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]