Matthew 20:1-8 ▼

1 “The kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out at dawn to hire laborers for his vineyard.

2 After agreeing with them for the usual daily wage, he sent them into his vineyard.

3 Going out about nine o’clock, he saw others standing idle in the marketplace,

4 and he said to them, ‘You too go into my vineyard, and I will give you what is just.’

5 So they went off. [And] he went out again around noon, and around three o’clock, and did likewise.

6 Going out about five o’clock, he found others standing around, and said to them, ‘Why do you stand here idle all day?’

7 They answered, ‘Because no one has hired us.’ He said to them, ‘You too go into my vineyard.’

8 When it was evening the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, ‘Summon the laborers and give them their pay, beginning with the last and ending with the first.’