20 For 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.

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

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

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

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

⁶ And 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?

⁷ They 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.

⁸ When 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)

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

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

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

¹² Saying, 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.

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

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

¹⁵ Am 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?

¹⁶ So 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.

13 The Lord said to Moses,

² Sanctify (consecrate, set apart) to Me all the firstborn [males]; whatever is first to open the womb among the Israelites, both of man and of beast, is Mine.

³ And Moses said to the people, [Earnestly] remember this day in which you came out from Egypt, out of the house of bondage and bondmen, for by strength of hand the Lord brought you out from this place; no leavened bread shall be eaten.

⁴ This day you go forth in the month Abib.

⁵ And when the Lord brings you into the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Hivites, and Jebusites, which He promised and swore to your fathers to give you, a land flowing with milk and honey [a land of plenty], you shall keep this service in this month.

⁶ Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread and the seventh day shall be a feast to the Lord.

⁷ Unleavened bread shall be eaten for seven days; no leavened bread shall be seen with you, neither shall there be leaven in all your territory.

⁸ You shall explain to your son on that day, This is done because of what the Lord did for me when I came out of Egypt.

⁹ It shall be as a sign to you upon your hand and as a memorial between your eyes, that the law of the Lord may be in your mouth; for with a strong hand the Lord has brought you out of Egypt.

¹⁰ You shall therefore keep this ordinance at this time from year to year.

¹¹ And when the Lord brings you into the land of the Canaanites, as He promised and swore to you and your fathers, and shall give it to you,

¹² You shall set apart to the Lord all that first opens the womb. All the firstlings of your livestock that are males shall be the Lord’s.

¹³ Every firstborn of a donkey you shall redeem by [substituting for it] a lamb, or if you will not redeem it, then you shall break its neck; and every firstborn among your sons shall you redeem.

¹⁴ And when, in time to come, your son asks you, What does this mean? You shall say to him, By strength of hand the Lord brought us out from Egypt, from the house of bondage and bondmen.

¹⁵ For when Pharaoh stubbornly refused to let us go, the Lord slew all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both the firstborn of man and of livestock. Therefore I sacrifice to the Lord all the males that first open the womb; but all the firstborn of my sons I redeem.

¹⁶ And it shall be as a reminder upon your hand or as frontlets between your eyes, for by a strong hand the Lord brought us out of Egypt.

¹⁷ When Pharaoh let the people go, God led them not by way of the land of the Philistines, although that was nearer; for God said, Lest the people change their purpose when they see war and return to Egypt.

¹⁸ But God led the people around by way of the wilderness toward the Red Sea. And the Israelites went up marshaled [in ranks] out of the land of Egypt.

¹⁹ And Moses took the bones of Joseph with him, for [Joseph] had strictly sworn the Israelites, saying, Surely God will be with you, and you must carry my bones away from here with you.^(A)

²⁰ They journeyed from Succoth and encamped at Etham on the edge of the wilderness.

²¹ The Lord went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead them along the way and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, that they might travel by day and by night.

²² The pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night did not depart from before the people.