1“The Kingdom of Heaven is like a man who was the master of a household and who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. 2After agreeing with the laborers for a [salary of one] denarius270 a day, he sent them into his vineyard. 3[Later], he went out when it was about the third hour271 and saw other men standing idle in the marketplace. 4He told them, ‘You too should go into the vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.’ And so, they went their way. 5Again, he went out when it was about the sixth and the ninth hour,272 and did the same thing. 6About the eleventh hour,273 he went out and still found others standing idle. He asked them, ‘Why do you stand here all day, doing nothing?’
7They said to him, ‘Because no one has hired us!’
The master told them, ‘You too should go into the vineyard, and you will receive whatever is right.’ 8When evening came, the lord of the vineyard said to his manager, ‘Call the laborers and pay them their wages, beginning from the last to the first.’
9When those who were hired at about the eleventh hour came, they each received a denarius. 10Now when the first came, they supposed that they would receive more, but they each likewise received one denarius. 11When they received it, they grumbled against the master of the household, 12saying: ‘These last [workers] have spent one hour, and yet you have made them equal to us, who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat!’
13But the master274 answered one of them and said, ‘Friend, I am doing you no wrong! Did you not agree with me for one denarius? 14Take what is yours, and go your way. What if I wish275 to give to this last one just as much as to you! 15Is it not lawful for me to do what I want with what I own? Or is your eye evil, because I am good?’ 16And so, the last will be first, and the first last! <Indeed, many are called, but few are chosen.”>276
The passion announced for the third time
17As Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, he took the Twelve disciples aside on the way, and said to them, 18”Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered to the chief priests and the scribes. They will condemn him to death, 19and they will hand him over to the Gentiles to mock, scourge and crucify him. And on the third day, he will rise again.”
Request from James and John—The great shall be the servant
20Then the mother of the sons of Zebedee came to him with her sons, kneeling and asking a certain thing of him. 21He said to her, “What do you want?”
She said to him, “Command that these, my two sons, may sit, one on your right hand, and one on your left hand, in your Kingdom.”
22But Jesus answered, “You do not know what you are asking! Are you able to drink the cup that I am about to drink,277 <or be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?”>
They said to him, “We are able!”
23Jesus answered, “You will indeed drink my cup and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with, but to sit on my right hand and on my left, this is not mine to give! It is [reserved] for whom it has been prepared by my Father.”
24When the ten heard [about] this, they were upset278 with the two brothers.
25However, Jesus called them together and said, “You know that the rulers of the nations lord it over them, and great ones make their authority felt. 26But it shall not be so among you! Instead, whoever desires to become great among you shall be279 your servant. 27Whoever desires to be first280 among you shall be your slave,281 28even as the Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom282 for many.”283
The healing of two blind men
29As they were leaving Jericho, a great crowd was following Jesus.284 30Behold, two blind men were sitting by the road, and when they heard that Jesus was passing by, they cried out, “Lord, have mercy on us, son of David!” 31The crowd rebuked them and told them to be quiet, but the blind men cried out even more, “Lord, have mercy on us, son of David!”
32Jesus stood still and called them, asking, “What do you want me to do for you?”
33They told him, “Lord, that our eyes may be opened!”
34Moved with compassion, Jesus touched their eyes, and immediately their eyes received their sight, and they began to follow him.
The Lord’s entrance into Jerusalem
- A denarius is a silver Roman coin worth 1/25th of a Roman aureus. This was a common wage for a day of farm labor.
- Time was measured from sunrise to sunset, so the third hour would be about 9:00 am.
- Noon and 3:00 pm
- 5:00 pm
- Greek “he”
- Or possibly as an affirmation “I desire to give…”
- CT omits this last clause.
- CT omits the end of the verse which appears to be a scribal harmonization with Mark 10:38-39
- Or “indignant”
- TR reads “let him be” instead of “shall be”
- Greek prw/toj
- Or “servant”
- Greek lu,tron—a means of release or redeeming
- A few manuscripts (D, it, syriac) add the following: “But as for you, though you are little to seek to make yourselves important and from greatness you make yourselves small. When you are invited to a banquet, do not take one of the seats of honor because someone more important than you may arrive. Then the host would have to say, ‘move down lower’ and you would be put to shame. Take the lowest place then, and if someone less important than you comes in, the host will say to you, ‘move up higher!’ And this would be to your advantage.” (Compare Luke 22:24-27)
- Greek “him”
Text: The Eastern / Greek Orthodox Bible, New Testament (EOB). Used with permission.
