VERSE STUDY • KJV

Matthew 20:1-14

¹ For the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man [that is] an householder, which went out early in the morning to hire labourers into his vineyard. ² And when he had agreed with the labourers for a penny a day, he sent them into his vineyard. ³ And he went out about the third hour, and saw others standing idle in the marketplace, ⁴ And said unto them; Go ye also into the vineyard, and whatsoever is right I will give you. And they went their way. ⁵ Again he went out about the sixth and ninth hour, and did likewise. ⁶ And about the eleventh hour he went out, and found others standing idle, and saith unto them, Why stand ye here all the day idle? ⁷ They say unto him, Because no man hath hired us. He saith unto them, Go ye also into the vineyard; and whatsoever is right, [that] shall ye receive. ⁸ So when even was come, the lord of the vineyard saith unto his steward, Call the labourers, and give them [their] hire, beginning from the last unto the first. ⁹ And when they came that [were hired] about the eleventh hour, they received every man a penny. ¹⁰ But when the first came, they supposed that they should have received more; and they likewise received every man a penny. ¹¹ And when they had received [it], they murmured against the goodman of the house, ¹² Saying, These last have wrought [but] one hour, and thou hast made them equal unto us, which have borne the burden and heat of the day. ¹³ But he answered one of them, and said, Friend, I do thee no wrong: didst not thou agree with me for a penny? ¹⁴ Take [that] thine [is], and go thy way: I will give unto this last, even as unto thee.

Read it in 5 translations

KJV King James Version

¹ For the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man [that is] an householder, which went out early in the morning to hire labourers into his vineyard. ² And when he had agreed with the labourers for a penny a day, he sent them into his vineyard. ³ And he went out about the third hour, and saw others standing idle in the marketplace, ⁴ And said unto them; Go ye also into the vineyard, and whatsoever is right I will give you. And they went their way. ⁵ Again he went out about the sixth and ninth hour, and did likewise. ⁶ And about the eleventh hour he went out, and found others standing idle, and saith unto them, Why stand ye here all the day idle? ⁷ They say unto him, Because no man hath hired us. He saith unto them, Go ye also into the vineyard; and whatsoever is right, [that] shall ye receive. ⁸ So when even was come, the lord of the vineyard saith unto his steward, Call the labourers, and give them [their] hire, beginning from the last unto the first. ⁹ And when they came that [were hired] about the eleventh hour, they received every man a penny. ¹⁰ But when the first came, they supposed that they should have received more; and they likewise received every man a penny. ¹¹ And when they had received [it], they murmured against the goodman of the house, ¹² Saying, These last have wrought [but] one hour, and thou hast made them equal unto us, which have borne the burden and heat of the day. ¹³ But he answered one of them, and said, Friend, I do thee no wrong: didst not thou agree with me for a penny? ¹⁴ Take [that] thine [is], and go thy way: I will give unto this last, even as unto thee.

BSB Berean Standard Bible

¹ “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 for the day and sent them into his vineyard. ³ About the third hour 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 and did the same thing. ⁶ About the eleventh hour 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.’ 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.

WEB World English Bible

¹ “For the Kingdom of Heaven is like a man who was the master of a household, who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. ² When he had agreed with the laborers for a denarius a day, he sent them into his vineyard. ³ He went out about the third hour, and saw others standing idle in the marketplace. ⁴ To them he said, ‘You also go into the vineyard, and whatever is right I will give you.’ So they went their way. ⁵ Again he went out about the sixth and the ninth hour, and did likewise. ⁶ About the eleventh hour he went out, and found others standing idle. He said to them, ‘Why do you stand here all day idle?’ ⁷ “They said to him, ‘Because no one has hired us.’ “He said to them, ‘You also go into the vineyard, and you will receive whatever is right.’ ⁸ When evening had come, the lord of the vineyard said to his manager, ‘Call the laborers and pay them their wages, beginning from the last to the first.’ ⁹ “When those who were hired at about the eleventh hour came, they each received a denarius. ¹⁰ When the first came, they supposed that they would receive more; and they likewise each received a denarius. ¹¹ When they received it, they murmured against the master of the household, ¹² saying, ‘These last have spent one hour, and you have made them equal to us, who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat!’ ¹³ “But he answered one of them, ‘Friend, I am doing you no wrong. Didn’t you agree with me for a denarius? ¹⁴ Take that which is yours, and go your way. It is my desire to give to this last just as much as to you.

