Matthew 20-21

Contemporary English Version

Workers in a Vineyard

20 As Jesus was telling what the kingdom of heaven would be like, he said:

Early one morning a man went out to hire some workers for his vineyard. ² After he had agreed to pay them the usual amount for a day's work, he sent them off to his vineyard.

³ About nine that morning, the man saw some other people standing in the market with nothing to do. ⁴ He promised to pay them what was fair, if they would work in his vineyard. ⁵ So they went.

At noon and again about three in the afternoon he returned to the market. And each time he made the same agreement with others who were loafing around with nothing to do.

⁶ Finally, about five in the afternoon the man went back and found some others standing there. He asked them, “Why have you been standing here all day long doing nothing?”

⁷ “Because no one has hired us,” they answered. Then he told them to go work in his vineyard.

^8 (A) That evening the owner of the vineyard told the man in charge of the workers to call them in and give them their money. He also told the man to begin with the ones who were hired last. ⁹ When the workers arrived, the ones who had been hired at five in the afternoon were given a full day's pay.

¹⁰ The workers who had been hired first thought they would be given more than the others. But when they were given the same, ¹¹ they began complaining to the owner of the vineyard. ¹² They said, “The ones who were hired last worked for only one hour. But you paid them the same that you did us. And we worked in the hot sun all day long!”

¹³ The owner answered one of them, “Friend, I didn't cheat you. I paid you exactly what we agreed on. ¹⁴ Take your money now and go! What business is it of yours if I want to pay them the same that I paid you? ¹⁵ Don't I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Why should you be jealous, if I want to be generous?”

^16 (B) Jesus then said, “So it is. Everyone who is now last will be first, and everyone who is first will be last.”

Jesus Again Tells about His Death

(Mark 10.32-34; Luke 18.31-34)

¹⁷ As Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem, he took his twelve disciples aside and told them in private:

¹⁸ We are now on our way to Jerusalem, where the Son of Man will be handed over to the chief priests and the teachers of the Law of Moses. They will sentence him to death, ¹⁹ and then they will hand him over to foreigners^[a] who will make fun of him. They will beat him and nail him to a cross. But on the third day he will rise from death.

A Mother's Request

(Mark 10.35-45)

²⁰ The mother of James and John^[b] came to Jesus with her two sons. She knelt down and started begging him to do something for her. ²¹ Jesus asked her what she wanted, and she said, “When you come into your kingdom, please let one of my sons sit at your right side and the other at your left.”^[c]

²² Jesus answered, “Not one of you knows what you are asking. Are you able to drink from the cup^[d] that I must soon drink from?”

James and John said, “Yes, we are!”

²³ Jesus replied, “You certainly will drink from my cup! But it isn't for me to say who will sit at my right side and at my left. This is for my Father to say.”

²⁴ When the ten other disciples heard this, they were angry with the two brothers. ^25 (C) But Jesus called the disciples together and said:

You know foreign rulers like to order their people around. And their great leaders have full power over everyone they rule. ^26 (D) But don't act like them. If you want to be great, you must be the servant of all the others. ²⁷ And if you want to be first, you must be the slave of the rest. ²⁸ The Son of Man did not come to be a slave master, but a slave who will give his life to rescue^[e] many people.

Jesus Heals Two Blind Men

(Mark 10.46-52; Luke 18.35-43)

²⁹ Jesus was followed by a large crowd as he and his disciples were leaving Jericho. ³⁰ Two blind men were sitting beside the road. And when they heard that Jesus was coming their way, they shouted, “Lord and Son of David,^[f] have pity on us!”

³¹ The crowd told them to be quiet, but they shouted even louder, “Lord and Son of David, have pity on us!”

³² When Jesus heard them, he stopped and asked, “What do you want me to do for you?”

³³ They answered, “Lord, we want to see!”

³⁴ Jesus felt sorry for them and touched their eyes. At once they could see, and they became his followers.

Jesus Enters Jerusalem

(Mark 11.1-11; Luke 19.28-38; John 12.12-19)

21 When Jesus and his disciples came near Jerusalem, he went to Bethphage on the Mount of Olives and sent two of them on ahead. ² He told them, “Go into the next village, where you will at once find a donkey and her colt. Untie the two donkeys and bring them to me. ³ If anyone asks why you are doing this, just say, ‘The Lord^[g] needs them.’ He will at once let you have the donkeys.”

⁴ So God's promise came true, just as the prophet had said,

⁶ The disciples left and did what Jesus had told them to do. ⁷ They brought the donkey and its colt and laid some clothes on their backs. Then Jesus got on.

