Matthew 20

¹“For the kingdom of the heavens is like a man, a master of a house, who went out at the break of dawn to hire workers for his vineyard. ²After agreeing with the workers for a denarius for the day, he sent them into his vineyard. ³And going out around nine in the morning, he saw others standing in the marketplace unemployed. ⁴And to those he said, ‘You go into the vineyard too, and I will give you whatever is just.’ ⁵So they went. Going out again around noon and three in the afternoon, he did the same. ⁶And around five in the evening, he went out and found others standing there, and he says to them, ‘Why have you stood here all day unemployed?’ ⁷They say to him, ‘Because no one hired us.’ He says to them, ‘You go into the vineyard too.’

⁸When evening came, the lord of the vineyard says to his manager, ‘Call the workers and pay them their wage, beginning with the last ones and finishing with the first.’ ⁹When those hired around five in the evening came, they each received a denarius. ¹⁰Now when the first came, they assumed they would receive more; but they also received a denarius each. ¹¹Upon receiving it, they began grumbling against the master of the house, ¹²saying, ‘These last ones worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us—the ones who have carried the burden of the day and the scorching heat!’

¹³But he answered and said to one of them, ‘Friend, I am doing you no injustice. Did you not agree with me for a denarius? ¹⁴Take what is yours and go. I want to give to this last person the same as I gave to you. ¹⁵Am I not permitted to do what I want with what is mine? Or is your eye evil because I am generous?’ ¹⁶In this way, 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 said to them on the way, ¹⁸“Look, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be handed over to the chief priests and legal experts, and they will condemn him to death. ¹⁹Then they will hand him over to the nations to be mocked, flogged, and crucified; and on the third day, he will be raised.”

²⁰Then the mother of the sons of Zebedee approached him with her sons. She bowed low before him, asking for something from him. ²¹He said to her, “What do you want?” She says to him, “Declare that these two sons of mine may sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your kingdom.”

²²Jesus answered and said, “You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I am about to drink?” They say to him, “We are able.” ²³He says to them, “You will indeed drink my cup; but to sit at my right and at my left is not mine to give, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared by my Father.”

²⁴When the ten heard this, they were indignant with the two brothers. ²⁵But Jesus called them over and said, “You know that the rulers of the nations lord it over them, and their great men tyrannize them. ²⁶It shall 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— ²⁸just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom in exchange for many.”

²⁹As they were departing from Jericho, a large crowd followed him. ³⁰And look, two blind men sitting by the road, hearing that Jesus was passing by, cried out, “Lord, have mercy on us, Son of David!” ³¹The crowd rebuked them so that they would be silent, but they cried out all the louder, “Lord, have mercy on us, Son of David!”

³²Jesus stopped, called 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 deep compassion, Jesus touched their eyes. Immediately they regained their sight and followed him.