Chapter 20

¹“For the Kingdom of Heaven is like a man who was the master of a household, who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. ²When he had agreed with the laborers for a denarius¹¹⁵¹¹⁵A denarius is a silver Roman coin worth 1/25th of a Roman aureus. This was a common wage for a day of farm labor. a day, he sent them into his vineyard. ³He went out about the third hour,¹¹⁶¹¹⁶Time was measured from sunrise to sunset, so the third hour would be about 9:00 AM. and saw others standing idle in the marketplace. ⁴To them he said, ‘You also go into the vineyard, and whatever is right I will give you.’ So they went their way. ⁵Again he went out about the sixth and the ninth hour,¹¹⁷¹¹⁷noon and 3:00 P. M. and did likewise. ⁶About the eleventh hour¹¹⁸¹¹⁸5:00 PM he went out, and found others standing idle. He said to them, ‘Why do you stand here all day idle?’

⁷“They said to him, ‘Because no one has hired us.’

“He said to them, ‘You also go into the vineyard, and you will receive whatever is right.’ ⁸When evening had come, the lord of the vineyard said to his steward, ‘Call the laborers and pay them their wages, beginning from the last to the first.’

⁹“When those who were hired at about the eleventh hour came, they each received a denarius. ¹⁰When the first came, they supposed that they would receive more; and they likewise each received a denarius. ¹¹When they received it, they murmured against the master of the household, ¹²saying, ‘These last have spent one hour, and you have made them equal to us, who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat!’

¹³“But he answered one of them, ‘Friend, I am doing you no wrong. Didn’t you agree with me for a denarius? ¹⁴Take that which is yours, and go your way. It is my desire to give to this last just as much as to you. ¹⁵Isn’t it lawful for me to do what I want to with what I own? Or is your eye evil, because I am good?’ ¹⁶So the last will be first, and the first last. For many are called, but few are chosen.”

¹⁷As Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, he took the twelve disciples aside, and on the way he said to them, ¹⁸“Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered to the chief priests and scribes, and they will condemn him to death, ¹⁹and will hand him over to the Gentiles to mock, to scourge, and to crucify; and the third day he will be raised up.”

²⁰Then the mother of the sons of Zebedee came to him with her sons, kneeling and asking a certain thing of him. ²¹He said to her, “What do you want?”

She said to him, “Command that these, my two sons, may sit, one on your right hand, and one on your left hand, in your Kingdom.”

²²But Jesus answered, “You don’t know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I am about to drink, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?”

They said to him, “We are able.”

²³He said to them, “You will indeed drink my cup, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with, but to sit on my right hand and on my left hand is not mine to give; but it is for whom it has been prepared by my Father.”

²⁴When the ten heard it, they were indignant with the two brothers.

²⁵But Jesus summoned them, and said, “You know that the rulers of the nations lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. ²⁶It shall not be so among you, but whoever desires to become great among you shall be¹¹⁹¹¹⁹TR reads “let him be” instead of “shall be” your servant. ²⁷Whoever desires to be first among you shall be your bondservant, ²⁸even as the Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

²⁹As they went out from Jericho, a great multitude followed him. ³⁰Behold, two blind men sitting by the road, when they heard that Jesus was passing by, cried out, “Lord, have mercy on us, you son of David!” ³¹The multitude rebuked them, telling them that they should be quiet, but they cried out even more, “Lord, have mercy on us, you son of David!”

³²Jesus stood still, and called them, and asked, “What do you want me to do for you?”

³³They told him, “Lord, that our eyes may be opened.”

³⁴Jesus, being moved with compassion, touched their eyes; and immediately their eyes received their sight, and they followed him.