Matthew 20:1-9

Laborers in the Vineyard

1 "For ¹the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his ²vineyard.

2 "When he had agreed with the laborers for a denarius for the day, he sent them into his vineyard.

3 "And he went out about the third 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 sixth and the ninth hour, and did the same thing.

6 "And about the eleventh 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 owner of the vineyard said to his ⁴foreman, 'Call the laborers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last group to the first.'