Matthew 20-21 (Contemporary English Version)

Matthew 20

Workers in a Vineyard

 ¹As Jesus was telling what the kingdom of heaven would be like, he said:

   Early one morning a man went out to hire some workers for his vineyard. ²After he had agreed to pay them the usual amount for a day's work, he sent them off to his vineyard.

    ³About nine that morning, the man saw some other people standing in the market with nothing to do. ⁴He said he would pay them what was fair, if they would work in his vineyard. ⁵So they went.

   At noon and again about three in the afternoon he returned to the market. And each time he made the same agreement with others who were loafing around with nothing to do.

    ⁶Finally, about five in the afternoon the man went back and found some others standing there. He asked them, "Why have you been standing here all day long doing nothing?"

    ⁷"Because no one has hired us," they answered. Then he told them to go work in his vineyard.

    ⁸That evening the owner of the vineyard told the man in charge of the workers to call them in and give them their money. He also told the man to begin with the ones who were hired last. ⁹When the workers arrived, the ones who had been hired at five in the afternoon were given a full day's pay.

    ¹⁰The workers who had been hired first thought they would be given more than the others. But when they were given the same, ¹¹they began complaining to the owner of the vineyard. ¹²They said, "The ones who were hired last worked for only one hour. But you paid them the same that you did us. And we worked in the hot sun all day long!"

    ¹³The owner answered one of them, "Friend, I didn't cheat you. I paid you exactly what we agreed on. ¹⁴Take your money now and go! What business is it of yours if I want to pay them the same that I paid you? ¹⁵Don't I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Why should you be jealous, if I want to be generous?"

    ¹⁶Jesus then said, "So it is. Everyone who is now first will be last, and everyone who is last will be first."

   

Jesus Again Tells about His Death

(Mark 10.32-34; Luke 18.31-34)

 ¹⁷As Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem, he took his twelve disciples aside and told them in private:

    ¹⁸We are now on our way to Jerusalem, where the Son of Man will be handed over to the chief priests and the teachers of the Law of Moses. They will sentence him to death, ¹⁹and then they will hand him over to foreigners ^[a] who will make fun of him. They will beat him and nail him to a cross. But on the third day he will rise from death.

A Mother's Request

(Mark 10.35-45)

 ²⁰The mother of James and John ^[b] came to Jesus with her two sons. She knelt down and started begging him to do something for her. ²¹Jesus asked her what she wanted, and she said, "When you come into your kingdom, please let one of my sons sit at your right side and the other at your left." ^{[c] 22}Jesus answered, "Not one of you knows what you are asking. Are you able to drink from the cup ^[d] that I must soon drink from?" James and John said, "Yes, we are!"

    ²³Jesus replied, "You certainly will drink from my cup! But it isn't for me to say who will sit at my right side and at my left. That is for my Father to say."

    ²⁴When the ten other disciples heard this, they were angry with the two brothers. ²⁵But Jesus called the disciples together and said:

   You know that foreign rulers like to order their people around. And their great leaders have full power over everyone they rule. ²⁶But don't act like them. If you want to be great, you must be the servant of all the others. ²⁷And if you want to be first, you must be the slave of the rest. ²⁸The Son of Man did not come to be a slave master, but a slave who will give his life to rescue ^[e] many people.

Jesus Heals Two Blind Men

(Mark 10.46-52; Luke 18.35-43)

 ²⁹Jesus was followed by a large crowd as he and his disciples were leaving Jericho. ³⁰Two blind men were sitting beside the road. And when they heard that Jesus was coming their way, they shouted, "Lord and Son of David, ^[f] have pity on us!" ³¹The crowd told them to be quiet, but they shouted even louder, "Lord and Son of David, have pity on us!"

    ³²When Jesus heard them, he stopped and asked, "What do you want me to do for you?"

    ³³They answered, "Lord, we want to see!"

    ³⁴Jesus felt sorry for them and touched their eyes. Right away they could see, and they became his followers.

   

Matthew 21

Jesus Enters Jerusalem

(Mark 11.1-11; Luke 19.28-38; John 12.12-19)

 ¹When Jesus and his disciples came near Jerusalem, he went to Bethphage on the Mount of Olives and sent two of them on ahead. ²He told them, "Go into the next village, where you will at once find a donkey and her colt. Untie the two donkeys and bring them to me. ³If anyone asks why you are doing that, just say, `The Lord ^[g] needs them.' Right away he will let you have the donkeys." ⁴So God's promise came true, just as the prophet had said,

    ⁵"Announce to the people

   of Jerusalem:

   `Your king is coming to you!

   He is humble

   and rides on a donkey.

   He comes on the colt

   of a donkey.' "

    ⁶The disciples left and did what Jesus had told them to do. ⁷They brought the donkey and its colt and laid some clothes on their backs. Then Jesus got on.

    ⁸Many people spread clothes in the road, while others put down branches ^[h] which they had cut from trees. ⁹Some people walked ahead of Jesus and others followed behind. They were all shouting, "Hooray ^[i] for the Son of David! ^[j] God bless the one who comes

   in the name of the Lord.

