Matthew 20:1-11

1 "The Kingdom of Heaven is like a farmer who went out at daybreak to hire workers for his vineyard.

2 After agreeing with the workers on a wage of one denarius, [the standard daily wage,] he sent them off to his vineyard.

3 Then, on going out at about nine in the morning, he saw more men standing around in the market-square doing nothing,

4 and said to them, `You go to the vineyard too -- I'll pay you a fair wage.' So they went.

5 At noon, and again around three in the afternoon, he did the same thing.

6 About an hour before sundown, he went out, found still others standing around, and asked them, `Why have you been standing here all day, doing nothing?"

7 They said to him, `Because no one hired us.' `You too,' he told them, `go to the vineyard.'

8 "When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, `Call the workers and pay them their wages, starting with the last ones hired and ending with the first.'

9 The workers who came an hour before sunset each received a denarius,

10 so the workers who came first expected they would get more, but each of them also received just a denarius.

11 On receiving their wages, they began grumbling to the farmer,