# Matthew 20.1-16

<!-- type: passage | created: 2026-06-03 | updated: 2026-06-03 -->

**Book:** [Matthew](/codex/matthew-the-apostle/) · NASB95

## Immediate context (±2 verses)

**ASV** ([ASV](/codex/asv/))
> **1. <span class="rl-speech">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.</span> 2. <span class="rl-speech">And when he had agreed with the laborers for a shilling a day, he sent them into his vineyard.</span> 3. <span class="rl-speech">And he went out about the third hour, and saw others standing in the marketplace idle;</span> 4. and to them he said, <span class="rl-speech">Go ye also into the vineyard, and whatsoever is right I will give you. And they went their way.</span> 5. <span class="rl-speech">Again he went out about the sixth and the ninth hour, and did likewise.</span> 6. And about the eleventh hour he went out, and found others standing; and he saith unto them, <span class="rl-speech">Why stand ye here all the day idle?</span> 7. They say unto him, Because no man hath hired us. He saith unto them, <span class="rl-speech">Go ye also into the vineyard.</span> 8. <span class="rl-speech">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.</span> 9. <span class="rl-speech">And when they came that were hired about the eleventh hour, they received every man a shilling.</span> 10. <span class="rl-speech">And when the first came, they supposed that they would receive more; and they likewise received every man a shilling.</span> 11. <span class="rl-speech">And when they received it, they murmured against the householder,</span> 12. <span class="rl-speech">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.</span> 13. But he answered and said to one of them, <span class="rl-speech">Friend, I do thee no wrong: didst not thou agree with me for a shilling?</span> 14. <span class="rl-speech">Take up that which is thine, and go thy way; it is my will to give unto this last, even as unto thee.</span> 15. <span class="rl-speech">Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own? or is thine eye evil, because I am good?</span> 16. <span class="rl-speech">So the last shall be first, and the first last.</span>**
>
> 17. And as Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, he took the twelve disciples apart, and on the way he said unto them, 18. Behold, we go up to Jerusalem; and the Son of man shall be delivered unto the chief priests and scribes; and they shall condemn him to death, (Matthew 20:1-18, ASV)

**WEB** ([WEB](/codex/web/))
> **1. <span class="rl-speech">“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.</span> 2. <span class="rl-speech">When he had agreed with the laborers for a denarius a day, he sent them into his vineyard.</span> 3. <span class="rl-speech">He went out about the third hour, and saw others standing idle in the marketplace.</span> 4. He said to them, <span class="rl-speech">‘You also go into the vineyard, and whatever is right I will give you.’</span> 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, <span class="rl-speech">‘Why do you stand here all day idle?’</span> 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, <span class="rl-speech">‘Friend, I am doing you no wrong. Didn’</span>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. 15. Isn’t it lawful for me to do what I want to with what I own? Or is your eye evil, because I am good?’ 16. So the last will be first, and the first last. For many are called, but few are chosen.”**
>
> 17. As Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, he took the twelve disciples aside, and on the way he said to them, 18. “Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered to the chief priests and scribes, and they will condemn him to death, (Matthew 20:1-18, WEB)

