the eleventh [hour] he went out [and]^c found others standing [there] and said to them, 'Why are you standing here the whole day unemployed?' 7 They said to him, 'Because no one hired us.' He said to them, 'You go also into the vineyard.' 8 And [when]^d evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his manager, 'Call the workers and pay them their^e wages, beginning from the last up to the first.' 9 And [when] the ones [hired] about the eleventh hour came, they received a denarius apiece. 10 And [when]^f the first came, they thought that they would receive more, and they also received a denarius apiece. 11 And [when they]^g received [it],^h they began to complainⁱ against the master of the house, 12 saying, 'These last [people] worked one hour and you made them equal to us who have endured the burden of the day and the burning heat!' 13 But he answered one of them [and]^j said, 'Friend, I am not doing you wrong. Did you not come to an agreement with me for a denarius? 14 Take [what is] yours and go! But I want to give to this last [person] [the same] as [I gave]^k to you also. 15 Is it not^l permitted for me to do whatever I want with [what is] mine? Or is your eye evil because I am generous?' 16 Thus the last will be first and the first last."

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