MatthewChapter 20

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¹"For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner. He went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard. ²He agreed to pay them a denarius for the day. Then he sent them into his vineyard.a ³About nine in the morning he went out again. He saw others standing in the market doing nothing.b ⁴He told them, 'You go and work in my vineyard too. I will pay you whatever is right.' ⁵So they went. He went out again about noon and about three in the afternoon. He did the same thing.c ⁶About five in the afternoon he went out and found still others standing around. He asked them, 'Why have you been standing here all day doing nothing?'d ⁷'Because no one has hired us,' they answered. So he told them, 'You go and work in my vineyard too.' ⁸When evening came, the owner of the vineyard spoke to the man in charge. 'Call the workers and pay them,' he said. 'Start with the last ones hired. Then go on to the first.' ⁹The workers who were hired about five in the afternoon came. Each one got a denarius. ¹⁰Then the workers who were hired first came. They thought they would get more. But each of them also got a denarius. ¹¹When they got their pay, they began to complain against the landowner. ¹²'These men who were hired last worked only one hour,' they said. 'And you have made them equal to us. We did the hard work all day in the burning heat.' ¹³But he answered one of them, 'Friend, I am not being unfair to you. Didn't you agree to work for one denarius? ¹⁴Take your pay and go. I want to give this last man the same as I gave you. ¹⁵Don't I have the right to do what I want with what is mine? Or are you jealous because I am generous?' ¹⁶So the last will be first, and the first will be last." ¹⁷Jesus was going up to Jerusalem. On the way, he took the twelve disciples off by themselves. He said to them, ¹⁸"Listen, we are going up to Jerusalem. The Son of Man will be handed over to the chief priests and the scribes. They will sentence him to death. ¹⁹They will hand him over to the Gentiles. The Gentiles will make fun of him, whip him, and crucify him. And on the third day he will be raised to life." ²⁰Then the mother of Zebedee's sons came to Jesus with her sons. She knelt down to ask him for something. ²¹"What do you want?" he asked. She answered, "Promise that these two sons of mine may sit next to you in your kingdom. Let one sit at your right side and the other at your left." ²²"You don't know what you are asking," Jesus answered. "Can you drink the cup I am going to drink?" "We can," the brothers answered. ²³"You will drink from my cup, it's true," Jesus said. "But it is not for me to say who will sit at my right or left. These places belong to those my Father has prepared them for." ²⁴The other ten disciples heard about this. They were angry with the two brothers. ²⁵But Jesus called them together and said, "You know that the rulers of the Gentiles boss their people around. And their important men order them about. ²⁶It must not be this way among you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant. ²⁷And whoever wants to be first among you must be your slave. ²⁸In the same way, the Son of Man did not come to be served. He came to serve. He came to give his life as the price to set many people free."e ²⁹As Jesus and his disciples were leaving Jericho, a large crowd followed him. ³⁰Two blind men were sitting by the road. They heard that Jesus was passing by. So they cried out, "Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us!" ³¹The crowd scolded them and told them to be quiet. But they cried out even louder, "Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us!" ³²Jesus stopped and called them. "What do you want me to do for you?" he asked. ³³"Lord," they answered, "we want our eyes to be opened." ³⁴Jesus felt deep pity for them. He touched their eyes. Right away they could see, and they followed him.