Matthew 20:1-16 - The Parable Of The Workers In The Vineyard

¹ "For the Kingdom of Heaven is like a man who was the master of a household, who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. ² When he had agreed with the laborers for a denarius a day, he sent them into his vineyard. ³ He went out about the third hour, and saw others standing idle in the marketplace. ⁴ To them he said, 'You also go into the vineyard, and whatever is right I will give you.' So they went their way. ⁵ Again he went out about the sixth and the ninth hour, and did likewise. ⁶ About the eleventh hour he went out, and found others standing. He said to them, 'Why do you stand here all day idle?'

⁷ "They said to him, 'Because no one has hired us.' "He said to them, 'You also go into the vineyard.' ⁸ When evening had come, the lord of the vineyard said to his manager, 'Call the laborers and pay them their wages, beginning from the last to the first.'

⁹ "When those who were hired at about the eleventh hour came, they each received a denarius. ¹⁰ When the first came, they supposed that they would receive more; and they likewise each received a denarius. ¹¹ When they received it, they murmured against the master of the household, ¹² saying, 'These last have spent one hour, and you have made them equal to us, who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat.'

¹³ "But he answered one of them, 'Friend, I am doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me for a denarius? ¹⁴ Take that which is yours, and go your way. It is my desire to give to this last just as much as to you. ¹⁵ Is not it lawful for me to do what I want to with what I own? Or is your eye evil, because I am good?'

¹⁶ So the last will be first, and the first last."