Chronological

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.

The Triumphal Entry

21 ^(AC)And when they had approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage, at ^(AD)the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples, ² saying to them, “Go into the village opposite you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied there and a colt with her; untie them and bring them to Me. ³ And if anyone says anything to you, you shall say, ‘The Lord has need of them,’ and immediately he will send them.” ^4 (AE)And this ^[n]took place in order that what was spoken through the prophet would be fulfilled, saying,

⁶ And the disciples went and did just as Jesus had instructed them, ⁷ and brought the donkey and the colt, and laid their garments on them; and He sat on ^[o]the garments. ⁸ And most of the crowd ^(AG)spread their garments in the road, and others were cutting branches from the trees and spreading them in the road. ⁹ And the crowds going ahead of Him, and those who followed, were crying out, saying,

¹⁰ And when He had entered Jerusalem, all the city was stirred, saying, “Who is this?” ¹¹ And the crowds were saying, “This is ^(AK)the prophet Jesus, from ^(AL)Nazareth in Galilee.”

Cleansing the Temple

^12 (AM)And Jesus entered the temple and drove out all those who were buying and selling in the temple, and overturned the tables of the ^(AN)money changers and the seats of those who were selling ^(AO)doves. ¹³ And He *said to them, “It is written, ‘^(AP)My house shall be called a house of prayer’; but you are making it a ^(AQ)robbers’ ^[q]den.”

¹⁴ And the blind and the lame came to Him in the temple, and ^(AR)He healed them. ¹⁵ But when the chief priests and the scribes saw the marvelous things which He had done, and the children who were shouting in the temple, saying, “Hosanna to the ^(AS)Son of David,” they became indignant ¹⁶ and said to Him, “Do You hear what these children are saying?” And Jesus *said to them, “Yes; have you never read, ‘^(AT)Out of the mouth of infants and nursing babies You have prepared praise for Yourself’?” ¹⁷ And He left them and went out of the city to ^(AU)Bethany, and spent the night there.

The Barren Fig Tree

^18 (AV)Now in the morning, when He was returning to the city, He became hungry. ¹⁹ And seeing a lone ^(AW)fig tree by the road, He came to it and found nothing on it except leaves only; and He *said to it, “No longer shall there ever be any fruit from you.” And at once the fig tree withered.

²⁰ And seeing this, the disciples marveled, saying, “How did the fig tree wither all at once?” ²¹ And Jesus answered and said to them, “Truly I say to you, ^(AX)if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what was done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and cast into the sea,’ it will happen. ²² And ^(AY)all things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive.”

The Authority of Jesus Challenged

^23 (AZ)And when He entered the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came to Him ^(BA)while He was teaching, and said, “By what authority are You doing these things, and who gave You this authority?” ²⁴ And Jesus answered and said to them, “I will also ask you one ^[r]thing, which if you tell Me, I will also tell you by what authority I do these things. ²⁵ The baptism of John was from what source, from heaven or from men?” And they began reasoning among themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ He will say to us, ‘Then why did you not believe him?’ ²⁶ But if we say, ‘From men,’ we fear the crowd; for they all regard John as ^(BB)a prophet.” ²⁷ And they answered Jesus and said, “We do not know.” He also said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.

Parable of Two Sons

²⁸ “But what do you think? A man had two sons, and he came to the first and said, ‘Son, go work today in the ^(BC)vineyard.’ ²⁹ And he answered and said, ‘I will not’; but afterward he regretted it and went. ³⁰ And the man came to the second and said the same thing; and he answered and said, ‘I will, sir’; but he did not go. ³¹ Which of the two did the will of his father?” They *said, “The first.” Jesus *said to them, “Truly I say to you that ^(BD)the tax collectors and prostitutes ^[s]will get into the kingdom of God before you. ³² For John came to you in the way of righteousness and you did not believe him; but ^(BE)the tax collectors and prostitutes did believe him; and you, seeing this, did not even regret afterward so as to believe him.

Parable of the Vine-Growers

³³ “Listen to another parable. ^(BF)There was a ^[t]landowner who ^(BG)planted a ^(BH)vineyard and put a ^[u]wall around it and dug a wine press in it, and built a tower, and rented it out to ^[v]vine-growers and ^(BI)went on a journey. ³⁴ Now when the ^[w]harvest time approached, he ^(BJ)sent his slaves to the vine-growers to receive his fruit. ³⁵ And the vine-growers took his slaves and beat one, and killed another, and stoned a third. ³⁶ Again he ^(BK)sent another group of slaves larger than the first; and they did the same thing to them. ³⁷ But afterward he sent his son to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ ³⁸ But when the vine-growers saw the son, they said among themselves, ‘This is the heir; come, let us kill him and seize his inheritance.’ ³⁹ And they took him, and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. ⁴⁰ Therefore when the ^[x]owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those vine-growers?” ⁴¹ They *said to Him, “He will bring those wretches to a wretched end, and ^(BL)will rent out the vineyard to other vine-growers who will pay him the proceeds at the proper seasons.”

⁴² Jesus *said to them, “Did you never read in the Scriptures,

⁴³ Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a nation, producing the fruit of it. ⁴⁴ And ^(BN)he who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; but on whomever it falls, it will scatter him like dust.”

⁴⁵ And when the chief priests and the Pharisees heard His parables, they understood that He *was speaking about them. ⁴⁶ And although they were seeking to seize Him, they ^(BO)feared the crowds, because they were regarding Him to be a ^(BP)prophet.