⁸ Many people spread clothes in the road, while others put down branches^[h] which they had cut from trees. ^9 (F) Some people walked ahead of Jesus and others followed behind. They were all shouting,

¹⁰ When Jesus came to Jerusalem, everyone in the city was excited and asked, “Who can this be?”

¹¹ The crowds answered, “This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee.”

Jesus in the Temple

(Mark 11.15-19; Luke 19.45-48; John 2.13-22)

¹² Jesus went into the temple and chased out everyone who was selling or buying. He turned over the tables of the moneychangers and the benches of the ones who were selling doves. ^13 (G) He told them, “The Scriptures say, ‘My house should be called a place of worship.’ But you have turned it into a place where robbers hide.”

¹⁴ Blind and lame people came to Jesus in the temple, and he healed them. ¹⁵ But the chief priests and the teachers of the Law of Moses were angry when they saw his miracles and heard the children shouting praises to the Son of David.^{[k] 16 (H)} The men said to Jesus, “Don't you hear what those children are saying?”

“Yes, I do!” Jesus answered. “Don't you know that the Scriptures say, ‘Children and infants will sing praises’?” ¹⁷ Then Jesus left the city and went out to the village of Bethany, where he spent the night.

Jesus Puts a Curse on a Fig Tree

(Mark 11.12-14,20-24)

¹⁸ When Jesus got up the next morning, he was hungry. He started out for the city, ¹⁹ and along the way he saw a fig tree. But when he came to it, he found only leaves and no figs. So he told the tree, “You will never again grow any fruit!” Right then the fig tree dried up.

²⁰ The disciples were shocked when they saw how quickly the tree had dried up. ^21 (I) But Jesus said to them, “If you have faith and don't doubt, I promise you can do what I did to this tree. And you will be able to do even more. You can tell this mountain to get up and jump into the sea, and it will. ²² If you have faith when you pray, you will be given whatever you ask for.”

A Question about Jesus' Authority

(Mark 11.27-33; Luke 20.1-8)

²³ Jesus had gone into the temple and was teaching when the chief priests and the leaders of the people came up to him. They asked, “What right do you have to do these things? Who gave you this authority?”

²⁴ Jesus answered, “I have just one question to ask you. If you answer it, I will tell you where I got the right to do these things. ²⁵ Who gave John the right to baptize? Was it God in heaven or merely some human being?”

They thought it over and said to each other, “We can't say God gave John this right. Jesus will ask us why we didn't believe John. ²⁶ On the other hand, these people think John was a prophet, and we are afraid of what they might do to us. That's why we can't say it was merely some human who gave John the right to baptize.” ²⁷ So they told Jesus, “We don't know.”

Jesus said, “Then I won't tell you who gave me the right to do what I do.”

A Story about Two Sons

²⁸ Jesus said:

I will tell you a story about a man who had two sons. Then you can tell me what you think. The father went to the older son and said, “Go work in the vineyard today!” ²⁹ His son told him he would not do it, but later he changed his mind and went. ³⁰ The man then told his younger son to go work in the vineyard. The boy said he would, but he didn't go. ³¹ Which one of the sons obeyed his father?

“The older one,” the chief priests and leaders answered.

Then Jesus told them:

You can be sure tax collectors^[l] and prostitutes will get into the kingdom of God before you ever will! ^32 (J) When John the Baptist showed you how to do right, you would not believe him. But these evil people did believe. And even when you saw what they did, you still would not change your minds and believe.

Renters of a Vineyard

(Mark 12.1-12; Luke 20.9-19)

^33 (K) Jesus told the chief priests and leaders to listen to this story:

A land owner once planted a vineyard. He built a wall around it and dug a pit to crush the grapes in. He also built a lookout tower. Then he rented out his vineyard and left the country.

³⁴ When it was harvest time, the owner sent some servants to get his share of the grapes. ³⁵ But the renters grabbed those servants. They beat up one, killed one, and stoned one of them to death. ³⁶ He then sent more servants than he did the first time. But the renters treated them in the same way.

³⁷ Finally, the owner sent his own son to the renters, because he thought they would respect him. ³⁸ But when they saw the man's son, they said, “Someday he will own the vineyard. Let's kill him! Then we can have it all for ourselves.” ³⁹ So they grabbed him, threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him.

⁴⁰ Jesus asked, “When the owner of that vineyard comes, what do you suppose he will do to those renters?”

⁴¹ The chief priests and leaders answered, “He will kill them in some horrible way. Then he will rent out his vineyard to people who will give him his share of grapes at harvest time.”

^42 (L) Jesus replied, “You surely know that the Scriptures say,