Jesus Sends Out the Twelve Apostles

^5 (A)These twelve Jesus sent out, instructing them, “Go nowhere among the Gentiles and enter no town of ^(B)the Samaritans, ^6 (C)but go rather to ^(D)the lost sheep of ^(E)the house of Israel. ⁷ And proclaim as you go, saying, ^(F)‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’^{[a] 8 (G)}Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers,^[b] cast out demons. ^(H)You received without paying; give without pay. ^9 (I)Acquire no gold or silver or copper for your belts, ¹⁰ no bag for your journey, or two tunics^[c] or sandals or a staff, for ^(J)the laborer deserves his food. ¹¹ And whatever town or village you enter, find out who is worthy in it and stay there until you depart. ¹² As you enter the house, ^(K)greet it. ¹³ And if the house is ^(L)worthy, let ^(M)your peace come upon it, but if it is not worthy, let ^(N)your peace return to you. ¹⁴ And if anyone will not receive you or listen to your words, ^(O)shake off the dust from your feet when you leave that house or town. ¹⁵ Truly, I say to you, ^(P)it will be more bearable on the day of judgment for ^(Q)the land of Sodom and Gomorrah than for that town.

Laborers in the Vineyard

20 “For the kingdom of heaven is like a master of a house who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. ² After agreeing with the laborers for a denarius^[a] a day, he sent them into his vineyard. ³ And going out about the third hour he saw others standing idle in the marketplace, ⁴ and to them he said, ‘You go into the vineyard too, and whatever is right I will give you.’ ⁵ So they went. Going out again about the sixth hour and the ninth hour, he did the same. ⁶ And ^(A)about the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing. And he said to them, ‘Why do you stand here idle all day?’ ⁷ They said to him, ‘Because no one has hired us.’ He said to them, ‘You go into the vineyard too.’ ⁸ And ^(B)when evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his ^(C)foreman, ‘Call the laborers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last, up to the first.’ ⁹ And when those hired about the eleventh hour came, each of them received a denarius. ¹⁰ Now when those hired first came, they thought they would receive more, but each of them also received a denarius. ¹¹ And on receiving it they grumbled at the master of the house, ¹² saying, ‘These last worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the day and ^(D)the scorching heat.’ ¹³ But he replied to one of them, ^(E)‘Friend, I am doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me for a denarius? ¹⁴ Take ^(F)what belongs to you and go. I choose to give to this last worker as I give to you. ^15 (G)Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or ^(H)do you begrudge my generosity?’^{[b] 16} So ^(I)the last will be first, and the first last.”

The Parable of the Wedding Feast

22 And again Jesus ^(A)spoke to them in parables, saying, ^2 (B)“The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave ^(C)a wedding feast for his son, ³ and ^(D)sent his servants^[a] to call those who were invited to the wedding feast, but they would not come. ^4 (E)Again he sent other servants, saying, ‘Tell those who are invited, “See, I have prepared my ^(F)dinner, ^(G)my oxen and my fat calves have been slaughtered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding feast.”’ ⁵ But ^(H)they paid no attention and went off, one to his farm, another to his business, ⁶ while the rest seized his servants, ^(I)treated them shamefully, and ^(J)killed them. ⁷ The king was angry, and he sent his troops and ^(K)destroyed those murderers and burned their city. ⁸ Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding feast is ready, but those invited were not ^(L)worthy. ⁹ Go therefore to the main roads and invite to the wedding feast as many as you find.’ ¹⁰ And those servants went out into the roads and ^(M)gathered all whom they found, both bad and good. So the wedding hall was filled with guests.

^19 (A)Go therefore and ^(B)make disciples of ^(C)all nations, ^(D)baptizing them ^(E)in^{[a] (F)}the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰ teaching them ^(G)to observe all that ^(H)I have commanded you. And behold, ^(I)I am with you always, to ^(J)the end of the age.”