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
International Standard Version
The Workers in the Vineyard
20 “The kingdom from[a] heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard. 2 After agreeing to pay the workers one denarius[b] a day, he sent them into his vineyard. 3 When he went out about nine o’clock,[c] he saw others standing in the marketplace without work. 4 He told them, ‘You go into the vineyard, too, and I will pay you whatever is right.’ 5 So off they went. He went out again about noon[d] and about three o’clock[e] and did the same thing. 6 About five o’clock[f] he went out and found some others standing around. He asked them, ‘Why are you standing here all day long without work?’ 7 They told him, ‘Because no one has hired us.’ He told them, ‘You go into the vineyard as well.’
8 “When evening came, the owner of the vineyard told his manager, ‘Call the workers and give them their wages, beginning with the last and ending with[g] the first.’ 9 Those who were hired at five o’clock[h] came, and each received a denarius.
10 “When the first came, they thought they would receive more, but each received a denarius as well. 11 When they received it, they began to complain to the landowner, 12 ‘These last fellows worked only one hour, but you paid them the same as us, and we’ve been working all day,[i] enduring the scorching heat!’
13 “But he told one of them, ‘Friend, I’m not treating you unfairly. You did agree with me for a denarius, didn’t you? 14 Take what is yours and go. I want to give this last man as much as I gave you.[j] 15 I am allowed to do what I want with my own money,[k] am I not? Or are you envious[l] because I’m generous?’
16 “In the same way, the last will be first, and the first will be last, because many are called, but few are chosen.”[m]
Jesus Predicts His Death and Resurrection a Third Time(A)
17 When Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, he took the twelve disciples[n] aside and told them as they were walking along, 18 “See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be handed over to the high priests and scribes, and they will condemn him to death. 19 Then they will hand him over to unbelievers[o] to be mocked, whipped, and crucified, but on the third day he will be raised.”
The Request of James and John(B)
20 Then the mother of Zebedee’s sons came to Jesus[p] with her sons. She bowed down in front of him to ask him for a favor. 21 He asked her, “What do you want?”
She told him, “Promise[q] that in your kingdom these two sons of mine will sit on your right and on your left.”
22 Jesus replied, “You don’t realize what you’re asking. Can you drink from the cup that I’m going to drink from?”[r]
They told him, “We can.”
23 He told them, “You will indeed drink from my cup. But it’s not up to me to grant you a seat at my right hand or at my left. These positions have already been prepared for others by my Father.”
24 When the ten heard this, they became furious with the two brothers. 25 But Jesus called the disciples[s] and said, “You know that the rulers of the unbelievers[t] lord it over them and their superiors act like tyrants over them. 26 That’s not the way it should be among you. Instead, whoever wants to be great among you must be your servant, 27 and whoever wants to be first among you must be your slave. 28 That’s the way it is with the Son of Man. He did not come to be served, but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many people.”
Jesus Heals Two Blind Men(C)
29 As they were leaving Jericho, a large crowd followed Jesus.[u] 30 When two blind men who were sitting by the roadside heard that Jesus was passing by, they shouted, “Have mercy on us, Lord,[v] Son of David!” 31 When the crowd told them harshly to be silent, they shouted even louder, “Have mercy on us, Lord, Son of David!”
32 Jesus stopped and called them, saying, “What do you want me to do for you?”
33 They told him, “Lord, we want to be able to see!”[w] 34 Then Jesus, deeply moved with compassion, touched their eyes, and at once they could see again. So they followed him.
Footnotes
- Matthew 20:1 Lit. of
- Matthew 20:2 The denarius was the usual day’s wage for a laborer.
- Matthew 20:3 Lit. the third hour
- Matthew 20:5 Lit. the sixth hour
- Matthew 20:5 Lit. the ninth hour
- Matthew 20:6 Lit. the eleventh hour
- Matthew 20:8 Lit. and up to
- Matthew 20:9 Lit. the eleventh hour
- Matthew 20:12 Lit. we’ve endured the burden of the day
- Matthew 20:14 Lit. to this last man as also to you
- Matthew 20:15 Lit. things
- Matthew 20:15 Lit. Or is your eye evil
- Matthew 20:16 Other mss. lack For many are called, but few are chosen
- Matthew 20:17 Other mss. lack disciples
- Matthew 20:19 Lit. to the gentiles; i.e. unbelieving non-Jews
- Matthew 20:20 Lit. him
- Matthew 20:21 Lit. Say
- Matthew 20:22 Other mss. read to drink from, or be baptized with the baptism with which I’m going to be baptized?
- Matthew 20:25 Lit. them
- Matthew 20:25 Lit. gentiles; i.e. unbelieving non-Jews
- Matthew 20:29 Lit. him
- Matthew 20:30 Other mss. read Jesus
- Matthew 20:33 Lit. Lord, that our eyes be opened
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