Matthew 20
Legacy Standard Bible
Laborers in the Vineyard
20 “For (A)the kingdom of heaven is like [a]a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his (B)vineyard. 2 Now when he had agreed with the laborers for a [b]denarius for the day, he sent them into his vineyard. 3 And he went out about the [c]third hour and saw others standing idle in the marketplace; 4 and to those he said, ‘You also go into the vineyard, and whatever is right I will give you.’ And so they went. 5 Again he went out about the [d]sixth and the ninth hour, and did [e]the same thing. 6 And about the [f]eleventh hour he went out and found others standing around; and he *said to them, ‘Why have you been standing here idle all day long?’ 7 They *said to him, ‘Because no one hired us.’ He *said to them, ‘You go into the vineyard too.’
8 “Now when (C)evening came, the [g]owner of the vineyard *said to his [h](D)foreman, ‘Call the laborers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last group to the first.’ 9 And when those hired about the eleventh hour came, each one received a [i]denarius. 10 And when those hired first came, they supposed that they would receive more; [j]but each of them also received a denarius. 11 Now when they received it, they were grumbling at the landowner, 12 saying, ‘These last men have worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the day and the (E)scorching heat.’ 13 But he answered and said to one of them, ‘(F)Friend, I am doing you no wrong; did you not agree with me for a denarius? 14 Take what is yours and go, but I wish to give to this last man the same as to you. 15 Is it not lawful for me to do what I wish with what is my own? Or is your (G)eye [k]envious because I am [l]generous?’ 16 So (H)the last shall be first, and the first last.”
Jesus Again Foretells His Death and Resurrection
17 (I)And as Jesus was about to go up to Jerusalem, He took the twelve disciples aside by themselves, and on the way He said to them, 18 “Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem; and the Son of Man (J)will be betrayed to the chief priests and scribes, and they will condemn Him to death, 19 and (K)will deliver Him over to the Gentiles to mock and flog and crucify Him, and on (L)the third day He will be raised up.”
A Request for Status
20 (M)Then the mother of (N)the sons of Zebedee came to Him with her sons, (O)bowing down and making a request of Him. 21 And He said to her, “What do you wish?” She *said to Him, “Command that in Your kingdom these two sons of mine (P)may sit one on Your right and one on Your left.” 22 But Jesus answered and said, “You do not know what you are asking. Are you able (Q)to drink the cup that I am about to drink?” They *said to Him, “We are able.” 23 He *said to them, “(R)My cup you shall drink; but to sit on My right and on My left, this is not Mine to give, (S)but it is for those for whom it has been (T)prepared by My Father.”
24 And hearing this, the ten became indignant with the two brothers. 25 (U)But Jesus called them to Himself and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great men exercise authority over them. 26 It is not this way among you, (V)but whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant, 27 and whoever wishes to be first among you shall be your slave; 28 just as (W)the Son of Man (X)did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His [m]life a ransom for many.”
Sight for the Blind
29 (Y)And as they were leaving Jericho, a large crowd followed Him. 30 And behold, two blind men sitting by the road, hearing that Jesus *was passing by, cried out, saying, “Lord, (Z)have mercy on us, (AA)Son of David!” 31 But the crowd sternly told them to be quiet, but they cried out all the more, saying, “Lord, (AB)Son of David, have mercy on us!” 32 And Jesus stopped and called them, and said, “What do you want Me to do for you?” 33 They *said to Him, “Lord, that our eyes be opened.” 34 And moved with compassion, Jesus touched their eyes; and immediately they regained their sight and followed Him.
Footnotes
- Matthew 20:1 Lit a man, a landowner
- Matthew 20:2 A Roman silver coin, approx. a laborer’s daily wage
- Matthew 20:3 9 a.m.
- Matthew 20:5 Noon and 3 p.m.
- Matthew 20:5 Lit similarly
- Matthew 20:6 5 p.m.
- Matthew 20:8 Or lord
- Matthew 20:8 Or manager, cf. Matt 27:32
- Matthew 20:9 A Roman silver coin, approx. a laborer’s daily wage
- Matthew 20:10 Lit each one a denarius
- Matthew 20:15 Lit evil
- Matthew 20:15 Lit good
- Matthew 20:28 Or soul
Matthew 20
Holman Christian Standard Bible
The Parable of the Vineyard Workers
20 “For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard.(A) 2 After agreeing with the workers on one denarius for the day, he sent them into his vineyard. 3 When he went out about nine in the morning,[a] he saw others standing in the marketplace doing nothing. 4 To those men he said, ‘You also go to my vineyard, and I’ll give you whatever is right.’ So off they went. 5 About noon and at three,[b] he went out again and did the same thing. 6 Then about five[c] he went and found others standing around,[d] and said to them, ‘Why have you been standing here all day doing nothing?’