   Hooray for God

   in heaven above!"

    ¹⁰When Jesus came to Jerusalem, everyone in the city was excited and asked, "Who can this be?"

    ¹¹The crowd answered, "This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee."

   

Jesus in the Temple

(Mark 11.15-19; Luke 19.45-48; John 2.13-22)

 ¹²Jesus went into the temple and chased out everyone who was selling or buying. He turned over the tables of the moneychangers and the benches of the ones who were selling doves. ¹³He told them, "The Scriptures say, `My house should be called a place of worship.' But you have turned it into a place where robbers hide."

    ¹⁴Blind and lame people came to Jesus in the temple, and he healed them. ¹⁵But the chief priests and the teachers of the Law of Moses were angry when they saw his miracles and heard the children shouting praises to the Son of David. ¹⁶The men said to Jesus, "Don't you hear what those children are saying?"

   "Yes, I do!" Jesus answered. "Don't you know that the Scriptures say, `Children and infants will sing praises'?" ¹⁷Then Jesus left the city and went out to the village of Bethany, where he spent the night.

   

Jesus Puts a Curse on a Fig Tree

(Mark 11.12-14,20-24)

 ¹⁸When Jesus got up the next morning, he was hungry. He started out for the city, ¹⁹and along the way he saw a fig tree. But when he came to it, he found only leaves and no figs. So he told the tree, "You will never again grow any fruit!" Right then the fig tree dried up.

    ²⁰The disciples were shocked when they saw how quickly the tree had dried up. ²¹But Jesus said to them, "If you have faith and don't doubt, I promise that you can do what I did to this tree. And you will be able to do even more. You can tell this mountain to get up and jump into the sea, and it will. ²²If you have faith when you pray, you will be given whatever you ask for."

   

A Question about Jesus' Authority

(Mark 11.27-33; Luke 20.1-8)

 ²³Jesus had gone into the temple and was teaching when the chief priests and the leaders of the people came up to him. They asked, "What right do you have to do these things? Who gave you this authority?"

    ²⁴Jesus answered, "I have just one question to ask you. If you answer it, I will tell you where I got the right to do these things. ²⁵Who gave John the right to baptize? Was it God in heaven or merely some human being?"

   They thought it over and said to each other, "We can't say that God gave John this right. Jesus will ask us why we didn't believe John. ²⁶On the other hand, these people think that John was a prophet, and we are afraid of what they might do to us. That's why we can't say that it was merely some human who gave John the right to baptize." ²⁷So they told Jesus, "We don't know."

   Jesus said, "Then I won't tell you who gave me the right to do what I do."

   

A Story about Two Sons

 ²⁸Jesus said:

   I will tell you a story about a man who had two sons. Then you can tell me what you think. The father went to the older son and said, "Go work in the vineyard today!" ²⁹His son told him that he would not do it, but later he changed his mind and went. ³⁰The man then told his younger son to go work in the vineyard. The boy said he would, but he didn't go. ³¹Which one of the sons obeyed his father?

   "The older one," the chief priests and leaders answered.

   Then Jesus told them:

   You can be sure that tax collectors ^[k] and prostitutes will get into the kingdom of God before you ever will! ³²When John the Baptist showed you how to do right, you would not believe him. But these evil people did believe. And even when you saw what they did, you still would not change your minds and believe.

Renters of a Vineyard

(Mark 12.1-12; Luke 20.9-19)

 ³³Jesus told the chief priests and leaders to listen to this story:

   A land owner once planted a vineyard. He built a wall around it and dug a pit to crush the grapes in. He also built a lookout tower. Then he rented out his vineyard and left the country.

    ³⁴When it was harvest time, the owner sent some servants to get his share of the grapes. ³⁵But the renters grabbed those servants. They beat up one, killed one, and stoned one of them to death. ³⁶He then sent more servants than he did the first time. But the renters treated them in the same way.

    ³⁷Finally, the owner sent his own son to the renters, because he thought they would respect him. ³⁸But when they saw the man's son, they said, "Someday he will own the vineyard. Let's kill him! Then we can have it all for ourselves." ³⁹So they grabbed him, threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him.

    ⁴⁰Jesus asked, "When the owner of that vineyard comes, what do you suppose he will do to those renters?"

    ⁴¹The chief priests and leaders answered, "He will kill them in some horrible way. Then he will rent out his vineyard to people who will give him his share of grapes at harvest time."

    ⁴²Jesus replied, "You surely know that the Scriptures say,

   `The stone that the builders

   tossed aside

   is now the most important

   stone of all.

   This is something

   the Lord has done,

   and it is amazing to us.'

    ⁴³I tell you that God's kingdom will be taken from you and given to people who will do what he demands. ⁴⁴Anyone who stumbles over this stone will be crushed, and anyone it falls on will be smashed to pieces." ^{[l] 45}When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard these stories, they knew that Jesus was talking about them. ⁴⁶So they looked for a way to arrest Jesus. But they were afraid to, because the people thought he was a prophet.