ASV American Standard Version

¹ For the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that was a householder, who went out early in the morning to hire laborers into his vineyard. ² And when he had agreed with the laborers for a shilling a day, he sent them into his vineyard. ³ And he went out about the third hour, and saw others standing in the marketplace idle; ⁴ and to them he said, Go ye also into the vineyard, and whatsoever is right I will give you. And they went their way. ⁵ Again he went out about the sixth and the ninth hour, and did likewise. ⁶ And about the eleventh hour he went out, and found others standing; and he saith unto them, Why stand ye here all the day idle? ⁷ They say unto him, Because no man hath hired us. He saith unto them, Go ye also into the vineyard. ⁸ And when even was come, the lord of the vineyard saith unto his steward, Call the laborers, and pay them their hire, beginning from the last unto the first. ⁹ And when they came that were hired about the eleventh hour, they received every man a shilling. ¹⁰ And when the first came, they supposed that they would receive more; and they likewise received every man a shilling. ¹¹ And when they received it, they murmured against the householder, ¹² saying, These last have spent but one hour, and thou hast made them equal unto us, who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat. ¹³ But he answered and said to one of them, Friend, I do thee no wrong: didst not thou agree with me for a shilling? ¹⁴ Take up that which is thine, and go thy way; it is my will to give unto this last, even as unto thee.

YLT Young’s Literal Translation

¹ ‘For the reign of the heavens is like to a man, a householder, who went forth with the morning to hire workmen for his vineyard, ² and having agreed with the workmen for a denary a day, he sent them into his vineyard. ³ ‘And having gone forth about the third hour, he saw others standing in the market-place idle, ⁴ and to these he said, Go ye—also ye—to the vineyard, and whatever may be righteous I will give you; ⁵ and they went away. ‘Again, having gone forth about the sixth and the ninth hour, he did in like manner. ⁶ And about the eleventh hour, having gone forth, he found others standing idle, and saith to them, Why here have ye stood all the day idle? ⁷ they say to him, Because no one did hire us; he saith to them, Go ye—ye also—to the vineyard, and whatever may be righteous ye shall receive. ⁸ ‘And evening having come, the lord of the vineyard saith to his steward, Call the workmen, and pay them the reward, having begun from the last—unto the first. ⁹ And they of about the eleventh hour having come, did receive each a denary. ¹⁰ ‘And the first having come, did suppose that they shall receive more, and they received, they also, each a denary, ¹¹ and having received it, they were murmuring against the householder, saying, ¹² that These, the last, wrought one hour, and thou didst make them equal to us, who were bearing the burden of the day—and the heat. ¹³ ‘And he answering said to one of them, Comrade, I do no unrighteousness to thee; for a denary didst not thou agree with me? ¹⁴ take that which is thine, and go; and I will to give to this, the last, also as to thee;

Surrounding context — Matthew 20

1 For the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man [that is] an householder, which went out early in the morning to hire labourers into his vineyard.

2 And when he had agreed with the labourers for a penny a day, he sent them into his vineyard.

3 And he went out about the third hour, and saw others standing idle in the marketplace,

4 And said unto them; Go ye also into the vineyard, and whatsoever is right I will give you. And they went their way.

5 Again he went out about the sixth and ninth hour, and did likewise.

6 And about the eleventh hour he went out, and found others standing idle, and saith unto them, Why stand ye here all the day idle?

7 They say unto him, Because no man hath hired us. He saith unto them, Go ye also into the vineyard; and whatsoever is right, [that] shall ye receive.

8 So when even was come, the lord of the vineyard saith unto his steward, Call the labourers, and give them [their] hire, beginning from the last unto the first.

9 And when they came that [were hired] about the eleventh hour, they received every man a penny.

10 But when the first came, they supposed that they should have received more; and they likewise received every man a penny.

11 And when they had received [it], they murmured against the goodman of the house,

12 Saying, These last have wrought [but] one hour, and thou hast made them equal unto us, which have borne the burden and heat of the day.

13 But he answered one of them, and said, Friend, I do thee no wrong: didst not thou agree with me for a penny?

14 Take [that] thine [is], and go thy way: I will give unto this last, even as unto thee.

15 Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own? Is thine eye evil, because I am good?

16 So the last shall be first, and the first last: for many be called, but few chosen.

17 And Jesus going up to Jerusalem took the twelve disciples apart in the way, and said unto them,

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