Matthew 20:1-16

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.'

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 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 envious because I am generous?'

16 "So ⁸the last shall be first, and the first last."

Cross References

• 1. Matthew 13:24
• 2. Matthew 21:28, 33
• 3. Leviticus 19:13; Deuteronomy 24:15
• 4. Luke 8:3
• 5. Jonah 4:8; Luke 12:55; James 1:11
• 6. Matthew 22:12; Matthew 26:50
• 7. Deuteronomy 15:9; Matthew 6:23; Mark 7:22
• 8. Matthew 19:30; Mark 10:31; Luke 13:30

Footnotes

• [a]. Lit "a man, a landowner"
• [b]. The denarius was a day's wages
• [c]. I.e. 9 a.m.
• [d]. I.e. noon and 3 p.m.
• [e]. Lit "similarly"
• [f]. I.e. 5 p.m.
• [g]. Or "lord"
• [h]. The denarius was a day's wages
• [i]. Lit "each one a denarius"
• [j]. Lit "evil"
• [k]. Lit "good"