Matthew 20 (New American Standard)

Laborers in the Vineyard

1 "For ¹the kingdom of heaven is like ^aa landowner who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his ²vineyard. 2 "When he had agreed with the laborers for a ^bdenarius for the day, he sent them into his vineyard. 3 "And he went out about the ^cthird hour and saw others standing idle in the market place ; 4 and to those he said, 'You also go into the vineyard, and whatever is right I will give you.' And so they went. 5 "Again he went out about the ^dsixth and the ninth hour, and did ^ethe same thing. 6 "And about the ^feleventh hour he went out and found others standing around; and he said to them, 'Why have you been standing here idle all day long?' 7 "They said to him, 'Because no one hired us.' He said to them, 'You go into the vineyard too.' 8 "When ³evening came, the ^gowner of the vineyard said to his ⁴foreman, 'Call the laborers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last group to the first.' 9 "When those hired about the eleventh hour came, each one received a ^hdenarius. 10 "When those hired first came, they thought that they would receive more ; ⁱbut each of them also received a denarius. 11 "When they received it, they grumbled at the landowner, 12 saying, 'These last men have worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden and the ⁵scorching heat of the day.' 13 "But he answered and said to one of them, '⁶Friend, I am doing you no wrong ; did you not agree with me for a denarius ? 14 'Take what is yours and go, but I wish to give to this last man the same as to you. 15 'Is it not lawful for me to do what I wish with what is my own ? Or is your ⁷eye ^jenvious because I am ^kgenerous ?' 16 "So ⁸the last shall be first, and the first last."

Death, Resurrection Foretold

17 ⁹As Jesus was about to go up to Jerusalem, He took the twelve disciples aside by themselves, and on the way He said to them, 18 "Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem ; and the Son of Man ¹⁰will be ^ldelivered to the chief priests and scribes, and they will condemn Him to death, 19 and ¹¹will hand Him over to the Gentiles to mock and scourge and crucify Him, and on ¹²the third day He will be raised up."

Preferment Asked

20 ¹³Then the mother of ¹⁴the sons of Zebedee came to ^mJesus with her sons, ¹⁵bowing down and making a request of Him. 21 And He said to her, "What do you wish ?" She said to Him, "Command that in Your kingdom these two sons of mine ¹⁶may sit one on Your right and one on Your left." 22 But Jesus answered, "You do not know what you are asking. Are you able ¹⁷to drink the cup that I am about to drink ?" They said to Him, "We are able." 23 He said to them, "¹⁸My cup you shall drink ; but to sit on My right and on My left, this is not Mine to give, ¹⁹but it is for those for whom it has been ²⁰prepared by My Father." 24 And hearing this, the ten became indignant with the two brothers. 25 ²¹But Jesus called them to Himself and said, "You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great men exercise authority over them. 26 "It is not this way among you, ²²but whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant, 27 and whoever wishes to be first among you shall be your slave ; 28 just as ²³the Son of Man ²⁴did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His ⁿlife a ransom for many."

Sight for the Blind

29 ²⁵As they were leaving Jericho, a large crowd followed Him. 30 And two blind men sitting by the road, hearing that Jesus was passing by, cried out, "Lord, ²⁶have mercy on us, ²⁷Son of David !" 31 The crowd sternly told them to be quiet, but they cried out all the more, "Lord, ²⁸Son of David, have mercy on us!" 32 And Jesus stopped and called them, and said, "What do you want Me to do for you?" 33 They said to Him, "Lord, we want our eyes to be opened." 34 Moved with compassion, Jesus touched their eyes ; and immediately they regained their sight and followed Him.