| 1 \"For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who
went out early in the morning to hire men to work in
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 He told them, \'You also go and work in my
vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.\'
5 So they went.
6 \"He went out again about the sixth hour and the
ninth hour and did the same thing. About the
eleventh hour he went out and found still others
standing around. He asked them, \'Why have you
been standing here all day long doing nothing?\'
7 \" \'Because no one has hired us,\' they answered.
\"He said to them, \'You also go and work in my
vineyard.\'
8 \"When evening came, the owner of the vineyard
said to his foreman, \'Call the workers and pay them
their wages, beginning with the last ones hired and
going on to the first.\'
9 \"The workers who were hired about the eleventh
hour came and each received a denarius.
10 So when those came who were hired first, they
expected to receive more. But each one of them
also received a denarius.
11 When they received it, 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 of the work and the
heat of the day.\'
13 \"But he answered one of them, \'Friend, I am not
being unfair to you. Didn\'t you agree to work for a
denarius?
14 Take your pay and go. I want to give the man who
was hired last the same as I gave you.
15 Don\'t I have the right to do what I want with my own
money? Or are you envious because I am
generous?\'
16 \"So the last will be first, and the first will be last.\"
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