Matthew 20-21 (Amplified Bible)

Matthew 20

 ¹FOR THE kingdom of heaven is like the owner of an estate who went out in the morning ^[a]along with the dawn to hire workmen for his vineyard.

    ²After agreeing with the laborers for a denarius a day, he sent them into his vineyard.

    ³And going out about the third hour (nine o'clock), he saw others standing idle in the marketplace;

    ⁴And he said to them, You go also into the vineyard, and whatever is right I will pay you. And they went.

    ⁵He went out again about the sixth hour (noon), and the ninth hour (three o'clock) he did the same.

    ⁶And about the eleventh hour (five o'clock) he went out and found still others standing around, and said to them, Why do you stand here idle all day?

    ⁷They answered him, Because nobody has hired us. He told them, You go out into the vineyard also ^[b]and you will get whatever is just and fair.

    ⁸When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his manager, Call the workmen and pay them their wages, beginning with the last and ending with the first.^(A)

    ⁹And those who had been hired at the eleventh hour (five o'clock) came and received a denarius each.

    ¹⁰Now when the first came, they supposed they would get more, but each of them also received a denarius.

    ¹¹And when they received it, they grumbled at the owner of the estate,

    ¹²Saying, These [men] who came last worked no more than an hour, and yet you have made them rank with us who have borne the burden and the ^[c]scorching heat of the day.

    ¹³But he answered one of them, Friend, I am doing you no injustice. Did you not agree with me for a denarius?

    ¹⁴Take what belongs to you and go. I choose to give to this man hired last the same as I give to you.

    ¹⁵Am I not permitted to do what I choose with what is mine? [Or do you begrudge my being generous?] Is your eye evil because I am good?

    ¹⁶So those who [now] are last will be first [then], and those who [now] are first will be last [then]. ^[d]For many are called, but few chosen.

    ¹⁷And as Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, He took the twelve disciples aside along the way and said to them,

    ¹⁸Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be handed over to the chief priests and scribes; and they will sentence Him to death

    ¹⁹And deliver Him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and whipped and crucified, and He will be raised [to life] on the third day.

    ²⁰Then the mother of Zebedee's children came up to Him with her sons and, kneeling, worshiped Him and asked a favor of Him.

    ²¹And He asked her, What do you wish? She answered Him, Give orders that these two sons of mine may sit, one at Your right hand and one at Your left in Your kingdom.

    ²²But Jesus replied, You do not realize what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I am about to drink ^[e]and to be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized ? They answered, We are able.

    ²³He said to them, You will drink My cup, but seats at My right hand and at My left are not Mine to give, but they are for those for whom they have been ^[f]ordained and prepared by My Father.

    ²⁴But when the ten [other disciples] heard this, they were indignant at the two brothers.

    ²⁵And Jesus called them to Him and said, You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great men hold them in subjection [tyrannizing over them].

    ²⁶Not so shall it be among you; but whoever wishes to be great among you must be your servant,

    ²⁷And whoever desires to be first among you must be your slave--

    ²⁸Just as the Son of Man came not to be waited on but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many [the price paid to set them free].

    ²⁹And as they were going out of Jericho, a great throng accompanied Him.

    ³⁰And behold, two blind men were sitting by the roadside, and when they heard that Jesus was passing by, they cried out, Lord, have pity and mercy on us, [You] Son of David!

    ³¹The crowds reproved them and told them to keep still; but they cried out all the more, Lord, have pity and mercy on us, [You] Son of David!

    ³²And Jesus stopped and called them, and asked, What do you want Me to do for you?

    ³³They answered Him, Lord, we want our eyes to be opened!

    ³⁴And Jesus, in pity, touched their eyes; and instantly they received their sight and followed Him.

   

Matthew 21

 ¹AND WHEN they came near Jerusalem and had reached Bethphage at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples on ahead,

    ²Saying to them, Go into the village that is opposite you, and at once you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her; untie [them] and bring [them] to Me.

    ³If anyone says anything to you, you shall reply, The Lord needs them, and he will let them go without delay.

    ⁴This happened that what was spoken by the prophet might be fulfilled, saying,

    ⁵Say to the Daughter of Zion [inhabitants of Jerusalem], Behold, your King is coming to you, lowly and riding on a donkey, and on a colt, the foal of a donkey [a beast of burden].^(B)

    ⁶Then the disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them.

    ⁷They brought the donkey and the colt and laid their coats upon them, and He seated Himself on them [the clothing].

    ⁸And most of the crowd kept spreading their garments on the road, and others kept cutting branches from the trees and scattering them on the road.

    ⁹And the crowds that went ahead of Him and those that followed Him kept shouting, Hosanna (^[g]O be propitious, graciously inclined) to the Son of David, [^[h]the Messiah]! Blessed (praised, glorified) is He Who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna (O be favorably disposed) in the highest [heaven]!^(C)

    ¹⁰And when He entered Jerusalem, all the city became agitated and ^[i][trembling with excitement] said, Who is ^[j]This?

