Matthew 20:3-13

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 ¹evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his ²foreman, '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 denarius.

10 "When those hired first came, they thought that they would receive more; but 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 ³scorching heat of the day.'

13 "But he answered and said to one of them, '⁴Friend, I am doing you no wrong; did you not agree with me for a denarius?

Cross References

• 1. Leviticus 19:13; Deuteronomy 24:15
• 2. Luke 8:3
• 3. Jonah 4:8; Luke 12:55; James 1:11
• 4. Matthew 22:12; Matthew 26:50

Footnotes

• [a]. I.e. 9 a.m.
• [b]. I.e. noon and 3 p.m.
• [c]. Lit "similarly"
• [d]. I.e. 5 p.m.
• [e]. Or "lord"
• [f]. The denarius was a day's wages
• [g]. Lit "each one a denarius"