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It was nearly five o'clock when he went to the marketplace and saw some other men still standing there. "Why are you wasting the whole day here doing nothing?' he asked them.
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"No one hired us,' they answered. "Well, then, you go and work in the vineyard,' he told them.
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"When evening came, the owner told his foreman, "Call the workers and pay them their wages, starting with those who were hired last and ending with those who were hired first.'
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The men who had begun to work at five o'clock were paid a silver coin each.
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So when the men who were the first to be hired came to be paid, they thought they would get more; but they too were given a silver coin each.
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They took their money and started grumbling against the employer.
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"These men who were hired last worked only one hour,' they said, "while we put up with a whole day's work in the hot sun - yet you paid them the same as you paid us!'
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"Listen, friend,' the owner answered one of them, "I have not cheated you. After all, you agreed to do a day's work for one silver coin.
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Now take your pay and go home. I want to give this man who was hired last as much as I gave you.
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Don't I have the right to do as I wish with my own money? Or are you jealous because I am generous?' "
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And Jesus concluded, "So those who are last will be first, and those who are first will be last."
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