Matthew 20:1-12 ▼

1 “For the kingdom of heaven is like the owner of an estate who went out in the morning at dawn to hire workmen for his vineyard.

2 When he had agreed with the laborers for a denarius for the day, he sent them into his vineyard.

3 And he went out about the third hour (9:00 a.m.) and saw others standing idle in the market place;

4 and he said to them, ‘You also go into the vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right (an appropriate wage).’ And they went.

5 He went out about the sixth hour (noon) and the ninth hour (3:00 p.m.), and did the same thing.

6 And about the eleventh hour (5:00 p.m.) he went out and found others standing around, and he said to them, ‘Why have you been standing here idle all day?’

7 They answered him, ‘Because no one hired us.’ He told them, ‘You go into the vineyard also.’

8 “When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his manager, ‘Call the workers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last [to be hired] and ending with the first [to be hired].’

9 Those who had been hired at the eleventh hour (5:00 p.m.) came and received a denarius each [a day’s wage].

10 Now when the first [to be hired] came, they thought they would get more; but each of them also received a denarius.

11 When they received it, they protested and grumbled at the owner of the estate,

12 saying, ‘These men who came last worked [only] one hour, and yet you have made them equal [in wages] to us who have carried [most of] the burden and [worked in] the scorching heat of the day.’