Daily Discovery Bible Study

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 the workers one denarius for the day, and sent them to work in his vineyard.3 Around 9 a.m. he went out and saw others without work standing in the marketplace.

4 ‘Go and work in the vineyard too, and I'll pay you what's right,’ he told them. So they went to work.5 Around noon and 3 p.m. he went out and did the same thing.6 At 5 p.m. he went out and found others standing there. ‘Why are you standing around all day doing nothing?’ he asked them.7 ‘Because nobody has hired us,’ they replied. ‘Go and work in the vineyard too,’ he told them.

8 When evening came, the owner of the vineyard told his manager, ‘Call the workers in, and pay them their wages. Begin with the workers hired last and then move on to those hired first.’9 When those who were hired at 5 p.m. came in, they each received one denarius.10 So when those who were hired first came in, they thought they would get more, but they also received one denarius.11 When they received their pay, they complained to the owner.12 ‘Those who were hired last only worked for an hour, and you've paid them the same as us who worked the whole day in the burning heat,’ they grumbled.

13 The owner answered one of them, ‘My friend, I haven't treated you unfairly. Didn't you agree with me to work for one denarius?14 Take your pay and go. I want to pay those who were hired last the same as I paid you.15 Can't I choose to do what I want with my own money? Why should you give me evil looks because I want to do good?’16 In this way the last shall be first and the first shall be last.”

Matthew 20: 1-16