**KJV** ([KJV](/codex/kjv/))
> **1. <span class="rl-speech">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.</span> 2. <span class="rl-speech">And when he had agreed with the labourers for a penny a day, he sent them into his vineyard. <sup>penny: the Roman penny is the eighth part of an ounce, which after five shillings the ounce is seven pence halfpenny; about fourteen cents</sup></span> 3. <span class="rl-speech">And he went out about the third hour, and saw others standing idle in the marketplace,</span> 4. <span class="rl-speech">And said unto them; Go ye also into the vineyard, and whatsoever is right I will give you. And they went their way.</span> 5. <span class="rl-speech">Again he went out about the sixth and ninth hour, and did likewise.</span> 6. And about the eleventh hour he went out, and found others standing idle, and saith unto them, <span class="rl-speech">Why stand ye here all the day idle?</span> 7. They say unto him, Because no man hath hired us. He saith unto them, <span class="rl-speech">Go ye also into the vineyard; and whatsoever is right, that shall ye receive.</span> 8. <span class="rl-speech">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.</span> 9. <span class="rl-speech">And when they came that were hired about the eleventh hour, they received every man a penny.</span> 10. <span class="rl-speech">But when the first came, they supposed that they should have received more; and they likewise received every man a penny.</span> 11. <span class="rl-speech">And when they had received it, they murmured against the goodman of the house,</span> 12. <span class="rl-speech">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. <sup>have wrought: or, have continued one hour only</sup></span> 13. But he answered one of them, and said, <span class="rl-speech">Friend, I do thee no wrong: didst not thou agree with me for a penny?</span> 14. <span class="rl-speech">Take that thine is, and go thy way: I will give unto this last, even as unto thee.</span> 15. <span class="rl-speech">Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own? Is thine eye evil, because I am good?</span> 16. <span class="rl-speech">So the last shall be first, and the first last: for many be called, but few chosen.</span>**
>
> 17. And Jesus going up to Jerusalem took the twelve disciples apart in the way, and said unto them, 18. Behold, we go up to Jerusalem; and the Son of man shall be betrayed unto the chief priests and unto the scribes, and they shall condemn him to death, (Matthew 20:1-18, KJV)

**YLT** ([YLT](/codex/ylt/))
> **1. <span class="rl-speech">'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,</span> 2. <span class="rl-speech">and having agreed with the workmen for a denary a day, he sent them into his vineyard.</span> 3. <span class="rl-speech">'And having gone forth about the third hour, he saw others standing in the market-place idle,</span> 4. and to these he said, <span class="rl-speech">Go ye, also ye, to the vineyard, and whatever may be righteous I will give you;</span> 5. <span class="rl-speech">and they went away. 'Again, having gone forth about the sixth and the ninth hour, he did in like manner.</span> 6. And about the eleventh hour, having gone forth, he found others standing idle, and saith to them, <span class="rl-speech">Why here have ye stood all the day idle?</span> 7. they say to him, Because no one did hire us; he saith to them, <span class="rl-speech">Go ye, ye also, to the vineyard, and whatever may be righteous ye shall receive.</span> 8. <span class="rl-speech">'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.</span> 9. <span class="rl-speech">And they of about the eleventh hour having come, did receive each a denary.</span> 10. <span class="rl-speech">'And the first having come, did suppose that they shall receive more, and they received, they also, each a denary,</span> 11. <span class="rl-speech">and having received [it], they were murmuring against the householder, saying,</span> 12. <span class="rl-speech">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.</span> 13. 'And he answering said to one of them, <span class="rl-speech">Comrade, I do no unrighteousness to thee; for a denary didst not thou agree with me?</span> 14. <span class="rl-speech">take that which is thine, and go; and I will to give to this, the last, also as to thee;</span> 15. <span class="rl-speech">is it not lawful to me to do what I will in mine own? is thine eye evil because I am good?</span> 16. <span class="rl-speech">So the last shall be first, and the first last, for many are called, and few chosen.'</span>**
>
> 17. And Jesus going up to Jerusalem, took the twelve disciples by themselves in the way, and said to them, 18. 'Lo, we go up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man shall be delivered to the chief priests and scribes, (Matthew 20:1-18, YLT)

## Setting

- **Speaker:** _TBD_
- **Audience:** _TBD_
- **Location:** _TBD_
- **Time period:** _TBD_

## Theological reading

_Patristic / early-church-father exegesis, to be added._

## Key words

_Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word; see Lexicon Roadmap._

- _TBD_
- _TBD_
- _TBD_
- _TBD_

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## Quoted in

**Arguments and defeaters:**

- [Paul Invented Christianity Objection Defeater](/codex/paul-invented-christianity-objection-defeater/)

**Concepts:**

- [Jesus Said](/codex/jesus-said/)

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_Scripture quotations taken from the **New American Standard Bible®** (NASB), Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by **The Lockman Foundation**. Used by permission. All rights reserved. [www.lockman.org](https://www.lockman.org)_

## Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the **most literal English translations available** (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the **public domain in the United States**, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

- **[ASV](/codex/asv/)** (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
- **[WEB](/codex/web/)** (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
- **[KJV](/codex/kjv/)** (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
- **[YLT](/codex/ylt/)** (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See [Bibles](/codex/bibles/) for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.