Bible / Matthew

Matthew 20

World English Bible, Catholic edition, in plain modern English. About the translations

1 “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. Fathers

2 When he had agreed with the laborers for a denarius a day, he sent them into his vineyard.

3 He went out about the third hour, and saw others standing idle in the marketplace.

4 He said to them, ‘You also go into the vineyard, and whatever is right I will give you.’ 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, ‘Why do you stand here all day idle?’

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, ‘Friend, I am doing you no wrong. Didn’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.” Fathers

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,

19 and will hand him over to the Gentiles to mock, to scourge, and to crucify; and the third day he will be raised up.” CCC

20 Then the mother of the sons of Zebedee came to him with her sons, kneeling and asking a certain thing of him.

21 He 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.”

22 But Jesus answered, “You don’t know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I am about to drink, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?” They said to him, “We are able.”

23 He said to them, “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 hand is not mine to give, but it is for whom it has been prepared by my Father.”

24 When the ten heard it, they were indignant with the two brothers.

25 But Jesus summoned them, and said, “You know that the rulers of the nations lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them.

26 It shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you shall be your servant. CCC

27 Whoever desires to be first among you shall be your bondservant,

28 even as the Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” CCC

29 As they went out from Jericho, a great multitude followed him.

30 Behold, two blind men sitting by the road, when they heard that Jesus was passing by, cried out, “Lord, have mercy on us, you son of David!” CCC

31 The multitude rebuked them, telling them that they should be quiet, but they cried out even more, “Lord, have mercy on us, you son of David!”

32 Jesus stood still and called them, and asked, “What do you want me to do for you?”

33 They told him, “Lord, that our eyes may be opened.”

34 Jesus, being moved with compassion, touched their eyes; and immediately their eyes received their sight, and they followed him.

This chapter in the Catechism and the early Church

Where the Catechism of the Catholic Church cites these verses (from its footnotes on vatican.va), and where the earliest Church Fathers quote them (Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 1, public domain). Short quotes only; follow the links for the full text.

  1. Read the Fathers
    • “Also by the parable of the workmen who were sent into the vineyard at different periods of the day, one and the same God is declared”

      Quoted in Against Heresies, Book IV, St. Irenaeus of Lyons (c. AD 180), Chapter XXXVI. Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 1

  2. Read the Fathers
    • “Let us beware lest we be found [fulfilling that saying], as it is written, "Many are called, but few are chosen.”

      Quoted in The Letter of Barnabas, Unknown author (early 2nd century), Chapter IV. Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 1

    • “The Lord says, "Behold, I will make the last like the first.”

      Quoted in The Letter of Barnabas, Unknown author (early 2nd century), Chapter VI. Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 1

    • “And if certain persons, because of the disobedient and ruined Israelites, do assert that the giver (doctor) of the law was limited in power, they will find in our dispensation, that "many are called, but few chosen;”

      Quoted in Against Heresies, Book IV, St. Irenaeus of Lyons (c. AD 180), Chapter XV. Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 1

  3. Read the Catechism
    • CCC 572 “The Church remains faithful to the interpretation of "all the Scriptures" that Jesus gave both before and after his Passover: "Was it…”
  4. Read the Catechism
    • CCC 2235 “Those who exercise authority should do so as a service. "Whoever would be great among you must be your servant." The exercise…”
  5. Read the Catechism
    • CCC 440 “Jesus accepted Peter's profession of faith, which acknowledged him to be the Messiah, by announcing the imminent Passion of the Son of…”
    • CCC 601 “The Scriptures had foretold this divine plan of salvation through the putting to death of "the righteous one, my Servant" as a…”
    • CCC 605 “At the end of the parable of the lost sheep Jesus recalled that God's love excludes no one: "So it is not…”
    • CCC 786 “Finally, the People of God shares in the royal office of Christ. He exercises his kingship by drawing all men to himself…”
  6. Read the Catechism
    • CCC 439 “Many Jews and even certain Gentiles who shared their hope recognized in Jesus the fundamental attributes of the messianic "Son of David",…”