    ¹¹And the crowds replied, This is the prophet Jesus from Nazareth of Galilee.

    ¹²And Jesus went into the temple (^[k]whole temple enclosure) and drove out all who bought and sold in the ^[l]sacred place, and He turned over the ^[m]four-footed tables of the money changers and the chairs of those who sold doves.

    ¹³He said to them, The Scripture says, My house shall be called a house of prayer; but you have made it a den of robbers.^(D)

    ¹⁴And the blind and the lame came to Him in the ^[n]porches and courts of the temple, and He cured them.

    ¹⁵But when the chief priests and the scribes saw the wonderful things that He did and the boys and the girls and the ^[o]youths and the maidens crying out in the ^[p]porches and courts of the temple, Hosanna (O be propitious, graciously inclined) to the Son of David! they were indignant.

    ¹⁶And they said to Him, Do You hear what these are saying? And Jesus replied to them, Yes; have you never read, Out of the mouths of babes and unweaned infants You have made (provided) perfect praise?^(E)

    ¹⁷And leaving them, He departed from the city and went out to Bethany and lodged there.

    ¹⁸In the early dawn the next morning, as He was coming back to the city, He was hungry.

    ¹⁹And as He saw ^[q]one single leafy fig tree ^[r]above the roadside, He went to it but He found nothing but leaves on it [^[s]seeing that in the fig tree the fruit appears at the same time as the leaves]. And He said to it, Never again shall fruit grow on you! And the fig tree withered up at once.

    ²⁰When the disciples saw it, they marveled greatly and asked, How is it that the fig tree has withered away all at once?

    ²¹And Jesus answered them, Truly I say to you, if you have faith (a ^[t]firm relying trust) and do not doubt, you will not only do what has been done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, Be taken up and cast into the sea, it will be done.

    ²²And whatever you ask for in prayer, having faith and [really] believing, you will receive.

    ²³And when He entered the sacred ^[u]enclosure of the temple, the chief priests and elders of the people came up to Him as He was teaching and said, By what ^[v]power of authority are You doing these things, and who gave You this power of authority?

    ²⁴Jesus answered them, I also will ask you a question, and if you give Me the answer, then I also will tell you by what ^[w]power of authority I do these things.

    ²⁵The baptism of John--from where was it? From heaven or from men? And they reasoned and argued with one another, If we say, From heaven, ^[x]He will ask us, Why then did you not believe him?

    ²⁶But if we say, From men--we are afraid of and must reckon with the multitude, for they all regard John as a prophet.

    ²⁷So they answered Jesus, We do not know. And He said to them, Neither will I tell you by what ^[y]power of authority I do these things.

    ²⁸What do you think? There was a man who had two sons. He came to the first and said, Son, go and work today in the vineyard.

    ²⁹And he answered, I will not; but afterward he changed his mind and went.

    ³⁰Then the man came to the second and said the same [thing]. And he replied, I will [go], sir; but he did not go.

    ³¹Which of the two did the will of the father? They replied, The first one. Jesus said to them, Truly I tell you, the tax collectors and the harlots will get into the kingdom of heaven before you.

    ³²For John came to you walking in the way of an upright man in right standing with God, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the harlots did believe him; and you, even when you saw that, did not afterward change your minds and believe him [adhere to, trust in, and rely on what he told you].

    ³³Listen to another parable: There was a master of a house who planted a vineyard and put a hedge around it and dug a wine vat in it and built a watchtower. Then he let it out [for rent] to tenants and went into another country.

    ³⁴When the fruit season drew near, he sent his servants to the tenants to get his [share of the] fruit.

    ³⁵But the tenants took his servants and beat one, killed another, and stoned another.

    ³⁶Again he sent other servants, more than the first time, and they treated them the same way.

    ³⁷Finally he sent his own son to them, saying, They will respect and give heed to my son.

    ³⁸But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, This is the heir; come on, let us kill him and have his inheritance.

    ³⁹And they took him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him.

    ⁴⁰Now when the owner of the vineyard comes back, what will he do to those tenants?

    ⁴¹They said to Him, He will put those wretches to a miserable death and rent the vineyard to other tenants ^[z]of such a character that they will give him the fruits promptly in their season.^(F)

    ⁴²Jesus asked them, Have you never read in the Scriptures: The very Stone which the builders rejected and threw away has become the Cornerstone; this is the Lord's doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes?^(G)

    ⁴³I tell you, for this reason the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce the fruits of it.

    ^44[aa]And whoever falls on this Stone will be broken to pieces, but he on whom It falls will be crushed to powder [and It will ^[ab]winnow him, ^[ac]scattering him like dust].^(H)

    ⁴⁵And when the chief priests and the Pharisees heard His parables (comparisons, stories used to illustrate and explain), they perceived that He was talking about them.

    ⁴⁶And although they were trying to arrest Him, they feared the throngs because they regarded Him as a prophet.