7 “‘Because no one hired us,’ they said to him.
“‘You also go to my vineyard,’ he told them.[e] 8 When evening came, the owner of the vineyard told his foreman, ‘Call the workers and give them their pay,(B) starting with the last and ending with the first.’[f]
9 “When those who were hired about five[g] came, they each received one denarius. 10 So when the first ones came, they assumed they would get more, but they also received a denarius each. 11 When they received it, they began to complain to the landowner: 12 ‘These last men put in one hour, and you made them equal to us who bore the burden of the day and the burning heat!’(C)
13 “He replied to one of them, ‘Friend, I’m doing you no wrong. Didn’t you agree with me on a denarius?(D) 14 Take what’s yours and go. I want to give this last man the same as I gave you. 15 Don’t I have the right to do what I want with my business?[h] Are you jealous[i] because I’m generous?’[j](E)
16 “So the last will be first, and the first last.”[k](F)
The Third Prediction of His Death
17 While going up to Jerusalem,(G) Jesus took the 12 disciples aside privately and said to them on the way: 18 “Listen! We are going up to Jerusalem. The Son of Man will be handed over to the chief priests and scribes, and they will condemn Him to death.(H) 19 Then they will hand Him over to the Gentiles(I) to be mocked, flogged,[l] and crucified, and He will be resurrected[m] on the third day.”
Suffering and Service
20 Then the mother of Zebedee’s sons approached Him with her sons.(J) She knelt down to ask Him for something.(K) 21 “What do you want?” He asked her.
“Promise,”[n] she said to Him, “that these two sons of mine may sit, one on Your right and the other on Your left, in Your kingdom.”(L)
22 But Jesus answered, “You don’t know what you’re asking. Are you able to drink the cup[o] that I am about to drink?”[p](M)
“We are able,” they said to Him.
23 He told them, “You will indeed drink My cup.[q] But to sit at My right and left is not Mine to give; instead, it belongs to those for whom it has been prepared by My Father.”(N) 24 When the 10 disciples heard this, they became indignant with the two brothers. 25 But Jesus called them over and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles dominate them, and the men of high position exercise power over them. 26 It must not be like that among you. On the contrary, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant,(O) 27 and whoever wants to be first among you must be your slave; 28 just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve,(P) and to give His life—a ransom for many.”(Q)
Two Blind Men Healed
29 As they were leaving Jericho, a large crowd followed Him.(R) 30 There were two blind men sitting by the road. When they heard that Jesus was passing by, they cried out, “Lord, have mercy on us, Son of David!” 31 The crowd told them to keep quiet, but they cried out all the more, “Lord, have mercy on us, Son of David!”(S)
32 Jesus stopped, called them, and said, “What do you want Me to do for you?”
33 “Lord,” they said to Him, “open our eyes!” 34 Moved with compassion, Jesus touched their eyes. Immediately they could see, and they followed Him.
Footnotes
- Matthew 20:3 Lit about the third hour
- Matthew 20:5 Lit about the sixth hour and the ninth hour
- Matthew 20:6 Lit about the eleventh hour
- Matthew 20:6 Other mss add doing nothing
- Matthew 20:7 Other mss add ‘and you’ll get whatever is right.’
- Matthew 20:8 Lit starting from the last until the first
- Matthew 20:9 Lit about the eleventh hour
- Matthew 20:15 Lit with what is mine
- Matthew 20:15 Lit Is your eye evil; an idiom for jealousy or stinginess
- Matthew 20:15 Lit good
- Matthew 20:16 Other mss add For many are called, but few are chosen.”
- Matthew 20:19 Or scourged
- Matthew 20:19 Other mss read will rise again
- Matthew 20:21 Lit Say
- Matthew 20:22 Figurative language referring to His coming suffering; Mt 26:39; Jn 18:11
- Matthew 20:22 Other mss add and (or) to be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?”
- Matthew 20:23 Other mss add and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with.
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