Matthew 20

¹"For the kingdom of the heavens is like a landowner who went out at dawn to hire workers for his vineyard. ²After agreeing with the workers on a denarius for the day, he sent them into his vineyard. ³And going out about the third hour, he saw others standing idle in the marketplace. ⁴He said to them, 'You go into the vineyard too, and I will give you whatever is fair.' ⁵So they went. Going out again about the sixth hour and the ninth hour, he did the same. ⁶About the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing around, and he says to them, 'Why have you been standing here idle all day?' ⁷They say to him, 'Because no one hired us.' He says to them, 'You go into the vineyard too.'

⁸"When evening came, the master of the vineyard says to his manager, 'Call the workers and pay them their wages, beginning from the last to the first.' ⁹When those hired about the eleventh hour came, they received a denarius each. ¹⁰And when the first came, they expected to receive more—but they also received a denarius each. ¹¹Upon receiving it, they began grumbling against the landowner, ¹²saying, 'These last ones worked a single hour, and you have made them equal to us who bore the burden of the day and the scorching heat!'

¹³"But he answered one of them, 'Friend, I am not treating you unjustly. Did you not agree with me on a denarius? ¹⁴Take what is yours and go. I choose to give to this last one the same as to you. ¹⁵Am I not free to do what I wish with what is mine? Or is your eye evil because I am generous?'

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

¹⁷As Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, he took the twelve disciples aside privately, and on the road he said to them, ¹⁸"Look, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be handed over to the chief priests and scribes. They will condemn him to death ¹⁹and hand him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified—and on the third day he will be raised."

²⁰Then the mother of Zebedee's sons approached him with her sons, kneeling before him and asking something of him. ²¹He said to her, "What do you want?" She says to him, "Grant that these two sons of mine may sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your kingdom." ²²But Jesus answered, "You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup I am about to drink?" They say to him, "We are able." ²³He says to them, "My cup you will indeed drink. But to sit at my right and at my left is not mine to give; rather, it is for those for whom it has been prepared by my Father."

²⁴When the ten heard this, they became indignant at the two brothers. ²⁵But Jesus called them to himself and said, "You know that the rulers of the nations lord it over them, and their great ones wield authority over them. ²⁶It shall not be so among you. Rather, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, ²⁷and whoever wants to be first among you must be your slave— ²⁸just as the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom in place of many."

²⁹As they were leaving Jericho, a large crowd followed him. ³⁰And look—two blind men sitting beside the road heard that Jesus was passing by and cried out, "Lord, have mercy on us, Son of David!" ³¹The crowd rebuked them, telling them to be silent. But they cried out all the louder, "Lord, have mercy on us, Son of David!" ³²Jesus stopped and called to them and said, "What do you want me to do for you?" ³³They say to him, "Lord, that our eyes may be opened." ³⁴Moved with compassion, Jesus touched their eyes, and immediately they received their sight and followed him.