The Parable of the Workers

20 [ “] For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in [the] morning to hire workers for his vineyard. 2 He agreed [to pay] [them] a denarius[fn] for the day [and] sent them into his vineyard.

3 About the third hour[fn] he went out [and] saw others standing in the marketplace doing nothing. 4 ‘You also go into [my] vineyard,’ he said ‘and I will pay you whatever is right.’

5 So they went. He went out again about [the] sixth [hour] and [the] ninth hour[fn] [and] did the same thing.

6 About the eleventh [hour][fn] he went out [and] found still others standing [around]. ‘Why have you been standing here all day [long] doing nothing?’ he asked

7 ‘Because no one has hired us,’ they answered So he told them, ‘You also go into [my] vineyard.’[fn]

8 When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, ‘Call the workers and pay them [their] wages, starting with the last [ones hired] and moving on to the first.’

9 [The workers who were hired] about the eleventh hour came [and] each received a denarius. 10 So when the original [workers] came, they assumed they would receive more. But each of them also received a denarius.

11 On receiving [their pay], they began to grumble against the landowner. 12 ‘These [men who were hired] last worked only one hour,’ they said, ‘and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden and the scorching heat of the day.’

13 But he answered one of them ‘Friend, I am not being unfair to you. Did you not agree with me on one denarius? 14 Take your [pay] and go. I want to give this last [man] the same as [I gave] you. 15 Do I not have the right to do as I please with what [is] mine? Or are you envious because I am generous?’

16 So the last will be first, and the first [will be] last.”[fn]