20 “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. ² When he had agreed with the laborers for a denarius^[a] a day, he sent them into his vineyard. ³ He went out about the third hour,^[b] and saw others standing idle in the marketplace. ⁴ He said to them, ‘You also go into the vineyard, and whatever is right I will give you.’ So they went their way. ⁵ Again he went out about the sixth and the ninth hour,^[c] and did likewise. ⁶ About the eleventh hour^[d] 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.’

⁸ “When evening had come, the lord of the vineyard said to his manager, ‘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. ¹⁰ When the first came, they supposed that they would receive more; and they likewise each received a denarius. ¹¹ When they received it, they murmured against the master of the household, ¹² saying, ‘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? ¹⁴ Take that which is yours, and go your way. It is my desire to give to this last just as much as to you. ¹⁵ Isn’t it lawful for me to do what I want to with what I own? Or is your eye evil, because I am good?’ ¹⁶ So the last will be first, and the first last. For many are called, but few are chosen.”

³³ “Hear another parable. There was a man who was a master of a household who planted a vineyard, set a hedge about it, dug a wine press in it, built a tower, leased it out to farmers, and went into another country. ³⁴ When the season for the fruit came near, he sent his servants to the farmers to receive his fruit. ³⁵ The farmers took his servants, beat one, killed another, and stoned another. ³⁶ Again, he sent other servants more than the first; and they treated them the same way. ³⁷ But afterward he sent to them his son, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ ³⁸ But the farmers, when they saw the son, said among themselves, ‘This is the heir. Come, let’s kill him and seize his inheritance.’ ³⁹ So they took him and threw him out of the vineyard, then killed him. ⁴⁰ When therefore the lord of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those farmers?”

⁴¹ They told him, “He will miserably destroy those miserable men, and will lease out the vineyard to other farmers who will give him the fruit in its season.”

⁴² Jesus said to them, “Did you never read in the Scriptures,

⁴³ “Therefore I tell you, God’s Kingdom will be taken away from you and will be given to a nation producing its fruit. ⁴⁴ He who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces, but on whomever it will fall, it will scatter him as dust.”

⁴⁵ When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they perceived that he spoke about them. ⁴⁶ When they sought to seize him, they feared the multitudes, because they considered him to be a prophet.