Matt 20:1 (NIV) 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 vineyardÉ 6
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?"