Matthew 20 (NMV)
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 [a day's wage] 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 into the vineyard, and I will give you whatever is right.' So they went.
5 He went out again about the sixth and the ninth hour and did the same thing.
6 About the eleventh hour, he went out and found others standing around. He asked them, 'Why have you been standing here all day doing nothing?'
7 Because no one has hired us,' they said. 'You also go into the vineyard,' he told them.
8 When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his manager, 'Call the workers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last and ending with the first.'
9 When those who were hired about the eleventh hour came, they each received a denarius.
10 So when the first came, they thought they would receive more. But they also received a denarius each.
11 When they received it, they began to complain to the landowner:
12 These last men worked only one hour, and you made them equal to us who bore the burden of the day and the scorching heat.'
13 He replied to one of them, 'Friend, I am not being unfair to you. Didn't you agree with me on a denarius?
14 Take what is yours and go. I want to give this last one the same as I gave you.
15 Am I not allowed to do what I want with what is mine? Or are you envious because I am generous?'
16 So the last will be first, and the first will be last."
17 While going up to Jerusalem, Jesus took the twelve disciples aside privately and said to them on the way,
18 "Look, we are going up to Jerusalem. The Son of Man will be handed over to the chief priests and the scribes, and they will condemn Him to death.
19 They will hand Him over to the Gentiles [non-Jews] to be mocked, flogged, and crucified, and on the third day He will be raised."
20 Then the mother of the sons of Zebedee approached Him with her sons. She knelt before Him to ask something of Him.
21 "What do you want?" He asked her. "Say that these two sons of mine may sit, one at Your right and the other at Your left, in Your kingdom," she said.
22 Jesus answered, "You don't know what you're asking. Are you able to drink the cup I am about to drink?" "We are able," they said to Him.
23 He told them, "You will indeed drink My cup, but to sit at My right and left is not Mine to give. These places belong to those for whom they have been prepared by My Father."
24 When the other ten heard this, they were angry with the two brothers.
25 Jesus called them over and said, "You know that the rulers of the nations dominate them, and their high officials act like tyrants over them.
26 It must not be that way among you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant,
27 and whoever wants to be first among you must be your slave,
28 just as the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom in place of many."
29 As they were leaving Jericho, a large crowd followed Him.
30 Two blind men were sitting by the roadside. When they heard that Jesus was passing by, they cried out, "Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us!"
31 The crowd told them to be quiet, but they cried out all the more, "Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us!"
32 Jesus stopped, called them, and said, "What do you want Me to do for you?"
33 "Lord," they said to Him, "let our eyes be opened."
34 Moved with compassion, Jesus touched their eyes. Immediately they could see, and they followed Him.